Beyond - Legends Stars Did Wander Darkling (Mara, Luke, post-Dark Empire) [repost]

As requested by WarmNyota_SweetAyesha!



The bright sun was extinguish'd, and the stars
Did wander darkling in the eternal space
- Darkness, Lord Byron


Luke stood in the middle of the training room, eyes closed as the practice drone circled around him. His lightsaber was drawn, its green glow casting deep shadows across his face. He was still momentarily, his sole focus on the drone, the quiet hum of his lightsaber the only sound as it reverberated off the walls.

And then suddenly, he sprang to life. Eyes still closed, he swung his lightsaber just as the drone activated, the sweep of the blade easily intercepting the blaster bolts. The drone danced around him and Luke, eyes still closed, anticipated its every move. He parried and thrust, as if fighting a real opponent, his feet moving gracefully across the floor in even steps, pivots and turns.

Mara watched from the doorway of the training room, her eyes lingering on his form. His lightsaber technique was not as polished or precise as hers, but his instincts were better. Mara fought with lightning-fast reflexes, whereas Luke seemed to know his opponent’s next action before they even performed it. Even when sparring with a practice drone, it was clear that he understood the art much better than she did. Mara fought with a lightsaber; Luke with the Force.

He was wearing a tight, sleeveless shirt, which she surmised was actually the shirt he usually wore underneath his flight suit. Mara studied the strong arms, usually kept hidden underneath heavy tunics or robes, which were now revealed. She watched the muscles move underneath taut skin, flexing as he swung his lightsaber, tensing as he drew it back. Luke was deceptively slight; shorter than the average, his lean form never on display unless he thought he was alone. It made his opponents underestimate him – for more than capable strength was hidden beneath and defied his compact body type. She had never before considered that it was a particularly apt description of Skywalker himself; power and darkness hidden beneath a genial and deceptively simple exterior.

It had been three months since Byss. It was the first time Mara had seen him, although she had heard the entire story from numerous sources. Watching him from the doorway of the practice room, unobserved for the time being, she looked again. This time Mara saw how the lightsaber glow accentuated the dark circles under his eyes, that his skin was pale and sallow and his lean muscles gave the appearance of one who did not eat, but exercised constantly. All comfort and care had been stripped away from his very body, leaving only a hard exterior; taut skin stretched over worked muscles, with no cushioning there-between.

It was almost as if the humanity had been worked out of him; the perfect human frame surrounding an empty soul.

And more than that, she felt the darkness which permeated him. It was thick in the air all around him, within him; she could almost taste it. Such an old feeling and familiar presence, it made Mara feel ill, as if it was somehow infecting her just being in the same room with him.

There was a snap-hiss as Luke’s lightsaber deactivated – the session was over. Mara felt she should withdraw, but it was too late. Luke’s eyes had opened and he had seen her, his impassive face breaking into a smile.

“Mara,” he greeted her, clipping his lightsaber to his belt. “It’s good to see you.”

“Just a supply run,” Mara told him brusquely, anxious to extract herself from his presence. “The usual shipment – I’ll expect the credits to be transferred within three days as usual.”

“Wait, don’t go,” Luke called to her, even as she turned to exit the room. “You’ve come all this way, why don’t you stay a while?”

His friendliness unnerved her, even more than usual. In the past his openness and warmth had made her uncomfortable simply because she was not used to such behaviour. But now the taint of the Dark Side within him made his manner seem calculated and false. She had fallen for such lies and flattery once before.

“I can’t,” she replied in a clipped tone.

“Not even for a quick spar?” he asked, his smile inviting. “I don’t mind telling you that I miss having a good partner.”

“No, Luke.”

His looked at her quizzically for the unusual use of his given name. “What’s wrong?”

She looked him in the eyes. “You,” she told him simply. “You are, Skywalker. A few months ago the reborn Emperor nearly plunged the galaxy into chaos, again, and you’re pretending as if nothing has happened.”

Luke seemed taken aback, but covered his surprise with indifference. “There’s always some new threat, some Imperial Warlord, or civil war, or new destructive superweapon,” he said quietly. “These are our lives, Mara – we don’t have the luxury of dwelling on the past.”

“This wasn’t some power-hungry Imperial nobody stirring up trouble,” she shot back. “This was him.”

“I know that.” Luke’s eyes were steel. “I also know you weren’t there. I’ve decided to move on."

