Beyond - Legends Once Bitten (OTP Thread Challenge #10)

Title: Once Bitten

This is a fanfic for the OTP Thread Challenge #10 Date Nite Gon Rong.

I had to write a story in which my couple’s date or other romantic encounter/moment goes terribly wrong because of a fall or injury.

Characters: Luke Skywalker/Mara Jade

Summary: This is before Vision of the Future. Mara and Luke aren’t really dating, but Luke is trying to do something as friends with hopes that something will develop between the two…when something goes terribly wrong.
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Mara Jade circled her opponent with lightsaber in hand, looking for an opening to earn her a killing blow and bragging rights. “Give up Corran, you can’t beat me,” she chided her friend.

The Corellian Jedi chuckled. “Mara, I can see you sweating. You’re not use to the climate on Yavin IV. All I have to do is keep you at arm’s length for another fifteen or twenty minutes, and when you pass out from heat exhaustion, I’ll win by default.”

She gave a scathing laugh. “I was the Emperor’s Hand. I spent time in hotter places than this.”

“You mean like on Tatooine?” His lips twisted into a tightlipped grin. “Oh yeah, I heard about your time there. You were sent to kill Luke and failed. Maybe the heat was a little too much for you then.”

She scowled as she pressed forward, swinging her saber at her friend’s head. The Jedi parried before spinning around and attempting to take out Mara’s legs at the knees. She did a back flip avoiding the lightsaber blade. “I could have killed him, but I would have blown my cover.”

“Keep telling yourself that,” Corran joked. He noticed movement around the edge of the jungle clearing where they were currently sparring. He reached out in the Force and sensed his Master approaching. “Luke’s watching.”

Mara risked a glance. “I thought he was teaching a class for the next two hours.”

He grinned in amusement. “I guess he heard his favorite smuggler delivered the Academy’s supplies and didn’t want you running off before getting a goodbye kiss.”

Her eyes narrowed. “You are so dead.” She leapt forward slashing, pushing Corran back as he frantically tried to ward off her attack. Realizing he was running out of clearing and would soon have his back against the trees, he wisely surrendered. “I give up. You bested me.”

“As I knew I would,” she boasted. “You’re no match for me, Corran.”

“Maybe next time.” They both deactivated their sabers and clipped them on their belts.

Mara could sense Luke patiently waiting across the clearing. She didn’t turn but addressed Corran. “Is he going to badger me into Jedi training again?”

Corran glanced over her shoulder to his Master. “He may…but, to be honest, I think it is a pretense to get to know you better. He has plenty of Jedi.” His grin widened. “What he doesn’t have is a special person in his life.”

She made a sound of disgust. “He needs to look somewhere else.”

She tried to walk past Corran, completely avoiding the Jedi Master behind her, but Corran grasped her elbow, halting her progress. “Just spend some time with him. He’s been despondent after Calli left. He sees you as a friend. If you avoid him, it will just make him more depressed. He needs to talk.”

She raised an eyebrow. “He can talk to you.”

“He has,” Corran assured her. “But I think he needs a woman’s perspective.”

“What makes you think I give a flying-frack about his woman problems?”

He laughed slow and easy. “You put on a good show, Jade, but it doesn’t fool me. You care for him.”

She shrugged out of his grip. “Please, I once wanted to kill him. Now, I barely tolerate him.”

Corran smirked. “Yeah, I noticed. I also noticed your coldness toward him started right after his return from the Eye of Palpatine.”

A cold fury rose up in her. How dare he insinuate she was jealous of Callista…that bodysnatching, Force-reanimated corpse! She drilled an index finger into his chest. “You are pushing the boundaries of our friendship.”

He threw his hands up in a mock gesture of surrender. “Sorry, sorry. Okay, you don’t give a rat’s ass about Luke. In fact, you wouldn’t piss on him if he was on fire.”

She blew out a frustrated breath. “I wouldn’t go that far.”

Corran smiled broadly. “Just say hello to the man.”

