Beyond - Legends "Tick-Tock, Skywalker...Tick-Tock" --SRJS Wordless Romance Challenge Response

Title: ?TICK-TOCK, SKYWALKER?TICK TOCK?
Author: Trepidation
Characters: Luke Skywalker, Mara Jade, Kryreena T?vorsans
Time: Three months post Thrawn Triology
Summary:
This is about as subtle as you can get from a romance perspective. However, that?s the way I remember the beginning of the Skywalker/Jade relationship. This was the era prior to the neutering/fixing of Mara Jade?when she was always ready with a barb which I found vastly more entertaining than the more recent stuff.

This post is a response to the Wordless Romance Challenge on the Skywalker-Jade Revival Society Discussion Thread.

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?TICK-TOCK, SKYWALKER?TICK TOCK?




?There were fifteen minutes left.?

?Were?? Eyes widened and he became very still. ?How many minutes now??

A wolfish grin dripped through like searing water engulfing a frosty surface. She craned her neck, glanced at the minuscule screen attached to the shape charge?s fuse housing and the grin evolved into an ?oh? face before altering back to the smirk.

?Three.?

?Three minutes?? Luke Skywalker exhaled loudly; irritation fighting with concern.

Mara Jade nodded and the leer remained. ?Guess we should leave?huh??

Concern won. ?Yeah.? He didn?t wait for a response, but trotted towards the main access hatch. ?Stay with her and I?ll take the point.?

?Me?? Jade glanced towards the little girl then back to the Jedi. ?Why don?t you play nursemaid, and I?ll take point??

?Nursemaid?? The Kuat girl?s face seemed innocent and endearing, but there was no mistaking the indignant stance in the word.

?Quiet, you.? Jade smiled warmly with a covert wink contrary to the mock words and the little girl couldn?t help but smile back. The moment was broken as a feral cascade of blaster fire lit up the far end of the hold. Both looked up to see Luke twirl forward slicing back the barrage with equal fervor. Wild flashes of indiscriminate energy enveloped his position. All, save none, were sent away in turn.

?Wow!!!?

Jade looked down to the astonished voice and took in the dreamy wide eyes drinking in the courageous Jedi.

?He?s too old for you.?

?Huh?? She colored slightly with an embarrassed smile.

?Besides?Jedi dress funny, and they have all these hang-ups that could really drive someone with any sense over the edge. For example, let?s say a spice-addled Rodian is charging you with a vicious looking vibro-blade; a real vicious one; not the knock-off slag you can pick-up from any second rate weapons trader outside of the Core, and in your educated opinion they are not overly enthusiastic about working out their differences in any of the more civilized ways?? Jade shook her head with an exasperated snort and tossed her head forward. ?That one would play twenty questions and seek moral certainty before applying what we in the trade refer to as finality.?

Jade glanced down to the little girl and grunted out a laugh at the confused expression.

?He talks, I act.? Jade took a deep breath and absently snatched the fuse housing from its perch of form explosives meant to level the entire pirate base as a fail safe. She tossed it in her hand and glanced to the wide eyed girl. ?Close your mouth, kid. I grounded the charge as soon as we got here.?

?But you said we had three minutes.?

?Did I?? Jade winked again. ?I said there were three minutes, but no one asked me if this piece of amateur surplus was still counting down.? She held the screen down to her face, and ?3:00? blinked continuously. ?See??

?But?? The girl glanced to Luke, who was making headway through the hatch opening, having fewer volleys of blaster fire with which to contend due to obvious attrition. ??he thinks that this place is goi

 

Awesome! I adored Ree. ah, how refreshing, the innocent insight of a child.

Dana

 

Oh, this was just cool. I miss -this- kind of Luke and Mara story. Lots of nice action, and snark on all sides (even Talon's), and just a hint of "Oh...oh, you. I like you."

I started keeping a list of things I wanted to quote when I realized that this story had so many good one-liners. The list got really long! I have to go right now, but I'll come back and edit that in later!

 

?Besides?Jedi dress funny, and they have all these hang-ups that could really drive someone with any sense over the edge. For example, let?s say a spice-addled Rodian is charging you with a vicious looking vibro-blade; a real vicious one; not the knock-off slag you can pick-up from any second rate weapons trader outside of the Core, and in your educated opinion they are not overly enthusiastic about working out their differences in any of the more civilized ways?? Jade shook her head with an exasperated snort and tossed her head forward. ?That one would play twenty questions and seek moral certainty before applying what we in the trade refer to as finality.?



This is pure, unadulterated Mara Jade as Timothy Zahn intended.

The whole thing...awesome.



CJM

 

This was great! Nice job with the action and the snark. This is how I imagined L and M being after the Thrawn Trilogy. Awesome! You should write more L/M stories like this. (LOTS more!)

 

This is probably the safest era of Luke and Mara where we know they won't say "I love you" to each other.

"He talks, I act" I cannot think of a better summary of Luke and Mara in just this one short sentence!

And leave it to an 8 yr old to have a child's intuition and tell it like it is. Nice parallel with Ree's story of her "guy" that likes her through pestering.

All around excellent.

 

I miss fics like this. Good action and just enough humor on the side to take the edge off. Well done.

 

?His father?s lightsaber?? Now she seemed very impressed. ?He really likes you.?

Out of the mouths of babes! LOL! Great story. Having Ree point out what was so obvious was wonderful. One tiny thing -- the lightsaber that Luke gave Mara has a blue blade, not green.

 

Thanks Jedi-2B...lightsaber color corrected to the proper shade.

 

Super action. Fantabulous dialogue. Ree's a little darling and doesn't miss a thing. Foot, I want this to continue LOL SQUEE!! If it does, please let me know.

 

Loved it!! I was going to quote something from the story, but I couldn't choose - there were tons of good lines. Great time period to set this challenge in, and I loved the snarky banter between Luke and Mara; it's what they're about! And Ree was adorable. Children sure do have insight, huh?

Again, wonderful piece!

 

Loved this! The dialogue between Mara and the little girl is *priceless*! Loved especially the bit about "What did you give him?" How typical of Mara to answer without hesitation "headaches" Gotta love Luke & Mara

Great job, I enjoyed this alot!!

 

Wonderful! I so enjoyed this!

Favorite moment: ?He really likes you, Jade.?

?I know.?

?And you like him.?

?Stow it, Kid. You talk too much.?

Bravo!

 

Great response!! I just loved little Ree! Too cute for Mara to be angry with her insights. And that little girls knows a thing or two. Loved the L/M interaction.

 

LOL! This was just too wonderful! Great job! Hope to see more from you in the future!

 

Great story, Trep. Liked the action, as always. And the dialogue... Mara is great here. As is Ree. And Luke, of course. Oh, all of it is!

Yours, Alkibiades