Beyond - Legends The Table Was Crowded... (L/M, AU) [update 3/22]

Jade_eyes: Actually, I'm still not certain she knows it's there... but stowed it is if I happen to be granny-sitting again. And... it worked in drabbles, so I figured 'why not?' Thank you, Jade_eyes.

dancing_star: I've been missing bringing them to you. (Had writers block far, far too long for my own liking. Back now. Which also means there's a fifteen page update for Wanting To Know in the offing. I like it. It works. It's totally getting posted.) re: Luke's hand... I'm not too certain, but I think he jimmied the door for the shed with a battery from his hand... the lack of which was resultant in it being kind of on the fritz, but not annoyingly so. And that he is. Thank you, star.

JediFalcon: Tonight or tomorrow for that update. Thank you, JediFalcon.

Jedi42: Thank you.

Wifflesnip: No, I don't think you were imagining it. (Depends on what you mean by 'big', however...) Thank you, Wiffle.

madman007: They're not... precisely 'visions'... excepting the first one, which totally was. Thank you, madman.

 

A/N: The back story for what Roganda mentions can be found in the MMM story A Small Detour

~*~*~*~*~

The silence hung in the waiting room like a thick blanket as the three of them sat there in the chairs. Finally, Mara couldn't stay sitting any longer and stood up, stretching as she did so.

Roganda glanced at her, unsure of her next words, but knowing she couldn't just leave it at that. "It was a long time ago."

Luke turned to look at her, curious as to what she meant. "What was?"

"She asked how I knew. The answer is: it was a long time ago. Before Hoth. Before I ran into Solo and Chewie on my way to a medical facility." She paused, taking in the honest curiosity in both faces. "Before I left Coruscant the first time, in fact."

Mara sat back down and mulled over the answer, trying to figure out what the woman was trying to say. "You..."

"Had a son. Had. That's how I know about the shivering." Roganda winced Luke's sudden frown. "What?"

"You never said anything about..." Luke trailed off, suddenly remembering stories he'd overheard from Wes about a woman punching an icy wall on Hoth, incoherent, blaming herself for something she wouldn't even talk about. He hadn't given it much thought at the time, because he'd gone out on patrol with Han shortly thereafter, but... "When you said 'had', what did you mean?"

Roganda wanted to look away from him, but found she couldn't. Not about this... no more running away and trying to pretend it didn't happen. "Exactly that. Had. As in don't have any longer."

"As in dead?" Mara asked, getting what Roganda wasn't saying and trying to be as careful as possible in the way she asked.

"Yes," she answered, the word spilling from her lips before she could stop herself. And there it was, laid out for both of them to see. "He died on the operating table... or under it."

Luke blinked, startled more than he thought he would be, and he felt the same from Mara a few feet away mirroring his own. "On... or under?"

Roganda knew he wasn't usually this dense, but a little leading in the right direction didn't hurt. "There was a ground quake. The building..." And maybe it was best if she lied... who would believe that a five year old child could have a seizure during surgery and cause a building to collapse? Not many.

Luke nodded slowly, understanding what she meant. He'd have said more, but a light flash caused him to blink... but no light had flashed anywhere in the waiting room. "Weird."

"What is?" Mara asked him.

"Either I'm seeing things, or Leia's projecting again." He waited, but the flash didn't come again. And then a feeling made him smile. "I think Han'll be out here shortly."

Roganda stayed silent, though she wanted to ask both of them some questions of her own. She could feel it between them the longer she spent in their presence, though they weren't sitting close together at all.

~*~*~*~*~

Han smiled down at Leia as she held one of their newly-born twin children. She was holding Jacen, letting him suckle for the first time, and Jaina was in his arms. A small sneeze brought his attention back to the baby girl snuggled in his arms. "She looks like you."

Leia smiled back at him, wanting to grimace a little bit at the unfamiliar sensations as Jacen fed. "And he has your eyes."

For the first time in twelve hours, something occurred to him that had nothing to do with the children currently in their arms. "Do you think she's still out there in the waiting room?" Roganda had been on guard for days, saying that she was their personal guard until further notice. It had come in handy when Leia had gone into labor, helping him get her to walk to the medical suite with little fuss. He hadn't thought about it since.

Leia blinked at him, surprised for a moment at the subject change. Then she focused outward past the walls... and blinked again at who she found. "Luke's out there, too. And that Jade woman is with him. Go tell them?"

Han slowly laid Jaina in the bedside baby bed. Then he leaned down to kiss Leia ten

 

Loved that! Luke's so caring and compassionate with Roganda -- Loved the family moments. Liked that Luke wanted to include Mara -- Easy to understand why she would think he was "pushing it". Dude's in love though so who's surprised? Squee!

