Beyond - Legends Alter of Waru -(L/M Angst/Romance) Complete!

Bleeping droid interrupting their fun!


I really can't wait to see how you'll wrap up this one, Donna.

 

It was a warm, cloudless night on Chandrila. Luke was kneeling in the sand as he worked to start a fire on the beach. He had just gotten the embers glowing and was slowly adding wood to build up the flames. He looked back at Mara waiting for him in the beach cabana and he had to smile. She was absolutely stunning. At the moment the flames from the bonfire caused an orange-red light to reflect off of her flowing auburn hair making it look like a glowing halo. The effect gave her an otherworldly aura…as if she was his angel. His smile widened as his brilliant blue eyes slid across her shapely body. She was wearing the shorts and summer shirt he had purchased for her allowing him to get a nice view of her well-toned legs. He noticed the top two buttons of her shirt were unbuttoned exposing her arousing cleavage. This woman was testing the extent of his virtue and endurance. He didn’t know how long he could hold back his overwhelming desire for her. Luke tossed a couple more pieces of wood into the fire and then stood and moved to the cabana. He bounced onto the cushioned, silk draped settee and snuggled in next to her.

That was one of the sexiest love scenes that I ever read in the SW universe. Thank you! But a robot had to blow it. Reminded me of the scene on the Millenium Falcon between Han & Leia, even thought the excitement between Mara & Luke was definitely hotter.

Now to something completely different. Waru is back, hein?

 

ah, yes, you told me about this story! It was all a bad dream... or was it? hehehehehe

 

I changed the ending five times so far and I'm still working on it...so you don't know because I don't know.

 

JL! Oh, I loved the entire first scene and how a bond is forming The warmth of the literal and emotional closeness -- SQUEEEEEEEE! But someone needs to dismantle that protocol droid

But wow! What a dilemma Luke is in. OK, if I were him, I'd stay -- with this Mara who is like his Mara but still different; he gets bonus time with her -- and the chance to have more kids. I know he grieves for Ben; but perhaps if it turns out that was an illusion, he could have the GFFA version of nullifying it, so it seems like a dream more than anything else. But of course, he would also be happy to have Ben in a galaxy minus weird Joiners/Killiks and the cursed Vong and -- Caedus. I know I would! PLUS, yay! we don't lose Anakin Solo that way.

 

“Luke, are you all right? You look flushed. Are you coming down with something?”

‘Yeah, I’m coming down with a bad case of involuntary celibacy, That was so freaking funny! Gosh I love this!

 

Force Smuggler --I have been writing and rewriting the ending. I hope it will make most people happy.

Briannakin --- Droids do have a way of kriff-blocking Luke. Who knows what would have happened on Myrkr if Artoo wasn’t chaperoning those two.

kataja --- Sorry for the wait. I am writing this as I go along with no plot outline. LOL!

Hazel -- Thanks. I had to have the droid interrupt. You know I hate writing romantic scenes. If I had my way I would write, “They started bootknocking and it was awesome…so they did it again.”

AzureAngel2 --- Thanks. I am honored you liked the romance. I hate writing it. I like writing conversations much better.

RedGold -- Don’t give away the ending I haven’t came up with yet!

Jade_eyes --- Luke is in a pickle. I mean, how can he not go to Waru if it could get him back to his son?

Catsmeow --- Thanks! I’m glad you enjoyed it.

Okay, I just want to say I don’t like the last few paragraphs. I am not good at describing mush. So I apologize in advance.
~JL~
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Chapter 15

Chandrila

After exchanging some pleasantries Luke said his goodbyes to his sister and turned off the transmitter. He turned to face Mara. Her eyes were wide with dread. “You’re going aren’t you?” Her voice was thick with emotion as she rose to her feet.

Luke looked down at the floor and gave a pained sigh. “I have to.”

He could see Mara’s body stiffen. “No you don’t!”

Luke’s head drooped dejectedly. The only thing in the universe that could pull him away from Mara was Ben. If the last thirty years wasn’t a dream, then Ben needed him. Luke gazed up at Mara and his stomach fell when he saw the heartbroken expression on her face. He slowly walked over to her taking her hands in his and gave her a pleading look. “Mara, it could be a way back to my son.”

She pulled away from him. “What if it was a dream? You could get lost in Waru and I’ll never see you again.”

“Mara, if I don’t try to find out what happened it will always haunt me. I can’t live with that guilt.”

“What about me!” Mara snapped back, her eyes brimming with tears. “Did you ever for a nanosecond think of how this is going to affect me? You spent almost two weeks courting and seducing me. And when I finally fall in love with you and then you decide to up and leave!”

That comment stopped Luke cold. “You’re in love with me?”

Mara just glared at him. “Does that actually surprise you? You exploited all my weaknesses. You knew what to say and do to impress me. You battered down my defenses until you captured my heart. And now you want to walk away.”

“Oh Mara,” Luke groaned sadly as he wrapped her up in a warm embrace. “I love you Mara, but we’re talking about Ben. I promised my wife I’d always protect him.” He broke away momentarily so he could look her in the eyes. “Mara, could you love a man who would willingly abandon his son?”

She pulled away not answering.

“Let me put it this way. If I were faced with a decision of saving you or a child of ours…which would you want me to save?”

She crossed her arms across her chest and refused to look at him. “Our son,” she muttered with some unwillingness.

He pulled her into his arms and held her close. “Mara I love you dearly, but there may be a young man out there missing his father and he now has to face a world of Sith and a dark force entity alone. I can’t abandon him.”

“But if it was a dream, how would you know once you are inside Waru if what you are experiencing is real or not?” Mara asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe I need to look for things that couldn’t possibly exist in reality.”

Mara gently pushed him away so she could face him again. “First of all from what you told me your alternate dimension was so screwed up any bizarre occurrence could happen. Second, if you do realize you are dreaming, how are you going to get back to me?”

Luke experienced a pang of uncertainty. How was he going to pull this off? “I need time to think about this. There must be a way.”

“I don’t want to be separated from you.” She said giving him a determined look. “Let’s go into Waru together.”

Luke looked at her in stunned disbelief. “You’d do that?”

She shrugged. “It’s not like I have a huge family holding me here in this reality.”

Luke shook his head ruefully. “Where I came from was a nightmare of evil.”

“That’s more reason for me to go,” she said defiantly.

“What about Ben?” Luke asked with a vague sense of unease. If Mara did come back with him how would Ben handle the situation?

“You’ll be with him,” she pointed out.

Uncertainty crossed his face. “Yes, I’ll be there with you his once dead mother.” He gave her an unsure smile. “I am not sure how he’d react to me showing up with a younger version of his late mom. He’s a teenager. He’s not going to want his mother replaced.”

She gave him a knowing look. “Oh, but you are more than willing to replace your wife with me.”

“That’s not true,” Luke objected.

“Yes it is true.” She gave him a hard look. “Luke the only reason that you would want to go back into Waru was because you believe you might have crossed dimensions. And if you’re right, then you are trying to replace your dead wife with me.”

Luke heaved a frustrated sigh not wanting to argue the point. “I can see you making that argument if my wife recently died and I invented a trans-dimensional transportation mechanism for the sole purpose of fetching another copy of you for my bed. But I didn’t. I grieved for my late wife for years. I never looked at another woman. I never intended to marry again. She was my one and only true love until something happened and I ended up here. He paused in thought. “It’s almost like the Force didn’t believe I should be without you…like her death was a mistake…and this is a way to make it right.”