She rolled her eyes. “Fine.” She turned and gave the Jedi Master a wave as she called out. “How are you doing, Skywalker?”

A wide boyish grin bloomed across the Jedi’s face. “It is so nice to see you Mara. And it looks like you have been practicing with the lightsaber.”

She shook her head. “No, Horn is just really bad at sparring.”

“Hey,” Corran said with a pout before his lips curled up in a mischievous smirk. “Oh, I forgot. I promised to tutor one of the younglings. I got to run.” He turned and disappeared into the jungle leaving Mara and Luke alone.

She gritted her teeth as she watched Corran make his escape. She was positive there wasn’t a young apprentice awaiting his instruction. Horn was simply making her life just a little more uncomfortable today. It was probably payback for her trouncing him in their practice duel.

“How long are you going to be on planet?” Luke asked as he closed the distance between them, his smile never leaving his lips.

“Not long.” She looked at her wristchrono. “I really should be going now.”

“Wait,” Luke held out his hands in a ‘halting’ motion. “I recently found a cave a short walk from here. The interior is spectacular with a huge grotto, hexagonal basalt columns, stalagmites, stalactites and flowstones. But what is really amazing is there are millions and millions of glowworms inside whose luminescence makes the cave ceiling look like the night sky full of twinkling stars.”

She had to admit, that did sound like an interesting find. “How far is it?”

He pointed in a southernly direction. “Just past that ridge.” He looked at her expectantly. “Would you like to take a walk with me?”

She chewed on her bottom lip as she considered his offer. She was surprised that Luke was talking to her about something other than training, but the hopeful anticipation she sensed through the Force was a bit unnerving. It felt like he just suggested a romantic stroll through the park…if the park was an overgrown, humid, jungle full of blood-sucking insects, that is.

She was going to say no, but then thought better of it. Despite what she said earlier, she did consider Luke a friend… and according to Corran, he was a friend in need of somebody to talk to.

“Sure.”

…

Luke was elated that Mara decided to go cave exploring with him. As they walked to the cavern, he gave a sidelong glance at his companion. Mara Jade was the epitome of beauty. She had the body of a gymnast—strong and lean but with curves in all the right places. Her hair formed a perfect red-gold halo around her porcelain smooth face with delicately shaped features. She was smart, witty and extremely strong in the Force. She was everything he ever wanted in a woman, unfortunately she didn’t want him. Every time he encouraged her to come to Yavin IV she either refused or stayed just long enough to become irritated and leave.

Yesterday, when he discussed his bad luck with women with Corran, the Corellian Jedi advised Luke that he ‘was trying too hard’.

“You come off as needy, Luke. Just ask a woman out with zero expectations and you will do better. Become friends and let them make the first move romantically. Believe me it’ll work.” Corran gave him a good-natured slap on the shoulder. “Mara is delivering some supplies tomorrow. Why don’t you ask her to spar with you?”

Luke was surprised that Corran brought up Mara’s name. He never told Corran he was interested in the woman. “Why Mara?”

Corran smiled slightly. “Because there is a lack of single human females on this planet and if you can successfully make small talk with Mara Jade, then you’ll do fine with any woman.”

“I don’t know…she’s not much for chitchat.”

“Luke, Mara talks to me…so it’s not an impossible task.”

Luke wondered why Corran first suggested he let a woman make the first romantic move and then in the same breath recommend he talk to Mara. Corran and Mara were good friends…did she tell Corran that she was interested in Luke. Luke mentally shook his head in frustration; Mara never showed any romantic interest in him. That was just wishful thinking on his part.

“I would love to spar with her, Corran, but she hates sparring and she hates this planet. She won’t even get off her shuttle.”

“First of all, Mara loves sparring. If she doesn’t want to do it with you it is because you use it as a precursor to pressure her to become a Jedi.” He paused in thought. “I’ll tell you what. If I can get Mara to spar with me, then you have to ask her to do something with you…and that something has to be non-Jedi related. She has to believe you aren’t going to badger her to train.”