 

"Definitely," Han told him, walking around the bed and carefully placing Jacen in his arms. "This is Jacen. Leia's got Jaina."

Leia thought Luke looked younger in that moment... almost as if the years had peeled away, as if his guard had come down. She blinked, not having realized it had been up to begin with. Had it really been so long since he'd barged, wide-eyed, into her cell on the Death Star? At times like this, it sure felt like it. She started to say something, but thought the better of it when she caught sight of Han's face. He seemed to be thinking the same thing.

For here, and for now... nothing really needed to be said.

This was such a lovely update. So very well done. Luke was sweet to let Roganda see the twins first, but then again, Luke's always a sweetheart. Wonderful job, and looking forward to more!

P.S.: Fifteen pages for "Wanting to Know"? Yay!!

 

This was really good! But I feel like such a bad reader... I'll try to respond more in the future.

 

Loved this scene and loved how Luke is his loving self. I can't wait for more

 

BAMP

 

Sorry for late response - RL has been really Sithy lately. I had to re-read to get into the story again LOL.

Nice updates - I loved how sweet Luke was towards Roganda - but isn't he aways! Also loved the family scene in the end - Luke's right: Mara should be part of it - and I'm pretty sure she will, eventually...
Roganda keeps intriguing me. I guess I'll have to read that background story.

 

Jade_eyes: Technically, he is... from Mara's point of view. Thank you, Jade_eyes.

dancing_star: Thank you, Star.

Raphire: Now... you're not a bad reader. Never think that. And thank you.

JediFalcon: More... sooner rather than later, and probably before I finish dare challenge story. Thank you.

Master_Anonymous: I assume you meant 'bump'... in which case, thank you for that 'bump'.

kataja: *punches DRL in the nose* Know the feeling. Thank you, Kataja.

 

if only they had bonded earlier...

 

RedGold: Would have been nice, huh? Thank you.


Status: Update as soon as I get the evil plot bunny related to something else to go away. (And darn this cold. *shakes fist*)

 

Aren't those plot bunnies irritating, they get into your head and start nibbling away at your current stories, stealing lines and characters left, right and centre. I had a few steal my muse a few weeks back <shakes fist> I absolutely refuse to feed them no matter what their offer is for it's safe return .

Anyway, I thought it was high time I caught up on all my reviews, my internet access has been sporadic at best in the last 2 months due to a recent move but I now have full access again <sigh of relief>. As always I love how you write Luke, my poor inner fan girl doesn't get fed enough, so I'm glad I have you around to help out. Quiet/kind Luke and edgy/independent Mara, definitely need to see more of these two

As for Roganda..an interesting side character, I'm still trying to figure out all her edges, if that makes sense?

Anyway, I hope the cold has vamoosed and that the evil plot bunnies have all deserted due to lack of attention and an update will be around the corner

 

At first I didn't get this bit with Roganda (it was like: what the hell? What IS she doing here?), but I figured that since I'm new here I may not know all the details. Now I understand, thatnks to your great update . I like the way the story is progressing and I can't wait for more!

 

Wifflesnip: Aren't those plot bunnies irritating, they get into your head and start nibbling away at your current stories, stealing lines and characters left, right and centre. I had a few steal my muse a few weeks back <shakes fist> I absolutely refuse to feed them no matter what their offer is for it's safe return

I sorta had to follow it a little bit. Led to something... weird. (But more on that when I post it to SWFF...) But yes, it was a little irritating there for a while. Am not going to say why.

As for Roganda..an interesting side character, I'm still trying to figure out all her edges, if that makes sense?

As I had to do drabble sets to get the hang of her character, it makes perfect sense.

Anyway, I hope the cold has vamoosed and that the evil plot bunnies have all deserted due to lack of attention and an update will be around the corner

That cold? Oh yes. It did. Update later today, in fact. Thank you, Wiffle.


Mondra: Glad you understand now, and welcome to the boards. Thank you, Mondra.



Update later today, all.

 

A/N: With the gentle encouragement of more than three people, one of them my bored nephew who was in a play today called Miss Nelson Is Missing... I bring you this update.

~*~*~*~*~

In the end, it wasn't Leia or Han who broke the silence. It was Luke, still studying the infant boy in his arms. "Roganda said something about kidnapping attempts. And then warned me not to go very far."

Han blinked and looked at Leia, who waved him on tiredly. "She had some kind of a dream or something that shook her up so bad she had security move our furniture to a more protected location in the palace. I'm not surprised she'd be vague about it to you."

Luke nodded. He understood very well about being shaken up by the Force. He also knew that Roganda didn't like to talk about her senses, either... probably for the same reason that she didn't talk about her past before arriving on Hoth with Han: it hurt to think about. That part was a little clearer now. "And?"

"And what? She has everybody on guard."