She stared at him accusingly. “Are you telling me your son wouldn’t be happy to have his mother back in any form?”

Luke shrugged not knowing the answer. “I don’t know, but think about what you said…in any form.”

Mara looked at him confused. “So?”

“Mara there is no body for you to go to in 44 ABY. You died and your corporal form disappeared as you became one with the Force. Where would your Force essence go? You’d have to occupy somebody else’s body.”

Mara’s eyes narrowed and she sneered at Luke. “I’m no bodysnatcher! And that’s a low blow. You know how much I disliked that entire Cray/Callista situation.”

He shrugged with his palms up. “If you step into Waru you may die. I can’t let you do it.” His mood turned more somber. “There is another thing that has been bothering me about the alternate dimension scenario.”

“What’s that?”

“Mara, if I did slide into an alternate reality, where is your Luke Skywalker? Did you ever think about that? I may have switched places with the younger Luke. He doesn’t deserve to have thirty years cut off his life…he deserves a chance to love, to be with you.”

She shook her head and gestured in a sad way. “But he’s not you. You’re the one I fell in love with.”

“But he will be me when he gets more mature.” he argued.

“Even if you two are very similar, it doesn’t mean he’ll want to be with me,” Mara countered. “He’s already ignored me for years.”

Luke rolled his eyes. “Put on that bikini I gave you and ask him if he wants to be your boyfriend. I guarantee he’ll want to be with you.”

Despite her anger she chuckled softly at his comment, she then cocked up an eyebrow. “Force Luke, if you switched with a younger Skywalker does that mean he’s been stuck raising a teenager?”

Luke guffawed. “Stang, all the Jedi training in the world couldn’t prepare him for that.” He sat down to contemplate the situation. After a moment an idea came to him. “I think I know a way to figure out what’s going on before I make any major decisions.”

She folded her arms across her chest. “And how are you going to do that?”

“I reconnoiter Waru using a harness and pulley system. I go in tied to a cable and have Artoo activate a winch to pull me out of Waru. A few seconds inside may be perceived as weeks to me. In that time I figure out if I am in an alternate reality or dreaming. I come back to you and then we decide what I am going to do.”

“That sounds like a stupid plan,” Mara grumbled.

“Do you have a better idea?” Luke asked.

“Other than forgetting about Waru and instead having hot passionate sex all night…no, I don’t,” she said sarcastically.

Luke’s head dropped. “I’m sorry, but I need to see Waru. Mara, it’ll be all right. The Force is with us.” He hugged her gently as he pressed a kiss to her forehead. He could sense the feeling of abject despair rolling off the beautiful woman in his arms and his heart clenched with the knowledge that he was totally responsible for her pain. He realized the mood had taken a somber turn and they both needed time to think. He turned her toward his door intending on walking Mara to her room.

“No,” Mara said when she realized his intentions. “I don’t want to be alone tonight.” She looked up at him sadly. “Hold me. Please. I need to be held tonight.”

He nodded sadly as he embraced her and they moved to the bed, still wearing their clothing from the beach. “I can do that. I can hold you all night.”

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Luke didn’t know how many hours passed since he and Mara went to sleep, but he did know something startled him awake. He was holding Mara; her back rested against his chest, his arms wrapped tenderly around her waist. He reached out with his Force awareness but didn’t sense anyone in the vicinity. Suddenly he became aware that Mara was shuddering in his arms and he could hear soft muffled sobs.

“Mara, are you crying?” he whispered in her ear.

There was a short pause before she answered with a quaking voice. “I don’t cry.”

The sound of her sorrow broke his heart. When he began his campaign to court Mara and win her love he never thought he would be faced with the decision to leave. He would have never put her through such emotional turmoil if he thought there was any chance of returning to his son. He pulled her close and hugged her tightly as unshed tears stung his eyes. “I am so sorry Mara. I never meant to hurt you like this.”

She turned in bed so she could face him. There was enough moonlight spilling in from the window for Luke to see her face. She had been crying; her eyes were bloodshot and troubled. She took a shuddered breath and tried to calm herself. “I know you didn’t do this on purpose, Luke. And you’re right, the man I fell in love with couldn’t stay here when his son might be in danger. You have always been selfless with your love. You risk your life in the aid of friends and comrades with no reservation. Even when I swore to kill you, you didn’t hesitate to save my life on Myrkr or Wayland. You even snuck aboard a Star Destroyer to save Karrde…just because I asked you. You are the most self-sacrificing and noble man I know and I am honored to have known you and loved you.”

Luke didn’t know how to respond. This sounded like a goodbye speech and that made his heart sink. “Thank you,” he finally said hesitantly. He thought her next words were going to be goodbye, but he was shocked when she pulled him close and kissed him tenderly. He wrapped his arms around her tightly and returned the kiss.

She pulled away from him and regarded him quietly for a moment. “Make love to me,” she finally said.

Luke’s heart leapt in his chest, but this didn’t feel right. “Mara, we shouldn’t rush things knowing I may be gone. We should sleep on it. We will have a few more days together on the trip back to Coruscant.”

She shook her head. “I want this to happen and not in a cramped uncomfortable shuttle. I don’t want to feel like were a couple of teenagers making out in the backseat of your father’s speeder.”

Luke chuckled softly. “Probably not my father’s speeder. I can’t see Vader letting me borrow the ignition passkey.”

In the moonlight he could see her smile weakly. “You know what I mean. I want our first time to be in a beautiful beach house along the shore of the Silver Sea. I want to have this memory. I don’t want any regrets. I have too many of those in my life.”

“Oh Mara,” Luke breathed as his trembling hands wrapped around her waist. He gazed deeply into her green soulful eyes. “If we do this and I have to leave…it would make our parting more painful for both of us.”

Mara shook her head. “I would rather suffer the pain of loss, than the pain of regret.” She laid her head on his chest and he brought his hand up to caress her hair. “All my life I pushed people away. I hid from love, from life,” she looked into his eyes, “I finally fell in love. I fell in love with you. Please don’t push me away…even if it’s for my own good.”

“Mara…,” Luke trailed off not knowing what to say. He loved her and wanted her but their future was so uncertain.

Mara closed her eyes tightly looking exasperated. “Luke, I know are looking out for my best interests, but believe me, this is not the time to revert to shy Farmboy. Time is not a luxury we have. I want this to happen.” She pulled herself out of his embrace long enough to remove her clothing. Tossing her garments aside she gave him an imploring look. “I want to make love to the Jedi Grand Master, so if he is still inside that sexy body can you please tell him to strip and get over here.”

Luke was caught off guard for a moment. For the last week he had been the brash pursuer, but now the roles had reversed. “Okay,” he said slowly. “If that’s what you truly want.” He gave her a shy smile as he removed his shorts. As he lay nude before her he suddenly felt a little self-conscious. He had seen his Mara unclothed thousands of times over the span of twenty years, but this was a first time this beautiful woman had seen his totally exposed form and as with all first times there was always that nervous moment when you weren’t sure if you would meet your partner’s expectations.

Mara smiled brazenly as she ran her hand over his shoulders. “Gods, if I knew what was under your clothing on Myrkr I would have insisted on strip searching you after your capture.”

Luke gave a relieved chuckle. He reached up to brush a strand of her silken red hair away from her eyes. “I wish you did. We may have gotten together years ago. Every minute I went without you was wasted time.”