“Just like that?” Mara was incredulous. “You don’t just dust yourself off and get on with your life after something like that, Skywalker. Believe me, I know.”

“Drop it, Mara.” He turned away from her, moving to the far bench and pick up a towel to dry himself off.

“You’re the one who asked,” she advanced on him slightly, suddenly riled up. “You may be able to fool the rest of the galaxy that it was just some blip on your radar, but you can’t fool me.” He turned back to her, chin raised slightly in defiance. But she pressed on. “I can feel it on you.”

The darkness shrouded him, clung to him like raindrops after a storm. She could smell, bitter and dank, just beneath his carefully maintained barriers. It simmered around the edges of him, like fire around a closed door, waiting to be opened and released.

He stepped towards her, and reached to touch her shoulder. She unconsciously flinched, and he pulled away as if burnt, true shock clearly registering on his face.

“You’re afraid,” he said disbelievingly, his eyes wide. “Why are you afraid of me?” he asked, a note of pain in his voice.

Mara looked away and was silent for several moments, trying to formulate her words. She didn’t want to wound him, but perhaps she was the only one who could tell him the truth. She’d thought once, that he was impervious and infallible - he had been the light which had brought her back from the darkness, had given her the courage to break her servitude. Perhaps it had been unfair to put him on such a pedestal, but he had encouraged her to do so. Although he had never spoken the words, his actions had screamed be like me. The Jedi who had defied Palpatine and refused to give in to the Dark Side led by example. And yet the example was flawed and therefore the lesson invalidated.

“Because you’re dangerous, Skywalker,” she finally answered in an even tone. “And you don’t realise it. You wield the power of the Force with such recklessness, and you don’t understand just how damaging that can be.” She shook her head slightly, her fears and anxiety rising to the fore. “If you were to fall, if the Dark Side were to take you, it would be the end of us all.”

The truth which she did not verbalise, was what chance would anyone else have – would she have - at resisting evil if Luke Skywalker could not?

“You have the power to slaughter thousands with a single thought,” she continued regardless. “And you don’t think about that when you skirt the line between darkness and light, and if it took you, you couldn’t control it.” She looked him directly in the eyes. “Every person in this galaxy has a reason to be afraid of you.”

Luke stared back at her with no expression, although a muscle in his cheek twitched. Eventually he looked away, and nodded slightly. “Point taken,” he said with a hitch in his voice. He turned from her, the muscles in his back tensed. He knew everything she had told him, Mara realised, he just hadn’t wanted to admit it to himself, had believed that if he simply kept going it would be left behind. She had never seen him so unsure of himself. It was as if his light had been extinguished, and he was wandering blindly through his life unsure of how to find it again.

She didn’t want to hurt him, but nor did she know how to comfort him. She stood there, silently, for a few moments, unsure of whether to leave. Eventually, Luke solved the dilemma for her.

“As much as I love being lectured, Mara, didn’t you say you had to go?” There was no humour in his tone.

Mara nodded, once, in response, before turning on her heel and heading towards the exit. She hesitated in the doorway, and turned back to him.

“Palpatine was afraid of you,” she told him.

Luke turned and looked at her, eyes narrowed, but he did not speak.

“I heard him say once, to his personal guard, that you were pure Force energy,” she continued. “That’s why he needed to badly to turn you – he needed to corrupt it, because otherwise you were too much of a threat. Vader, he could control through his anger, through his physical dependency – he had no such control over you. He was afraid, because you could be the Jedi that the old Order could never produce.”

Luke bowed his head, and she was unsure of whether the information was comforting to him or not. She continued; “You could be the greatest Force user this galaxy has ever seen, Luke. And that scared Palpatine. I don’t think that he ever intended for you to survive to be a threat to him.”

“I’m just a man, Mara,” he said quietly, without looking up. “That’s all.”

She nodded. “I know.” She left the room as quietly as she had entered, to leave him to his thoughts, and allow him to cleanse the darkness he now understood dwelled within him, as it did them all.

 

Wow...That was absolutely amazing. When Mara was feeling the dark side on Luke...it stung me a bit. Not because it was an aversion. but because the image of someone seen as so pure could be shattered. And her words to him how he could slaughter million if he chose. chilling. She had disappointment in him and that saddened me.