Luke finally looked up at Han, then at Leia, watching him with tired interest. There was something he wanted to ask, but it was going to sound ridiculous no matter how he phrased it. "How did you know?"

"Know?" Leia wondered, frowning in evident confusion. "About what?"

"About how you felt about each other." He felt amusement virtually crackle beside him, and sighed. "It's not funny, Han."

Han chuckled. "Sure it is. You're asking us for relationship advice? Kid, when I knew isn't the point. Eventually, we both knew. And that's enough."

Luke stared at him for a few seconds before looking at Leia in question. "And the answer to my question is... what?"

"Me kissing you to make him jealous," Leia told him honestly. "And, really... it was before that. There are no simple answers there, Luke. Just a betting pool that was horribly inaccurate."

"You knew about the betting pool?" Luke wondered after staring at her for a minute.

Leia rolled her eyes and looked down at Jaina, still nursing fitfully. "The Alliance wasn't that big, nor am I blind or deaf." She smiled as Han chuckled again. "And why are you asking?"

"Curiosity."

Han shook his head and put a hand on Luke's shoulder. "No it isn't just plain old curiosity. What happened out there, Kid?"

Luke met his gaze squarely. "Not much, other than getting information from a clone that probably means nothing, but we did get it, so..." He frowned. "And it's too late to ask Ben, but would curing someone of the influence of a voice in their minds cause other things? It's weird."

Han looked at Leia again, questions in his eyes and on his tongue. "You might want to explain that one, Luke."

"I helped Mara get rid of a Force-implanted suggestion."

Leia sat up straighter and winced, regretting the motion. "What?"

"And that's where it gets intriguing. It was telling her to kill me, she didn't want to, and, eventually, she let me help her... and then I meditated on the way to Berchest and saw something odd, and I think she saw something of her own, and... now I'm confused and the only thing I can pin it down on is removing that influence." Luke met Leia's confused gaze, then looked at Han. "That was a bit much to spring on you both right now, but you did ask..."

Han blinked again, trying to process it all. From what he knew of the mind... which wasn't much, but he could kind of understand where Luke was coming from. Kinda. "It probably could have. Maybe there's a dataspool somewhere that wasn't destroyed with that kind of information."

~*~*~*~

In the waiting room, Mara was sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall with her eyes closed, trying to make sense of the information that she'd pried from that clone on Berchest. It didn't add up, for the clones to be coming from a large facility that the Republic didn't know about... and, from what she knew, Jedi had worked closely with clones during the Clone Wars, so normal, naturally-produced clones didn't have that weird resonance. These weren't normal, and the presence of Ysalamiri around the birthing chambers likely had something to

 

She smiled as Han chuckled again. "And why are you asking?"

"Curiosity."

Han shook his head and put a hand on Luke's shoulder. "No it isn't just plain old curiosity. What happened out there, Kid?"

Luke met his gaze squarely. "Not much, other than getting information from a clone that probably means nothing, but we did get it, so..." He frowned. "And it's too late to ask Ben, but would curing someone of the influence of a voice in their minds cause other things? It's weird."

Han looked at Leia again, questions in his eyes and on his tongue. "You might want to explain that one, Luke."

"I helped Mara get rid of a Force-implanted suggestion."

Leia sat up straighter and winced, regretting the motion. "What?"

"And that's where it gets intriguing. It was telling her to kill me, she didn't want to, and, eventually, she let me help her... and then I meditated on the way to Berchest and saw something odd, and I think she saw something of her own, and... now I'm confused and the only thing I can pin it down on is removing that influence." Luke met Leia's confused gaze, then looked at Han. "That was a bit much to spring on you both right now, but you did ask..."

Han blinked again, trying to process it all. From what he knew of the mind... which wasn't much, but he could kind of understand where Luke was coming from. Kinda. "It probably could have. Maybe there's a dataspool somewhere that wasn't destroyed with that kind of information."

Excellent update! So glad to see this continued. Wonderfully done and looking forward to more!

 

An excellent update and very happy to see it updated Looking forward to more

 

great update... wonder where this is going...

 

Marvelous update. Luke asking Han and Leia out of "curiosity" -- they didn't buy that for a second And a betting pool?!

 

This is so good I love the feel of this story. This is how Luke and Mara should have been.

I love it and I can't wait to read more.

Can you PM me for this, pLeAsE??

 

Good post! It's been forever since I read this! But it was worth the wait!

And now... I want another update! Lol

 

Uhhh, I still have problems seeing Roganda as "good" and that confuses me on a constant basis. I really look forward to the upcoming talk, can't wait to learn what she just discovered!

 

dancing_star: Thank you, Star.

JediFalcon: Thank you, update... probably tomorrow. (Where did the plot bunnies come from? *scratches head....* )

RedGold: It's going where it goes... Thank you, RedGold.