“See, regrets,” she said softly. “No more regrets. Not anymore.” Her eyes lingered on his face as her hands started moving from his shoulders and down his toned body. This time there was no waistband to halt her progress and Luke gasped in pleasure as she gave him an intimate caress.

She moved closer to him, nuzzling his neck and bringing her mouth close to his ear. “Do you still want to wait?” she asked breathlessly and with a hint of mirth.

“Gods no!” he moaned as he rolled to his side and pressed himself against her warm naked flesh. He kissed her hungrily, his eyes glowing with unconcealed joy and pleasure. “Mara,” he moaned against her lips. “Tell me what you want.”

She pulled away from him looking slightly confused. “I think it is obvious what I want Luke, I thought you had twenty years of practice knowing what I want,” she said with a soft laugh.

“That’s what I mean,” Luke said uneasily. “I’ve been with you thousands of times, I know exactly what you like…and…um some of the things you prefer are a little intimate for a first time sexual encounter…and this is your first time with me. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

She stared at him in puzzled disbelief. “Something more intimate than sex? What exactly did I like that has you so embarrassed?”

Luke blushed, uncomfortable with the conversation. “Well, there is this thing you would ask me to do,” Luke paused unable to say the words out loud. He leaned over and whispered into her ear. Mara listened intently and then laughed.

“I can see why you wouldn’t want to surprise me with that.” She turned to him with a smirk. “What else did you two do?”

Luke whispered in her ear again and Mara responded with a hoot. “Gods Luke, you and your Mara were kinky.”

Luke had to laugh. “If you like that then you’ll love this.”

He whispered in her ear again and Mara looked over at him in utter shock. “No! That’s physically impossible!”

Luke laughed. “Not when the Force is your ally.”

Mara burst into hysterical laughter. When she finally caught her breath she turned to him and smiled. “I’ll give you a break Farmboy. Why don’t we start with the basics and we can progress from there.”

Luke nodded with a warm smile, happy that some of the tension was broken. He leaned in and kissed her tenderly. He could feel her smile under his lips as she brought her hands behind his head and pulled him in closer, deepening the kiss. After a moment he had to break a way for a breath. He kissed a line from the corner of her lips to her cheek and down her neck. He paid special attention to that area where her neck met her shoulder. He knew that was a sensitive part of her body. She moaned in delight as he nuzzled her neck and then moved down her body, gently kissing and occasionally nibbling at her skin until the anticipation was too much for her and she begged him to take her. He slowly moved his body over hers preparing for the moment he could only dream about in the last four years. When their bodies finally joined, Mara gasped and dug her fingers into his back. Luke paused, laying his head on her shoulder and savoring the feel of her warmth.

“Don’t stop,” she whispered in the dark as she rocked her body to urge him on. He began to move and she hugged him convulsively as they fell into wondrous rhythm. Their bond grew stronger and stronger until the combination of physical and emotional intimacy was too much. As the last wonderful, shuddering moments came upon them simultaneously Luke and Mara finally became one in body and soul.

 

I don't care if you think you're bad at romance, I loved this and I WANT MORE!!!!!!!!! please?

 

very good chapter. Must resist urge to ask questions about the Luke from the past now possibly in the future. 'You will' no, must resist using force powers. Waves hand 'You will tell us readers what happened to past Luke and Ben'

 

Pure awesomeness!!!! Absolutely loved this chapter!!! More! More! More!!!!!

The word you seek is "the Readers", Luke, not "the Force". The two powerful forces of universe; the readers and the writers, pulling in each their direction, in an endless battle of good and evil...

 

That was so beautiful. I could really feel Luke's torn heart and Mara's need of him.

 

I absolutely agree. You write vulnerable Mara very well. I can totallyimagine her saying what she did and for the exact reasons.

But she does raise a troubling point: if this is a dream, how will he return? If he tries to, he may come back to some other time and place where they haven't met, and if he did switch places when the "other" Luke returns, willl he be enough like the mature Luke to be who she loves?

I loved your mush also. It's more about the relationship anyway -- for L/M, the bond and the how they get there is what I like to focus on.

 

Luke experienced a pang of uncertainty. How was he going to pull this off? “I need time to think about this. There must be a way.”

“I don’t want to be separated from you.” She said giving him a determined look. “Let’s go into Waru together.”

Luke looked at her in stunned disbelief. “You’d do that?”

She shrugged. “It’s not like I have a huge family holding me here in this reality.”

Wow what a sacrifice! What a gift!

By the way, because you write brilliant dialogues you also write a great romance! If GL had paid more attention to his dialogues in the PT, they would have been great movies.

 

AzureAngel2 --Thanks...I could have used more talking and less killing in the profics also.

Jade_eyes -- I am glad you liked the chapter. I have an epilogue written that gives my take on what happened, but I am considering writing three epilogues where I explore each explanation and let the reader decide which ending they want. But I am not so sure if I am going to do that or not.

Hazel -- Luke is in a bad situation, but I would think Ben would come first since he is still young.

kataja -- Thanks for your kind review. And instead of The Force or The Readers you can actually put Jedi_Lover in that sentence. I still hate that Mara was killed. It didn't bring anything to the EU and only made things worse. We could have had a great time reading Luke and Mara taking on Sith. I would love to see how Mara would react to Ben falling for a Sith girl. But that didn't happen. Mara should have lived.

Force Smuggler -- There is one more chapter after this and then an epilogue. Hopefully you will get the answer you are looking for...but I can't guarantee you'll like the ending.

Briannakin -- Thanks for reading. I was writing the next chapter and I started remembering that scathing review I had at FFN where I was bashed for having Mara and Luke having sex too much. So I tried to tone this down a bit...but I really wasn't successful. After all...is there really such a thing as having to much L/M bootknocking?

Thanks everybody for reading!

~JL~

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Chapter 16

Chandrila

Morning found Luke languidly stretching in bed, his body sore and aching from exhausting muscles he hadn’t used for years. A smile spread across his face as he recalled his incredible night of passion with Mara Jade; they clung to each other throughout the night, their bodies intertwined, rocking against each other with desperate urgency until they would reach the climax of their passion. They'd collapse on the bed breathless and weak, their sensual cravings momentarily sated as they drifted off asleep—only to waken hours later to repeat their earlier activities.

Although the lovemaking was incredible Mara’s openness through the Force astonished Luke. Their Force essences intermingled; thoughts and emotions were shared openly and eagerly. Their connection multiplied their pleasure beyond measure. It was amazing and it was something he only experienced with one woman…Mara Jade. If he had dreamt up the last 30 years he was astonishingly accurate as to what making love to this woman would be like. But, as wonderful at the night was, it made his decision to return to Waru all that more difficult.

He rolled over and ran a caressing hand down Mara’s side.

“Sleep, Luke, I need sleep. You kept me up all night,” she moaned happily.

“I just wanted to know when we are scheduled to leave.” he said.

“Not until midday.”

Luke smiled as he slid closer to her. “Good. I want to spend more time with you.” He kissed the back of her neck. “You were incredible last night.”

Mara rolled over to look at him. Her long red hair was a tangled mess and her eyes were only half open from lack of sleep, but to him she was the most beautiful woman in the galaxy. “You were truly awe-inspiring,” she said with a chuckle. “I’ve never experienced anything like that before. The closeness, the sharing of emotions…is that what your Force bond was like with your wife?”