Luke knew there was no way Mara would agree to spar in the suffocating heat of Yavin IV, so he took the bet…and surprisingly lost. Not that he was upset about losing the wager. He was now happily walking through the jungle with Mara and planning on doing some cave exploring. Maybe Corran was right. He had been trying too hard. This might not be a real first date, but it was a good first start.

…

“Luke, this is amazing.” Mara was standing in the middle of the grotto gazing at the glowing pinpricks of light generated by the bioluminescent organs of millions of glowworms clinging to the rock above.

“It is fantastic.” He was sitting on a large boulder in the center of the grotto. He was pleasantly surprised when Mara came over and sat next to him. “Thanks for coming out with me.”

In the faint light he could see her smile softly. “Thanks for inviting me. It’s nice to spend time with friends. I know I don’t stop by often, but… sometimes I miss you.” She looked at her wristchrono. “Unfortunately, I really should be going.”

Luke knew he shouldn’t appear needy, but he really didn’t want to end his time with her so soon. “There is a really interesting column formation a little further in if you want to see it.” He increased the intensity of his glow rod and let his eyes adjust to the light. He was about to stand when a sharp pain shot down his leg. He jumped up and yelped in surprise. Mara stood and gazed at the cavern floor before snatching the glowrod from Luke’s hand. “There’s something slithering away. Wait here.”

“Don’t try to catch it,” Luke yelled out. “I don’t know what it is, but the bite hurts like hell.” He gritted his teeth as a burning sensation started to roll down his legs and up his back. “It feels like somebody is injecting lava into my backside.”

Mara held the glowrod above her head. “I’m not trying to catch it, Farmboy. I’m trying to identify it. There it is.” She gazed at the floor for a long moment. “It has translucent skin and reflective scales. Do you know anything about that type of animal?”

When Luke didn’t respond she returned to where she last saw him and found the Jedi unconscious on the cave floor. “Oh no.” She pulled out her commlink and keyed the code for the Praxeum’s medical facility. She listened to the buzzing of the line for almost a minute before she disconnected and called Corran Horn.

“Horn, here.”

“Corran!” Mara said frantically. “Luke was bitten by a snake. It had translucent flesh and reflective scales and now Luke is out cold. I need an air ambulance to come to where we sparred. We’re in a cave about a hundred meters from there. Can you find Cilghal? I need to know what to do.”

“She’s in surgery,” Corran stated. “She can’t leave, but I am familiar with that snake. I’ll talk you through the steps to save Luke.”

“Save Luke? It’s poisonous?!”

“There are two snakes that look like that. Both cause loss of consciousness, but one can cause death. What does the wound look like? You can tell by the bite marks. Is it puncture marks or scratch like teeth marks?”

She looked over to Luke. “I don’t know. I think it bit him on the back of his leg.”

“Then look!”

Mara felt her face heat up in embarrassment realizing she had to lower the Jedi’s trousers.

“Hold on Corran. I need to remove some of his clothing.”

She reluctantly unbuckled his trousers, pulled them down around his ankles, and then rolled Luke over onto his stomach so she could check the back of his legs. She passed the light over his muscular upper thighs but didn’t see anything. She then noticed a small tear in his boxer-brief.

‘Of course, he had to be bitten on the buttocks’, she thought acerbically.

She pulled down the back of his boxer briefs far enough to expose the wound.

“Corran, there are puncture marks on his…his butt cheek.”

“Puncture marks.” There was a long pause. “Ummm, Mara. That’s not good. You need to make a cut from puncture mark to puncture mark and suck out the venom.”

“What?”

“Do it!” Corran insisted. “The snake is poisonous.”

“No,” she said. “Get an air ambulance over here.”

“I’m on my way, but you have to do it!” Corran yelled.

“Corran, if Luke was on fire…I’d probably piss on him, but I am definitely not going to suck poison out of his ass.”

“Really? You really don’t care if he dies. I guess I was wrong when I said you cared for him…dead wrong.”