Jade_eyes: No, no they didn't. And as for the betting pool... Nobody could ignore the UST. (I'm totally not going to get to say "it happened in drabbles," am I?) Thank you, Jade_eyes.

Goddess_At_Heart: Love the user name (had a drama teacher who later became an English teacher who saw nothing odd about someone writing an essay and referring to one's self as "the Goddess writing this essay" when we couldn't use the word "I"), thank you, and yes... there shall be PMs.

Raphire: And another update you shall get. Thank you, Raphire.

kataja: for the confusion. Thank you, kataja.


PM list (updated) for The Table Was Crowded...

Jade_eyes
dancing_star
MaraJade4S
Raphire
madman007
JediMike2372
kataja
frankieskywalker
maramijade
JordanCHFel
dm1
whateveritis12
Wifflesnip
Darth_Drachonus
Jedi42
Jingocat
Goddess_At_Heart

 

~*~*~*~

Mara was pouring over star charts, ignoring him and any attempt made by Luke to start a conversation. She'd been not wanting to talk ever since she'd sat down at the Solo's kitchen table, saying she might know the answer to the clone problem, but needed a little time to see if she was right or not.

So he just sat across from her and watched. She was quite beautiful when she was concentrating on something.

He was so lost in watching her that he missed the door chime going off.

~*~*~*~

When Han answered the door, the last person he expected to see was Roganda, in a state of almost invisible and unbridled emotional turmoil. He stared at her for a moment, wondering what was wrong. He hadn't seen her that upset since she'd punched an icy wall on Hoth repeatedly. "Um... wait here."

Roganda blinked as he closed the door again, then turned to look at Darvis in puzzlement. "That was odd. Do I seem upset to you?"

Darvis wisely said nothing, and was saved from responding by Han reopening the door and coming out into the hallway with Luke.

"Come on. Mara agreed to stay while we go and let Roganda kick something."

"Han-" Roganda protested, stopping when he shook his head. "What?"

"I promised. Now let's go."

~*~*~*~

They were standing in a workout room that Luke had set up for the purpose of helping Leia to train, Roganda regarding the punching bag with distaste. "This may come as a shock, but I don't want to punch anything, least of all Luke's punching bag."

"We're not doing anything else until you let all of that out," Han told her. "Look at it this way: it's better than kicking rocks or punching ice."

Roganda wanted to roll her eyes at him, but didn't because he was right. Of all the times to keep his word... it had to be now? She turned and looked at Darvis, glanced at Luke, then looked at Darvis again. Finally, she held out a hand. "Can I use it?"

"What?" Darvis asked, still confused by Han Solo wanting Roganda to hit something.

"That thing you carry which you don't know how to use."

"Oh." Here Darvis fished his lightsaber out of a hidden pocket in his pants and handed it to her, surprising Luke. "Sure. Want it back."

"You carry a concealed lightsaber?" Luke wondered, looking at the man he'd dismissed at a glance with new eyes.

"Long story."

"Ah." Luke paused, took in the expression on Roganda's face, and suddenly wanted to run very far away and stay where ever it was. Would Endor be far enough away? "You can't exactly go hacking away at the walls, you know."

"Wasn't planning to, Jedi. Spar with me?"

Make that Bakura. He wondered very briefly if Gaeriel would mind if he camped out at her house... "Is that what you want?"

"Yes." Her tone would have frozen any water left on Tatooine.

"Then we spar." Why did he suddenly get the feeling that he was going to be very, very sore later on?

As Luke unhitched his saber and Roganda turned the borrowed one on, Han leaned over to Darvis, asking with a chuckle... "Orange?"

"Wife's favorite color."

If it hadn't been for the seriousness of the situation, Han would have outright laughed.

~*~*~*~

Mara was still studying star charts when Leia came into the kitchen and carefully joined her at the table. "Should you be up?"

"A person can only lay in bed so much before it becomes tedious," Leia told her curtly. "Any progress with those?"

Mara shook her head. "Not really." A wave of apprehension rolled over her and Mara winced. "What was that?"

Leia felt something register, but not as strongly. She looked down at her arms to realize that she was getting goosebumps. "I... don't know."

A mental image of Roganda with an orange lightsaber in her and flashed across the bond, and Mara blinked. "Oh. I'd be apprehensive, too, if someone looked that upset while holding a lightsaber." She reached out, wondering... What are you doing?!? I thought she was going to punch something!

Mara, can you not yell at me while I'm trying to concentrate? She didn't want to punch anything, Luke sent back, his mental voice seeming out of breath. And don't w

 

Wow. You got that up fast! And it was a long one too! I loved the last line and Roganda's interruption. Didn't get the orange joke though. All in all amazing post!

Bravo and keep it up!