Luke smiled. “The bond I had with my wife was much more powerful…but I believe, given time, our bond will grow and strengthen.”

Mara’s eyes went wide. “You mean it can get more intense?” Mara chuckled. “Force Luke, how did you and your wife ever get anything done? If I were her I would keep you so occupied making love you wouldn’t have time for Sith.”

“Unfortunately Sith rarely respected the Do Not Disturb sign on our door.” He leaned over and kissed her. “I think this type of bond is better. The bond I had with my wife allowed me to peer into her past, see her childhood, her highest and lowest moments, things most people would rather keep personal—and she was able to see all of my history. From the time of our bonding we could communicate with each other mentally and feel each other’s emotions.” He hesitated in thought. “I can feel your emotions and I sometimes hear your thoughts, but our pasts remain private.”

She smiled. “I think that is better also. I can go the rest of my life without visualizing you in bed with the bodysn…Callista.”

Luke chuckled but didn’t comment on Mara’s almost-reference to Callista’s infamous moniker. Luke had heard them all, to include the bodysnatcher, Force reanimated corpse, the computerized cradle-robber, or the Force-void. If he had a choice he wouldn’t have the memories of that doomed relationship floating around his head either. “I think a little mystery is best for a relationship,” Luke finally said.

Mara gave him a sad smile. “I hope we get the time to strengthen our bond.”

He nodded. “I hope so too.” He sat up in bed and reached to the side table for the comlink to the kitchen. “Would you like me to order up breakfast?”

She shook her head. “Not right now. I think I will have a bubble bath before we leave,” she said as she rolled out of bed. As she stood before him nude he felt a hot pang of arousal run through him. Mara found Luke’s bathrobe lying on the dresser and slipped it on. She glanced over to Luke and smiled. “The tub is big enough for two. Would you like to join me? Maybe you can give me one of your sensual massages afterwards.”

He looked at her lovingly. “I would love to.”
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Coruscant

They arrived to Coruscant two days later. Mara docked the shuttle with the Wilde Karrde and immediately requested a leave of absence from her boss, Talon Karrde. She expected questions from her employer, but the information broker appeared to know the entire situation between Mara and Luke. He told her to take as much time as she needed. Chin then piloted them down planetside and Luke and Mara took refuge in Luke’s small apartment in the Imperial Palace so they could plan his mission.

Luke was currently on the HoloNet doing research on Waru, trans-dimensional travel, and any other subject he could think of that could possibly help.

Mara was lounging on his bed wearing Luke’s sleep shirt and looking extremely bored. She rolled over on the mattress to gaze at the Jedi. “Did you find anything yet?” she asked already knowing the answer. She was sure Luke had done this search a thousand times in the week after he was pulled from Waru.

Luke shook his head in frustration. “I’ve tried every search engine and search words but I come up empty. Nobody seems to know anything about Waru other than unsubstantiated rumors.”

“Did you use the search words blob-like creature with time traveling, trans-dimensional bowels?” Mara snickered.

Luke gave her a queasy shudder. “Mara, since I was breathing its internal fluids I’d rather not entertain the idea that I was swimming around in its colon.”

She laughed and then rolled out of bed and walked up behind Luke to massage his shoulders. “You have a lot of tension in your muscles,” she said as she dropped her head down to nuzzle his neck.

Luke gave out a low groan of pleasure. “That feels good…and I know what you’re doing Mara.”

She gave him an innocent look. “And what is that?”

He gave her a small, weary smile. “You are trying to make me so tired by doing bedroom aerobics that I won’t have the will nor the energy to get out of bed and go see Waru.”

Mara frowned. “I guess I can’t pull one over on a Jedi Grand Master.” She walked back to the bed and sat on one corner of the mattress. “Face it Luke, if you are going in, you’re going in blind. There’s a lot of risk in the unknown.”

Luke stood up and rolled his neck trying to get out the kinks. He walked over to Mara and gave her a kiss on her forehead. “I think my cable and hoist system is probably the best bet. Leia is trying to scrounge me up a ship that can safely fly through dangerous hyperspace lanes to the Styglan Caldera. I will hook up a cable winch to the ship and get Artoo to work it.”

Mara shook her head adamantly. “No way, I’m going with you to Jaguada.”

“Mara it’ll be dangerous,” Luke said.

She rolled her eyes. “Luke I didn’t see you complaining about the danger when we were on Wayland trying to break into a heavily guarded Imperial stronghold. I am not a helpless and delicate socialite…I’m a trained assassin and you shouldn’t forget that. I’m going and that’s it.”

“Fine,” Luke mumbled. “I could never win an argument with my wife, why should life be different now.” Luke glanced over toward the door a second before the entry indicator chimed. He frowned slightly. “It’s my sister and Han.”

“Oh kriff,” Mara jumped off the bed began searching the floor for her clothing. She snatched up her underwear and pants and slipped into them as she frantically looked around for her tunic. “Where’s my top?”

Luke grinned. “It could be anywhere. If I recall correctly you started taking your clothes off as soon as we entered my apartment.”

“I did not,” Mara objected. “Luke, I can’t be seen wearing your clothing,” she said while looking down at his sleep shirt.

Luke shrugged. “Why not? They know we’re a couple and I am sure our performance last night woke up every Force-sensitive within the palace.”

Mara blushed as she followed him to the door. “Do you think people can pick up our thoughts?”

Luke smirked. “Not normally, but when you start projecting ‘More, Luke, more!’ I really doubt anybody thought we were in the gym sparring.”

She gave him a good-natured slap on the shoulder. “Those weren’t my thoughts!”

Luke smirked, “Oh that’s right, you were saying, ‘Use the Force, Luke!’”

Mara groaned. “Okay, I may have been thinking that, but you should have told me I was projecting through the Force.”

“Sorry, I was a little busy trying to please you.” He gave her a grin as he bent down and retrieved her shoes off the floor and handed them to her. “You are insatiable. I had to draw upon the Force to keep going.” He reached down and found her shirt near the front door and handed it to Mara. “I think this belongs to you. And you’re right. You were at least a meter into the apartment before you began your impromptu striptease.”

“Shut up,” Mara moaned as she tossed her wayward clothing into the entryway closet. “It’s your fault anyway; you were putting erotic images into my mind during the skytaxi ride here.” She shook her head looking mortified. “I can’t face your sister.”

Luke smiled. “Don’t worry, Leia’s not going to comment on anything she sensed in the Force.” He opened the door for his sister and Han. When Leia spotted Mara wearing Luke’s sleep shirt she blushed fiercely. Han on the other hand had a wide smirk on his face. In that instant Luke realized his sister did sense his midnight sexual escapades and told Han…who, by his expression, probably wanted to know all the details.

“Come on in,” Luke said as he stood aside to let them enter.

Leia kept her composure and gave Mara a cordial nod of the head. “It’s nice to see you again Mara.”

Mara nodded red-faced. “Leia, Han.”

Leia didn’t take long to get to business. “Luke your plan to go back into Waru is suicidal. I can’t let you do it.” Her voice was stern like a mother lecturing her child.

Luke shook his head. “Sorry Leia, it is something I need to do. If you won’t help me by getting a ship that can travel to that region safely…I’ll just take a rented shuttle and that would be more dangerous.”

She grimaced in frustration. “I am acting Chief of State…I could ground you. Refuse to allow ship clearance.”