She rubbed a hand over her face knowing she couldn’t let Luke die. He saved her life more than once and despite her adamant proclamations to the contrary…she did care about the man…deeply. “Oh, for Sithsake! Fine! I’ll do it.” She pulled a small vibroblade out of her boot and activated it. “I swear Skywalker,” she yelled at his unconscious prone body. “If it was anybody else, they would be dead. You are the only person I would do this for.”

She was prepared to make the cut when she heard Corran laughing over the commlink. “Stop Mara. My mistake. Puncture marks mean that is a crystal snake. It’s harmless. You can stop sucking now.”

Mara gazed at her commlink with unbridled fury. “Corran, you are so dead.”

…

Luke woke up, not in the cave, but the Praxeum infirmary. He turned to find Cilghal, his Mon Calamari Jedi healer, checking an intravenous line running to his arm. Behind her, Mara Jade and Corran Horn sat, obviously waiting for him to wake up. Mara had her arms folded across her chest, head down and glowering at the floor. Corran had a cheeky expression on his face that morphed to one of concern for he noticed Luke was awake.

“How are you doing Luke?” Corran asked as he rose and walked over to him.

The Jedi Master opened his mouth to answer but shut it when he realized he didn’t remember what happened.

“Relax Master Skywalker,” Cilghal advised him. “You were bit by a Crystal snake. It renders you unconscious, but there is no lasting damage. You may have some memory loss.”

“Ahh, a Crystal snake,” Luke groaned. “I think Jacen caught one of those once.”

“Luckily for you,” Corran continued. “Mara had your back. She kept a close eye on your back while you were lying all defenseless in that cave.”

A spike of irritation could be felt through the Force. “Horn,” Mara muttered under her breath. “Drop it.”

Luke looked to Mara and back to Corran wondering what was going on. He tried to remember what happened this day but came up with nothing. “Were either of you hurt?” He gazed at Corran’s face intently. “Where did you get those scratch marks?”

Corran cleared his throat and glance back to Mara. “I was running through some thick brush to avoid…um the red hooded spitting serpent.”

Luke had never heard of that type of snake. “Did it get you?”

“Not yet,” Mara replied for Corran as she walked up to Luke’s bed.

Corran reached out and patted Luke on the shoulder. “I would love to stay, Luke, but I have a class to teach. I just wanted to make sure you were alright.” He then turned and practically ran out of the infirmary.

Luke gazed at Mara, feeling sad for some reason. “Are you leaving also?”

She sighed deeply. “I really should be on my way…but I’ll call Karrde and tell him I’m staying through tomorrow. I want to ensure you make a full recovery.” She cleared her throat as she averted her eyes. “When you got hurt, I realized…” There was a long pause. “I realized how much you meant to me.

Luke was taken aback by her admission. “You mean the world to me also, Mara. You’re one of my most trusted friends.”

She blushed slightly. “I’m just glad that snake wasn’t poisonous.”

“Same here.” He smiled widely before screwing up his courage to ask. “Do you want to go to dinner or a holo sometime. I promise I won’t bother you about training. I just want to spend time with you as a friend.”

“Yes, I’d like that.” The corner of her lips curled up slightly. “A holo will probably be safer than cave exploring.”

He was pleasantly surprised by her answer. “Great, it’s a date.”

 

Excellent response to the challenge! Corran is a true friend, tells it like it is L/M are wonderfully in character. Luke is so earnest and so sincere, and Mara has to eventually realize what he means to her.

 

OMG this is a gem! So much fun to read!

Sooooooooooooooooooooooooo funny! Poor Corran, but he had it coming! Don't screw with Mara, she'll make you pay!

This was both sweet and hilarious. Thanks for sharing it!

 

This is pretty funny, and what a troublemaker Corran is! I’m surprised Mara didn’t rip his head off over that. That line about her “watching his back” — . She sure did! Up close and personal!

Great challenge response!

 

Of course Luke would have to get bit on the butt.

And Corran has been hanging out with Loki.