 

Very interesting and thought provoking. I like how you first have Mara watching him from the doorway, his muscles and strength at first seemingly in an admiring way, then how she sees the calculation of it. How Luke deliberately hides his physical power and strength under his loose clothing so that adversaries are caught unawares when he releases it. That's so much like his power in the Force:

Mara is the only one who can detect and identify what has changed. She is also the only one who could dare to approach him about the problem and the only one who has a hope of getting the problem solved. She takes on enormous personal risk to do this.

It often seems that Luke isn't quite sure what to do with the Force. It's so integral to who he is, yet sometimes he treats it like a science experiment, trying this particular variable to see what results, then trying another, poking it and prodding it out of sheer curiosity. That, as Mara points out, is reckless. And its not recklessness that would result in damage to himself; it would send the galaxy into dire peril. Her message is that Luke can't treat the Force as a whim because his whims carry devastating consequences for millions. He can't dabble in the Dark side and expect it to not linger or seep into part of his perspective of the Force. He can't unsee it.

The passage from the poem is perfect here, and Luke is the star that is wandering darkling. Fascinating confrontational scene between Luke and Mara.

 

Awesome story and a great look at the turmoil that must be going on within Luke. I love that Mara is his equal in this story and that their equality in weakness frightens her. It must be very dangerous for her to be around him, knowing how tempting the dark side can be and how powerful it could make her. I loved some of your phrases but my favourite is definitely: "Mara fought with a lightsaber; Luke with the Force". Brilliant!

 

WHY DO YOU DO THESE THINGS TO ME!?!?!?!?

Ugh. This is so good. I saved it as a part of my head-cannon This is just...amazing. I actually just bought a couple months ago the whole hard-bound series so I could read this Byss jaunt that so impacted Luke. Haven't gotten to reading it (I hate comics. Something about the way they're formatted, and pictures with words? I don't like). But yeah. Now I want to go read it!!! But oh goodness...this is just so heartbreaking but at the same time so insightful.

I'm 100% a fan of Mara ogling Luke. Period!!!! But as usual your descriptions are amazing but you also use them very well to portray a deeper meaning.

This. THIS. THIS. THIS!!!!!! Oh man. Just broke my darn heart. But its sooooo truueeeeeee. Ugh. This made all sort of plot bunnies pop up in my head! Man...you are so incredible!!

 

Superb! Without parallel! I was vicariously admiring Luke while Mara was until the deeper meanings came through. I never thought of Luke as deliberately manipulative or cunning in his warmth and openness but I can well understand how Mara, and anyone else knowing the events and being exposed to Sith, would see something off and not quite complete even in his sincerity. This also makes sense that it would damage their friendship and trust and make their road to restoring both long and arduous, but of course worth the effort.

Thanks for sharing this evocative and true glimpse into complex characters and personalities.

 

Had left this in my neat Evernote file with bookmarks in order to read it later - did not even give it a skim when it was posted - and looks like it was the right thing to do. From the title, I partly thought it would be something completely different, but the language used seeemed familiar from somewhere. And the wait, the delayed gratification was worth every single day.

In the shortest way possible - this is a great play of light vs. dark and strong vs. weak. Neither of those contrasts is entirely black or white here, it all depends on points of the view and the context. And this is evident from the very beginning - Luke's eyes have been closed, he cannot see when practicing with the remotes, yet he is practicing as a Jedi. He is shown as somebody worth admiring because he "fights with the Force, not the lightsaber", but since this happens shortly before his slip to the dark side, he might as well be fighting THE Force. And, as somebody with exactly the opposite story, Mara is well-aware of this - she was unwillingly tied to the dark side and she willingly resigned from it, with Luke it was the other way round.

And there, of course, is the motif where whatever is seen in a rearview mirror, on a screen of any kind or put on a pedestal may seem more special, more divine than it really is and, in some way, untouchable. Once Mara comes closer, Luke is shorter than average, his muscles are working the same way they would on any mere mortal, he's the way Yoda has seen him in TESB - as somebody who may be sometimes reckless and prone to failure, not the robe-wearing light in the dark.

What is even more striking is that Mara is aware of this. It gives their relationship - which is actually not clear here at all and I think that's cool - a whole new aspect. And even though they both seem to be on the same page...

...they've both been burnt in different ways, their lives changed and they cannot just let themselves go, regardless of their differences. They finally have something in common, other than the Force.


Brilliant, all-around!

 

This fanfic makes me pray that Luke stays a good man forever more and never gives in to the temptations of the dark side. Its good of Mara to leave him alone to meditate on this.

 

There's nothing to say that hasn't been said by someone else first, so I'll just say...

Bravo! Great story.