Luke gave her a warm smile. “You could, but you won’t. You know I have to do this.”

As tears formed in Leia’s eyes she turned to Mara and gave her an imploring look. “Can’t you talk him out of this dangerous undertaking?”

Mara sighed sadly. “Leia, I have been doing everything physically possible to persuade him to stay.”

Han gave an amused snort at that comment but then tried to conceal his laughter by coughing. “Sorry, something in my throat.”

Leia’s eyes looked stricken as she handed Luke a ship keycard and small datapad. “I found you a ship. It’s in docking bay 49, the information is on the datapad.”

Luke smiled and gave his sister a warm embrace. Leia had tears running down her face. “Be careful. I don’t want to lose you.”

“Don’t worry Leia, I think I have a plan that will minimize the danger and Mara’s coming with me. She has my back.”

“And your front,” Han mumbled under his breath.

Leia pulled away from her brother and glared at her husband. “You’re not being helpful Han.” She turned back to Luke. “You two come to see us before you go.”

Luke gave her a warm reassuring smile. “We will. I promise.”

Leia gave a stiff nod and then turned to leave. Han followed behind her but not before giving a backwards glance at Mara and Luke and giving the couple a thumbs-up.

“Great,” Mara grumbled as the door closed. “Han is the biggest loud mouth in the galaxy. I’m sure he talked to Karrde before we returned. It’s no wonder Talon didn’t ask me any questions when I asked for some time off.”

Luke laughed. “So what, they know we’re having sex. We’re not sixteen and they aren’t our parents. I don’t care if the entire world knows.” He grabbed her up in his arms and kissed her ardently, giving her a soft smile when they parted. “Come on, let’s go buy a winch and cable so we can get this over with.”
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Outer Rim

The armored shuttle reverted to real space near the junction of the Perlemian Trade Route and an old hyperspace route called the Daragon Trail. The Daragon Trail would bring them past Korriban and into Sith Space deep within the Stygian Caldera and eventually to the planet Jaguada—the last known location of Waru. Luke and Mara were flying the Rakkaus a state-of-the-art freighter especially designed to navigate uncharted hyperspace routes. It was similar to Luke’s old ship the Jedi Explorer but with a larger passenger capacity than his old two-seater ship.

Luke plotted the coordinates for their last hyperspace jump. As he activated the hyperdrive Mara’s stomach dropped. Luke thought he had the perfect plan to reconnoiter the interior of Waru without endangering his existence in this reality, but Mara was not so sure. Nobody understood Waru and how the creature existed in multiple dimensions. Luke was working on gut instincts and no facts and she didn’t like it one bit.

She shook her head depressed. They would be to Jaguada by the end of the next sleep cycle. This could be her last day with Luke. She looked over to the Jedi. He was looking out at the hyperspace lines with a furrowed brow and she could feel the conflict within him. He loved her and he loved his son. He needed to find out the truth…even if it killed him.

He turned to her and smiled. “It’s going to be alright. My plan will work.”

She nodded forlornly. She knew she should trust him. He had the knowledge of a Jedi Grand Master, but he still had the reckless bravado of the thirty-year-old Luke Skywalker she’d always known.

Luke unfastened his crash webbing and stood. “Do you want me to make you dinner?”

She shook her head. “I don’t feel like eating.” She thought she had finally accepted his decision, but as they neared the planet she began to feel more and more conflicted. She looked up to him with pleading eyes. “Please don’t do this.”

Luke frowned. “We’ve talked about this. If my son is there I need to help him. He can’t take on a world of Sith and a dark Force entity alone.”

She stood and embraced him. “I have a bad feeling about this.”

Luke gave a faint smile. “You sound like Han.”

“When he would say that…did it turn out he was right?” she asked quietly.

Luke’s smile dropped from his face. “Yeah…he was usually right.”

She stood on her toes and brought her lips to his. It was a tender, passionate kiss, but she wanted so much more.

“Luke, this might be our last night together.”

“Don’t say that,” Luke said sadly.

“You know it is possible. I want to spend every minute from now until we reach Jaguada in your arms.”

“I would like that also.” He gave her a kiss on the lips as they walked into the ship’s lone cabin.
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Styglan Caldera

They came out of hyperspace near Jaguada early the next day. After a short time in real space Luke navigated the ship into Jaguada’s atmosphere and moved to the location where the probe droid had last seen Waru. They flew over the arid planet silently. Luke knew Mara was upset. She finally opened her heart to him and now he was possibly going to disappear from her life. He didn’t look forward to the prospect, but he needed to know. He could never forgive himself if he didn’t try to contact his son if given the opportunity.

After watching the security videos from Crseih Station he realized he was inside Waru a lot longer than Han and Leia had believed. He was inside approximately two minutes. If two minutes equaled approximately 30 standard years of alternate reality he figured if he went into Waru for only a second or two it should give him enough time to find Ben and figure out if he was dealing with an alternate reality or a fantasy. Once he knew the situation he could make a decision as to his future. Would he go to live out the remainder of his life with his son or stay with Mara? It was a decision he couldn’t make without knowing the truth.

He had purchased a full body harness used by skyscraper construction workers with a snap hook locking-ring between his shoulder blades. He planned on fastening himself up to a cable attached to the ship’s power winch. Once he walked into Waru Mara would immediately activate the hoist and pull him out. If his calculations were right a one second walk into the alternate dimension should feel like less than a week.

In the distance he could make out the blob-like Waru, his golden body plates gleaming in the planet’s harsh sun. Luke maneuvered the shuttle so he would land next to the large creature. Jaguada had breathable air, which made Luke’s job much easier. He unstrapped from his crash webbing and moved down the boarding ramp of the shuttle. There he put on the body harness and Mara helped him tighten it up. As she finished cinching up his leg straps she looked up to him. “This is your last chance to change your mind.”

Luke smiled sadly. “I can’t. If Ben’s real, he needs me.”

“I need you,” Mara said emotionally as her head dropped in despair.

He put a finger under her chin lifting it up until he could plant a gentle kiss on her lips. “Mara, I want to stay here more than anything, but I need to make sure my son’s all right. This is just a recon expedition. I go into Waru, you pull me out, and then we can discuss the future.”

“Luke, you have no way of knowing what will happen. It is very likely when I pull you out, you won’t be you, but the Luke of 14 ABY. In that case you will have no choice but to stay in your dimension. And then what am I going to do with naïve farm boy Luke?”

He gave her a smug grin. “I am fairly sure he’ll let you do pretty much anything you want to do with him.”

She gave him a playful punch on the shoulder. “Seriously, what if it isn’t you, but him?”

He looked at her lovingly. “If we switch places and he comes back, promise me that you will be nice to him.”

She shook her head and gave him a weak smile. “I promise.”

His face turned serious. “This is not goodbye Mara. A Luke Skywalker will come back to you. Just hit the switch for the hoist as soon as I am all the way into Waru.” He bent and gave her another deep loving kiss. “It’s going to work.”

Mara nodded and hooked the winch cable to his back safety ring. They then pulled the line out until they were standing beside the large inter-dimensional creature.

“No matter what happens, please remember I love you, and the younger version of me also loved you.” With that he brought her into an amorous embrace. When he stepped back he could see tears in her eyes. He leaned down and kissed her gently on the lips. “I love you,” he repeated softly.

