Beyond - Legends Realizing my Heart's Fondest Dream. (DDC 2020)

Note: This is for the DDC 2020, where Mara Jade relates her adventures.
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Entry 1

As I take my newly acquired yacht, the Hunter's Luck on its maiden voyage, a routine trading run, I feel a sense of elation. Even though I feel professional pride and gratitude working with Talon Karrde, there is a liberation to be found in having my own ship.

It wasn't so long ago that I didn't feel I had anything but a burden of revenge and feeling adrift. Luke Skywalker was central to turning my worlds-view upside down and inside out.

Now, why does he have to enter into this? He has a habit of crossing my mind at the most frequent intervals! But, to be fair and honest, he did have a lot to do with my gainning a sense of well-being.

It all started with the vanquishing of that pesky last command of the Emperor's!

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Yes! Give Mara her own adventure! This is gonna be good!

 

love to see Mara writing her diary

 

Mara has been one of my favorite characters forever. You capture her pride and independence very well.

 

Just around for a good night story because I forgot my Stephen King book "Doctor Sleep" at work. And then I stumbled over this, which made me very smiley and will send me sweet dreams. Thanks, Ny!

 

LOL! Mara is in "not a date" mode

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#2

Talon Karrde ... an information broker ... a very interesting career move on his part, a lateral one, since he has never been short on the actual facts. My job had always entailed backing him up and sifting out the half-truths and outright fabrications. Being a liaison -- that just made what I had always done more official.

A consequence of all this was having to attend New Republic functions. I could mingle with the best, but politicians always had bored me. I didn't want to get stuck with any one of the long-winded types, in particular, so since Luke Skywalker and I were in (I guess you'd call it a truce with one another), we agreed to accompany one another to the karking things. He insisted I was doing him a favor because otherwise well-meaning friends and family would try to set him up with an unattached lady.

To be honest, and I'm nothing if not that, it wasn't exactly unpleasant going to those occasions with him. He was a decent dancer, more than decent, quite good actually. Strangely enough, though, every time he caught me looking at him for more than a half minute, he'd blush... Must be that whole Farmboy upbringing...

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Yup, blame it on the country farm boy upbringing, I like that she’s introduced to Luke in a “purely business” setting - they both have to go to these functions, she doesn’t want to be bored and he doesn’t want to be bothered with wanna-be girlfriends. They can actually talk to each other without any pressure to take their arrangement any further.
I like that Luke’s a good dancer. That’s a nice detail! And Mara would definitely appreciate a dancer who can keep up with her!

 

love the details in the beginning relation

 

Love Mara and Luke! I wonder what thoughts were brewing in Luke's head that would make him blush? Lol!

 

Excellent entries, Nyota. I liked the even handed voice that you have given Mara. She is excited to be on her own, but can't quite get the pesky Jedi out of her head. She still has the attitude, which is important. She is nothing if not direct. It can sometimes get her into trouble, but on the flip side it can help cut through fractious nonsense which Mara cannot abide. Oops. Sorry. I got off on tangent there.

Good to see that Luke in the mix early. I look forward to more.

 

#3

I must admit that for some time after the elimination of the Emperor's pesky "last command," I had been wondering how much of my Force abilities were truly mine, ones that he had purposely squelched or muted, and others which he had enhanced. I had always had a strong, almost unerring danger sense, and my hand-to-hand combat skills relied as much on agility and keen observation as any Force talents.

On a daily basis, this matter did not occupy me or distract me to the point of losing my efficiency or professional edge, but it niggled, like a scratch you couldn't quite reach.

Once Skywalker established his Jedi Praxeum/Academy on Yavin 4, I felt an even stronger tug/nudge. It was nerve-wracking at times; the more I tried to shrug the whole thing off, the more often it would cross my mind again.

With an inward sigh, I finally approached Karrde and told him everything.

With his consummate acumen for doing what was best for all involved, he agreed to give me a brief leave of absence from my duties with his organization. My position would definitely still be mine when I had gotten a satisfactory answer to my rhetorical questions about my own abilities. I got the impression that Talon was doing this not only for my sake personally but because any Force skills that got honed and fine-tuned would make me a better asset in my role as second-in-command and Master Trader. With that viewpoint, I certainly could not disagree.

When I told Skywalker I would be joining his Academy for a time, his elation was disconcerting. Was he that happy to add another trainee to his ranks? That couldn't be the only reason, could it?

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Um, no Mara, I think the reason he's so happy about it is because he likes you.

 

#1 Already thinking about Luke. It's interesting to see events from Mara's perspective.

#2 Farm boy thing. Who taught Luke how to dance?

#3 Mara was a very dangerous person even without her Force powers. Luke knew exactly what he was doing.

 

#4

I looked into a pair of eyes that were astonishingly more vibrantly green than mine... Kyp Durron.