 

Oh a crystahl snake that brings back merrories to YJK, loved that nod to Jacen and his snake you included.
Funny story, defenetly an akward situation for Mara to be in, guess he will repay Corran for that that soon. Sometimes I really wished we would have seen more stuff like this than the dark plotlines we got in the later Legends novels.

 

Thanks for reading guys! I am at Star Wars Celebration now, so I can't write much. I will be at the fanfic panel today if anybody wants to meet up.

 

Thanks! Mara should have known Corran was messing with her. Everybody knows you don't suck the venom out...because you then have a mouthful of venom. I think Mara was a bit upset over what happened to Luke and wasn't thinking clearly.

Thanks. Corran did stop Mara before she had a chance to actually do the deed. He does have some sense of self preservation. Mara really can't do anything horrible to Corran because he is the only person who knows what she was going to do. I assume she had her commlink on speaker phone and he heard her talking to herself. So, unless she kills him, she better be nice or he might tell people what she was ready to suck on Luke's backside.

Thanks. I figure once Luke was safe in the medical center she would chase down Corran for some payback. It looks like Corran is a very fast runner.

In my mind Corran was one of the few Jedi Mara tolerated in the books in the early years. In my head canon they are good friends, almost as much as Talon Karrde is to her. It has been decades since I read the books with Corran and Mara, but I am fairly sure they were friends. I know they are in all of my fanfics. lol! Thanks for reading.

I am sort of sad that a M/L fic is now considered nostalgic...but I guess it is true. When I attended the 'shipping panel at Celebration is was all Reylo. There was almost no mention of Luke and Mara 'shipping. Poor Mara is disappearing from a GFFA. I only saw a few Mara Jades at Celebration. I am glad you enjoyed the story. I swear, if Mara Jade shows up in EP9 I will lose my mind.

Yeah, she is JEALOUS!

Thank you. I love writing L/M and I am so happy that people still like to read about the couple.

Thanks. Yeah, I have written more than a few stories featuring Jacen's crystal snake. You got to love a nonvenomous snake that knocks you out.

Thanks everybody for reading. My inspiration for this story is an old joke told to me when I was a teenager: I think it took place during old western times. Two men were walking through a desert region. One guy has to go off the trail to relieve himself and gets bit by a snake on his butt or the groin area. He tells his best friend to run back to camp and ask the old man with former medical experience what they should do. So the young guy runs all the way back to their camp and the old man tells him he needs to suck out the poison. So the young guy runs back to his friend. "What did the old man say?" his bitten friend asks and the young man replies, "He says you're going to die."

I was thinking of doing that with Mara, but I know she wouldn't joke with Luke in such a dire situation. So I made changes to make it more in character.

Thanks again for reading!!!

 

Fairly early on, I was thinking that this was quite an enjoyable story.

This and other funny moments that made me smile, then holy smokes, you cranked it up some gears once Luke got bitten.

That was so Mara, when she told him she wasn't intending to catch the snake, only to identify it.

Medical emergencies are my bread and butter, so I'm in familiar territory once Mara calls for an air ambulance, but no, there was further to go, and in my innocence, I thought that pulling Luke's trousers down to his ankles, and looking for either puncture wounds or scratches were as far as it was going to go.

Oh, that was funny. The first time that I laughed out loud.

Fantastic prose, all the way through. I only hope that Corran got that last bit statement over the comlink, and even that he somehow recorded it.

I was surprised that Corran did not let her go through with it; I thought she was going to be doing it.

Like @Anedon , I wish the EU had given us stories like this, for the Jedi Academy books.

The best, laugh out loud moment was in the hospital wing, however:

Awesome response to the Challenge. Very well done. Very entertaining.

 

Sorry, I didn't see this response until today.

I thought that would have complicated her relationship with the Farmboy. She would have been embarrassed and blasted off planet. Also, I am fairly certain Mara would have made Mirax a widow if Corran didn't stop the joke when he did. I am positive Mara murdering one of Luke's Jedi would have put a damper on her and the Farmboy's blooming relationship.

Thanks for reading!