“I love you too,” she finally was able to get out before tears rolled down her cheeks. Mara turned and walked toward the ship. She climbed up to the winch control panel of the freighter and put her hands on the retract controls. “Luke,” she called out. “If it turns out it was all a dream…while you are in there, dream up something nice for Ben…and for the galaxy.”

Luke smiled. “I will.”

Mara gave him a grim smile. “Are you ready?”

Luke turned toward Waru, “Ready.”

Luke gazed up at the towering gold plated, trans-dimensional creature. He took a deep breath, steadying himself, and with great trepidation he entered the gelatinous mass that was Waru.

 

Touching and sweeeeet! LOL though, I don't know which Luke I want to come back. Either one is gonna be blessed.

 

I have sort of figured out from a question you asked over at the google group what is going to happen next, but I'll keep my mouth shut and wait not-so patiently.

 

Oooohhhh!!!! Post, post, post. I need the next chapter.

Absolutely loved this one.

 

I am pretty sure the answers I received from you guys made me abandon my original idea for an ending and now I have a different ending. And I am not sure I am going to use that one. I have a another ending I am writing up today. Then I have to decide what ending to use. So, no you cannot guess the ending based on the question I asked. I am not sure how you will like my new ending.

 

Knowing you love Luke as much as the rest of us, I cannot remotely imagine it involves him being without any Mara :eeke:

 

Just to irritate Briannakin I would have Luke go back into Waru and find himself in the other dimension married to Callista and he has six kids. LOL! How could he abandon his children? LOL! PLOT BUNNY!

That reminds me of one of the Simpson Halloween episodes where Homer goes back in time and steps on a butterfly or something like that and when he gets to his time everything is screwed up. So he goes back in time to try to fix things and things get more screwed up. So finally he gets really mad and he goes back in time and starts bashing dinosaurs and butterflies with clubs in a fit of rage and he is really screwing up the timeline. I thought that was hilarious...I guess you would have to watch it because it is hard to describe.

Oh, that would have been a really funny twist to ginchy's inter-dimensional story. Luke pushes the button to go to another dimension to see Mara and instead he finds out he was married to Callista and had a lot of kids in that dimension. I bet Luke would be trying to find a way back asap.

 

Ewwwww!

 

That almost made me fall of the chair! Poor Leia!

Awesome chapter - again, again! I have absloutely no clue how this is going to end, but I trust you to pull it through convincingly! And at any rate, I'm enjoying this ride immensly!!!

Oh, and like the name for their freighter - you know what 'rakkaus' means in finnish, right?

 

You are really brilliant you know. Love that mix of emotion, action and humour, thanks!

 

Great set of updates. I know how much work you've put into this story!! Luke really has no choice but to go back into Waru, but what a choice to make. I hope he finds the answers he's looking for when he goes back.

I love the H/L, L/M moment there. A bit of levity in the seriousness of the situation. Han's a deuce. LOL

 

Jade_eyes -- Thanks for reading. Ummm...I hope my ending doesn't disappoint you.
Briannakin -- I rewrote the final chapters so much I am confused as to what is going to happen. It is like the ending to the movie Inception.
Hazel -- Thanks for your help and advice. Hopefully the story doesn't disappoint.
Jade_eyes -- I love Luke, so I had the toughest time figuring out a good way to end this story. I may post my alternate ending if you guys don't like this one.
kataja -- Does Rakkaus mean bootknocking in Finnish?
AzureAngel2 -- Thanks. I really appreciate you reading and taking the time to comment.
ginchy -- Thanks for all your help during this story. I hope you feel better. Did you ever find that blue-eyed X-Wing pilot you spotted this morning? If you did, send him my way.

Can you tell I'm freaking out about the ending!!

Okay, there this chapter and one more and I have an epilogue for those who absolutely need to know exactly what happened (looks at Force Smuggler).

The final chapters were painful to write. I have three fully written endings...each about 8000 words each. It was driving me crazy. See, this is what happens when you write a fanfic without any outline and you have no idea what is going to happen from one chapter to the next...you get stuck.

Well, I hope you like how it eventually turns out. If you think it sucks I may post the other ending as an Alternate Director's Cut Ending.

~JL~
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Chapter 17

Luke gasped for air as he suddenly regained consciousness. He opened his eyes and his vision swam. The feeling of vertigo hit him as he fought back a sour taste in his throat.

“Dad, you’re awake,” came the sound of a very familiar voice. Luke turned in time to see the blurry image of his teenage son before the boy grabbed him up in a firm hug.

“Ben!” Luke cried out as he returned the embrace.

“Dad, you had us worried,” Ben said as he squeezed his father so hard Luke thought he would break a rib. When they parted both men were in tears. Ben slapped away the drops of moisture and tried to pretend he wasn’t crying, but Luke gazed at his son unabashed, his tear streaked face beaming with joy. He had his son back; he was with Ben.

“I’m sorry I scared you,” Luke said as he gazed around his surroundings. He was no longer on the Jade Shadow where he expected to wake up. “Where are we Ben?”

“You are in the medbay of Tenal Ka’s flagship the Dragon Queen II.” Ben looked towards the room’s entryway and called out. “Uncle Han, come here!” After a short pause, Han Solo walked into the room and a bright smile blossomed across his face when he saw Luke conscious.

“Luke! You’re finally awake.” Han pulled out his comlink. “I need to call your sister. She has been crazy with worry.”

As Han made his call, Luke turned to Ben and smiled. How he missed seeing his son. “What happened to me Ben?”

Ben frowned. “You and a dozen of other Jedi became ill after our misadventure on Upekzar. Cilghal didn’t think it had anything to do with the darkside. She believes a virus on the planet affected a small number of Jedi. It caused dizziness, confusion and in some cases unconsciousness. We evacuated those infected to the Dragon Queen II where they could receive proper medical care. You’ve been in a coma for weeks. All the other Jedi recovered quickly. You are the last to wake up.”

Han had finished his conversation with Leia and shut down the comlink. He turned to the Jedi and grinned. “It was almost like you didn’t want to wake up, Kid.” A sly smirk crossed the former smuggler’s face. “It looked like you were having some really great dreams.”

Ben blushed profusely at his uncle’s comment. He quickly stood and began walking to the exit. “I’ll let the doctors know he’s awake.” He turned and gave his father a steady gaze. “I hope you were dreaming about mom…although that is still a disturbing thought for me.” Ben shuddered as he left the room.

Luke frowned in confusion and turned to Han for an explanation. His brother-in-law just laughed. “Luke, you may have been unconscious but the monitors showed brain activity off the charts. You were dreaming the whole time.”

Luke shook his head, “So? Why is he upset?” He motioned his head in the direction that Ben had gone.

Han chuckled. “He’s just a little embarrassed. Although you were unconscious you experienced what the nurses called,” Han hesitated for a second and picked up a datapad attached to the end of Luke’s bed. “Here it is. You were exhibiting chronic nocturnal penile tumescence.” Han put down the datapad and chuckled. “The nurses were quite impressed…especially for a man of your age.”

Luke groaned in embarrassment. “Do you mean I was…”

“Tenting your sheets,” Han said with a laugh. “Yes and often. Those must have been some awesome dreams.”

Luke closed his eyes in mortification. “I was dreaming of Mara,” Luke finally said. “It was a beautiful dream where we spent time alone on a beach.”

But was it a dream? Luke wasn’t sure if his short time with Mara was actually a dream or what he was experiencing now was a delusion. If Mara was real then she should pull him out of Waru and away from this realm within a week. Until then Luke decided not to tell anybody he believed he was in another dimension.