What an enigma wrapped in a mystery is this young Jedi Knight... had a literal run-in with a defunct Sith Lord Exar Kun, worse than running afoul of a Holocron. I could feel no residual taint of darkness however, and having been around the Emperor and Lord Vader, it should come as no shock that if there was any, I would've sensed it.

His gaze upon me was wary after our polite greeting in the Praxeum refectory; I could tell he was expecting a judgment at worst or a guarded suspiciousness at the least.

I tried not to think overmuch of my own actions and choices as the Emperor's Hand. Weighing myself down undere a load of guilt wouldn't change anything and could paralyze me.

I couldn't tell him such things on such short acquaintance, and likely he wouldn't believe me anyway.

So I tried conveying my message another way, through lighthearted banter. It soon put him at ease, and I could tell he was grateful for the casual note of the conversation.

Luke now joined us, and for some unaccountable reason my usual fluency with the nuances of innocuous socializing fled.

He was wearing a very casual outfit having just finished a spar and swim in one of the nearby lakes. His blond hair was still damp from the swim and shower afterwards; his blue eyes sparkled with an air of relaxed calm I had seldom seen during our times together during the Thrawn crisis.

"It's really good having you here, Mara," he told me, and I couldn't even come up with a snarky comeback.

All I could manage was a cool glance and a teasing smirk.

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I like how this is progressing. You're including not just the potential romance with Luke, but also adding in her close relationship with Talon and her new friendship with Kyp. This makes her much more well-rounded.

Great description of Luke!

 

Love to see Kyp. A new friend and quite a match for Luke.

 

#5

Corran Horn, like me, loved being behind the controls of an X-wing or anything that flew. He was at the Praxeum at the same time I was; his prowess at telekinesis was less than optimal, and I helped him out with exercises to strengthen that ability.

He teased me shamelessly every time he caught Luke giving me mooka-eyed looks.

I glowered. "He is doing no such thing, Horn!" Even if he was, it was certainly nothing to me.

Corran just smirked; as I later found out, his courtship with his wife Mirax had held no shortage of snark. He was speaking from experience, since every time I bantered with Luke it just seemed to convince him something was stirring between Skywalker and myself.

"You're delusional, Corran, you know that?" I told him icily one time, and he just laughed.

One afternoon, a sleek yacht arrived at Yavin 4, and her captain joined us for third meal. Corran introduced her as his wife, Mirax.

She and I talked amicably about her ship the Pulsar Skate, which like the Millennium Falcon reputedly, had juiced up specs.

Little did I know that this would be the start of a very interesting and lifelong friendship.

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I always liked Mirax and Mara hanging out together. I can't remember if they did that in the profics, but it is seen a lot in fanfic.

 

Corran and Luke were often together in the profics. Love to see Mirax and Mara together

 

Can't possibly think of another, can we, Mara? I love how she's both on to him and in total denial at the same time. Because Mara's no dummy, but these sorts of More Than Friends Feelings are new and scary!

Really enjoying how Mara's determination to unlock her own true abilities plays into this -- it's time for her to dig deep and find out that she was always more than the Emperor's Hand. And the fact that there's a very handsome Luke wandering around being athletic and attractively rumpled from swimming and sparring doesn't hurt...

I also like that she's finding her people among the students. Kyp may be young, but he understands her better than many people could. They've both made mistakes and been manipulated. And Corran is a big snarky tease, which makes him perfect BFF material for Mara. Thing is, Corran sees her and Luke. He's been there, and he knows what's up with his friends.

This is loads of fun, looking forward to seeing how things continue!

 

#6

I heard in a roundabout way about all the attempted kidnappings of Luke's niece and nephews. That's what comes of being in the political limelight. Your family becomes weapons that your enemy can use against you.

Another reason, if I needed one, to stay free as the winds.

I asked Skywalker about this latest near-disaster and he told me it had happened because of a wrangle in the NR Senate. Vying for a resurgence of their family's political power had caused a Senator's half-brother's uncle's cousin to try to snag the kids from a HoloVid Hero Theme Park. Luckily, the Noghri were vigilant and took care of the would-be threat.

I shared in no uncertain terms my opinion about families and keeping aloof.

Luke favored me with a troubled look. "You're not suggesting Jedi should go back to the no-attachment rule?"

"Krell, no!" I exclaimed. "That led to too many secrets and more trauma and drama than it was worth! No, what I'm saying is you have to be careful and choose wisely ... Is your family going to be your priority? You cannot control or prevent every thing that could arise. It's best to have your life in some semblance of calm before you drag your family into the midst of things they don't need to be mixed up in."

Luke sighed sorrowfully. "I've said pretty much the same thing to Leia about stepping back. She keeps saying she's going to, but then something happens that pulls her back in."

I scowled. "I hope she doesn't live to regret that one day."

"So do I."

It was some days after this conversation that Karrde sent me an urgent summons. My temporary leave for training had to come to an end, it seemed. I felt I had reached a plateau in any event.

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keeping free or not that's the question for Mara