Han gave Luke a sad smile as he reached out and squeezed the Jedi’s shoulder. “I’m glad Luke. After the nightmare we have suffered the last couple decades…you deserve to have some happy thoughts.” Han sat down in the chair next to the bed. “That may explain why it took so long for you to wake up.” He gave Luke a bittersweet smile. “If I was having a dream where Anakin, Jacen and Chewie were alive…a dream when Jacen wasn’t Sith and my daughter didn’t have to kill her own twin…well, then I wouldn’t want to wake up either.”

Ben returned to the room with a Hapan medical physician. After checking Luke’s vitals and asking him a few questions the doctor disconnected the tubes attached to Luke and cleared him for discharge. Han helped Luke out of bed and Luke noticed his body felt like he had been lying prone for weeks. He was stiff and weak as if his muscles had atrophied while unconscious. This world felt real, but how could he be sure? He had told Mara he would know he was dreaming if he witnessed something so outrageous it couldn’t possibly happen in reality. As he changed out of his hospital robe and back into his clothing he decided to test that theory by asking Han and Ben some questions

“So what’s happened while I was asleep?” he asked Ben.

A slight grin crossed his son’s face. “What hasn’t happened?” he said with a sarcastic tone. “The Coruscant BAMR News Network has reported that you are the drug lord kingpin of a Jedi Spice Cartel.”

Han laughed. “I love that story,” he grinned at Luke. “I thought I was the only Spice smuggler in the family.”

Luke’s stomach dropped. He was being accused of being a drug lord? He sighed internally as he realized Cilghal must have been right…this was a dream. It was a Waru-induced nightmare where his worse fears would be played out.

“I like the story where the Jedi are labeled trained assassins with a documented history of violence,” Ben grinned at his father. “So now I’m a hired assassin to a spice cartel warlord.”

Han laughed. “I’m glad the BAMR News Network is here to tell us these things.”

“Unbiased and accurate—we report, you decide,” Ben chuckled as he repeated the news network’s motto.

Luke shook his head in confusion as he buttoned up his pants. “Why would anybody think I would become a spice dealer?”

“Didn’t you know Dad,” Ben said with a snicker. “We want to keep the galaxy enslaved, therefore we are using the drug running profits to subvert anti-slavery abolitionists.”

“What?” Luke stammered.

“And when we’re not doing that we are funding covert operations to destabilize legitimate governments along the entire galactic rim,” Ben continued.

“The media hasn’t come out and said it yet, but we are pretty sure they will eventually report that you have fallen to the darkside and decided to become Emperor,” Han said with a sardonic tone.

“That’s crazy,” Luke muttered as he pulled on his tunic.

“Of course it’s crazy, that’s how we realized the Sith Sabers have infiltrated the media and parts of the government. Leia thinks they are using the Force to lull people into a receptive state of mind,” Han explained.

Luke paused at that comment. Up to that point he was ready to commit to the idea that he was dreaming, but that was a semi-plausible explanation for an almost implausible situation. Maybe he wasn’t dreaming. The situation was frustrating; he hated not knowing. All he could do is continue on until Mara pulled him out of Waru. Hopefully by then he would have some understanding as to what was happening to him.
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Coruscant

As the days turned to weeks, Luke became more and more convinced that his time with Mara Jade was a dream--otherwise she would have pulled him out of Waru by now. The other possibility was he switched bodies with the Luke Skywalker of 14ABY. If that was the case, he hoped Mara and that Luke would find happiness together. Either way, he was most likely in his intended dimension and reality. It was a dark and grim galaxy, but he was with his son and together they would face and overcome the evil that threatened to tear the galaxy apart.

Still…sometimes something so absurd would happen that, once again, Luke would question the veracity of this reality.

In his fight against the Sith and Abeloth, Luke found himself fighting horrific battles that bordered on the surreal. Abeloth took over the Jedi Temple computer system…much like Callista did on the Eye of Palpatine. It was such a weird coincidence that Luke was positive it couldn’t be real. For a week or two he expected Mara to suddenly pull him out of this dream and back to the other reality…but it didn’t happen and he remained waiting.

Raynar Thul returned from the Killik Celestial Palace and told Luke a farfetched story about mythical beings called Celestials that kept the Force in balance. There was supposed to be a son and daughter who would team up to kill Abeloth, but these immortals died …which would go counter to logic. If you are immortal you can’t die. Obviously, absolutely ridiculously improbable events were commonplace in this galaxy.

He fought against Abeloth in the Jedi Temple as she brought terror to Coruscant in the form the worldquakes, lava and death clouds of toxic gases. The Jedi fought Abeloth in the Beyond Shadows realm and on her homeworld. They fought until they finally triumphed over the dark entity…maybe. There was a report of Jedi attacked by an Abeloth-like tentacle in the outer rim territories that made Luke wonder if she truly was dead.

During his research of Abeloth he discovered historical information pertaining to something called the Dagger of Mortis, which was supposed to be located at the Mortis Monolith. The dagger was believed to be the only weapon capable of killing a being like Abeloth. Luke scoffed at the idea of Jedi Knights going on a quest for a magical dagger to be used to slay an evil Force deity—it was like something out of a children’s cartoon holoshow. But he sent ten Jedi out to look for the mythical blade just in case it was a simply a fanciful name for an actual weapon.

After months of fighting, the Jedi freed the galaxy from the clutches of Abeloth and drove the Sith back to their home planet, but you wouldn’t know it by the reaction of the populace. Instead of seeing them as savors, the Jedi ended up as the scapegoats for the billions of deaths that occurred on Coruscant and other locations. As the anti-Jedi sentiment grew, Luke sadly agreed to take the Jedi Order off of the city-world and move to the planet Shedu Maad located in the Transitory Mists—a region of ionized space that surrounded the Hapes Cluster. The mists made travel within the area dangerous unless you knew the proper flight paths. The Jedi hoped it would hide them from the Sith the same way it hid the Hapan pirates that once traverse the area thousands of years in the past.

After five months had passed Luke realized if he was going to go home to Mara Jade it would have happened by now. He was ecstatic to have his son back, but he missed Mara dearly. He wished there was a way he could have both of them in his life…but it looked like that was not the will of the Force.

Luke gave a caustic chuckle at the irony. When he was pulled out of Waru the second time he had told his sister he had hoped he was dreaming, that Ben was watching over him in a hospital and he was experiencing a coma-induced illusion. It looked like he got his wish. It was a bittersweet realization, but at least he had his son and a very, very sweet dream of his late wife that would follow him until his dying day.
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Shedu Maad

60 ABY: Maternity Ward

“Jedi Grand Master Skywalker, you may come in now,” the young female neonatal nurse called out.

Luke got up from the waiting area chair and went into the delivery room when her found his son holding a small baby and beaming with pride. Luke grinned as he looked down at his first-born grandson. He was red and wrinkly but he could see wisps of blond hair on his head and when his eyes opened they were a brilliant blue. “He has my hair and your eyes,” Luke commented happily.

Ben smiled warmly. “I wish Mom could have seen him.”

Look nodded. “So do I.” He reached out and touched his grandson’s hand and marveled at how small he was. It was so long since Ben was a youngling that Luke had forgotten how tiny babies were. “Did you and Syra decide on a name?” Luke asked referring to Syra Senso, Ben’s wife of six years.

Syra was a young Hapan Jedi who came to train at Shedu Maad ten years earlier. She was a year younger than Ben and the young blond woman immediately attracted the attention of Luke’s son and just about every other unattached male at the academy. She was intelligent, attractive and had a body of a gymnast. Ben was instantly smitten. Luckily for Ben it didn’t take ten years and a Force intervention for him to attract the attention of girl of his dreams. They were dating within a few months and after four years they finally made the leap into marriage. And now they had their first child.

“His name is Markus Skywalker. We named him after Syra’s grandfather,” he gave his father an almost apologetic look. “We would have named him after someone in our family, but I thought naming him Luke would be a big name to live up to and…well I just couldn’t name him Anakin.”

“Markus is a wonderful name,” Luke said as he gazed lovingly down at his grandson. “Can I hold him?”

Ben smiled and handed the baby to his Dad. Luke rocked the infant in his arms and hoped somewhere Mara was watching them and could see her grandson. “He’s beautiful.”
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98 ABY: Hapes--Capital City Critical Care Hospital

Jedi Grand Master Luke Skywalker sat slumped in his bed as he struggled to breathe. He had attempted multiple times to put himself into a healing trance, but even the Force couldn’t help him ward off whatever was afflicting him. After multiple medical tests turned up nothing and his condition worsened, Luke decided it was time to notify his family.

He looked to the young nurse who checked on him almost hourly since he was admitted a day earlier.

“Nurse,” Luke said between bouts of coughing fits. “Please notify my son that I would like to see him.”
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“Jedi Grand Master Skywalker, you can come in now,” the Hapen nurse called. Ben stood and followed the young human into the Intensive Care ward.

“How is my father?” he asked anxiously.

“His condition is complex,” she said softly. “We thought he was suffering from a pleural effusion, but when we did a chest scan on your father we couldn’t find any fluid build up. We are testing for bacterial or viral infections, but right now we are truly perplexed by his condition. He’s having trouble breathing, but we see no reason for his difficulty.”

As they entered the hospital room, Luke looked up and smiled. “Ben,” he said weakly but his face couldn’t conceal the joy of seeing his son.

“I’ll leave you two alone,” the nurse said with a nod as she left.

“Thank you,” Luke said with some difficulty. Luke raised the head of the bed up until he was in semi-sitting position.

Ben smiled. “ How are you, Dad?”

“I’m not doing well,” Luke gasped. That was probably the understatement of the year. Luke wasn’t sure what was going on with his medical condition, but he knew it was serious. He was extremely glad he could see Ben before things got worse. “How are my grandkids?” Luke said, quickly changing the subject to something more cheerful. It had been months since he had seen his two grandsons Markus and Darik and he missed them greatly. Both were grown men now and Ben’s oldest son Markus had given Luke two great grandsons.

“They’re fine. I called Syra and she’s on her way. Markus and Darik will be here tomorrow. Markus and his wife are bringing your great grandsons Nat and Kol. You will have four generations of Skywalkers in one room,” Ben said to his father. “So hang in there, Dad.”

“I’ll try,” Luke said while wheezing. When he saw his son about to respond, Luke raised a hand halting him. “I know, I know, do or do not, there is no try.” A sudden coughing fit hit Luke as he strained to pull oxygen into his lungs.

Luke never imagined he would live to be over one hundred years old, not the way he lived. His constant fight against Sith and other malcontents put a great stress on his body. At this point he was sure he was being held together by scar tissue only. When he looked into the mirror he no longer saw the hero of the rebellion, but a graying, old man who was tired of the struggles of life. He was glad he was able to watch Ben grow up and to see him have children and then grandchildren, but Luke was tired and more than anything he wanted to be back with the Flow of the Force… to be with his wife Mara.

Gods he missed her. He missed her sarcastic sense of humor, her laugh, her smile… her sweet and gentle touch. It had been fifty-eight years since Mara's death. Luke never remarried; he never even dated. Mara may have not have been the first woman he loved, but she was the last. After ten years of mourning, Leia started encouraging him to date, but he refused. At first he told himself it was too soon to move on. Then he convinced himself that the fight against the Sith was paramount. Finally he decided that any woman who was with him would immediately be a target of assassination…and he couldn’t risk endangering somebody’s life. He did have close platonic friendships with women. A few of them probably wanted more…but all he wanted was his wife Mara.

“Ben,” Luke said struggling to get each word out. “My time is short. I wanted you to know that I’ll always love you and your family. Without you I don’t think I would have been able to go on after your Mother’s death.” Luke stopped and took a few deep breaths. “You are everything I could have ever hoped for in a son. I know your mother would be proud of your accomplishments…I know I am.”

Ben came by his father’s bedside and put a hand over his. “Dad, please don’t talk like that. You're not dying.” Ben said as his bottom lip trembled with emotion. “You can’t die.”

Luke chuckled as he remembered saying those same words to Yoda…right before he passed away. “There is no death, there is the Force,” Luke whispered to his son.

“Yeah, I know,” Ben said sadly as he sat down next to his father’s bedside. “I remember Mom coming back as a spirit to see me.” He looked over to his father. “Do you think when the time does come you’ll see her—that you’ll be together again?”

Luke smiled softly. “I know she’s waiting for me. I feel her presence. I don’t think she has ever really left me.”

Ben nodded solemnly. “Dad, I just want to say I always felt loved…by you and Mom.” He paused for a moment. “I couldn’t ask for a better father. I love you.”

“I love you too,” Luke said as his breathing became more labored. Luke ‘s head jerked to the side when he saw movement at the corner of his eye. When he looked straight on the shadowy image disappeared, but when he looked away he could definitely sense motion in his peripheral vision. He looked back and now he was sure he was seeing something. It was the outline of a woman shimmering with a golden aura. As the figure grew closer Luke gasped in recognition.

A wide grin broke out on Luke’s face. “Do you see her?” Luke gasped.

Ben looked over to the wall. “See who, Dad?”

Despite his breathing difficulty Luke smiled widely. “It’s your mom. It’s my Mara.” Tears welled up in his eyes as he looked back to his son. “She’s come for me. Your mom has come for me.” He turned his attention back to the wall and held a hand out reaching out to the love of his life.

A panicked look crossed Ben’s face. “Dad, stay here; don’t leave me.”

Luke looked back to Ben. He was no longer the teenage boy he worried about so many decades ago. He was a Jedi Grand Master with greying hair and grandchildren of his own. “Ben you don’t need me anymore. You’re a grown man. My grandchildren are grown men and I am at the end of my life.” A coughing spasm seized him and bile rose in the back of his throat. He looked back to Ben with pleading eyes. “Let me go Ben. I miss her,” tears were flowing down Luke’s face. “I miss her,” he repeated. “We should never have been separated. We belong together.”

Luke turned back to the wall and smiled as the image of Mara came closer. Her red hair billowed around her as she moved towards Luke, her hands stretched out, reaching for him. “I love you and your family Ben,” Luke said as darkness slowly closed in on him. “But it’s time for me to be with your mother. It’s time for me to go home.”

Luke reached out and grasped Mara’s hand. He could no longer hear his son talking. The medical ward melted away and all he could see was his wife smiling and pulling him towards an iridescent glow in the distance. “Goodbye Ben,” he whispered.

As Luke broke free of the mortal realm he lived in for over a hundred years, he eagerly followed Mara into the shifting gleam of the light.