Beyond - Legends "The Genus of Pulchritudinous Mora" | A Belated MMM Short Story | Pre-JAT; L/M, H/L, & more!

Title: "The Genus of Pulchritudinous Mora"
Author: Mira_Jade

Genre: Mush, Family
Rating: PG
Time Frame: Legends, 11 ABY; pre-Jedi Academy Trilogy
Characters: pre-Luke Skywalker/Mara Jade, Han Solo/Leia Organa, Teneniel Djo/Isolder, etc.

Summary: When welcomed to Hapes for a gala celebrating Teneniel and Isolder’s third wedding anniversary, Luke Skywalker faces a dangerous triumvirate of his matchmaking sister, a scheming Queen Mother, and, of course, the local flora. Thankfully, back-up comes from a most unexpected source . . .


Notes: Hello, all! So, this was supposed to be my contribution to the fourth MMM challenge, whose prompt was spring is in the air. You know . . . the MMM deadline that passed a month ago? Yeah, that's the one. This was what my muse came up with in answer, before DRL put a serious damper on my writing schedule and prevented me from finishing in time. But! I didn't want this plot bunny to remain stagnant on my hard-drive forever, so I have to thank @WarmNyota_SweetAyesha for encouraging me to finish and post this, and for providing feedback and inspiration along the way. This story would not be here without you, my friend! So, enjoy all of the mushy Legends nostalgia and gratuitous application of various clichés - you'll know them when you see them - it's been a true pleasure giving this fic a voice, is all I can say!

I thank you all for reading and hope that you enjoy!


Disclaimer: Nothing is mine, but for the words.

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“The Genus of Pulchritudinous Mora”
by Mira_Jade​

I.

Spring was in the air when they arrived.

The season was a scent, first and foremost, of blooming trees and spawning gardens, all planted in ample abundance to adorn the royal city of Chume’Dan. Drowsy spores of pollen drifted on the breeze, spurred on by the cloudless sky to lazily flit about with no apparent destination in mind. Myriad species of birds raised their voices and sang their trilling songs, flashing their brightly colored wings and dancing about to attract their mates for the season. The waterways running through the city swelled from the winter melt high in the basalt mountains, so much so that rushing white currents crowned their crystal blue depths with froth and foam. Even though he'd left Tatooine behind more than a decade ago, the natural beauty now surrounding him caught Luke Skywalker’s eye everywhere he looked, and he marveled.

The subtropic splendor of Hapes played a harmonious backdrop to the architecture of its crowning city. Gently sloping buildings danced to compliment the highs and lows of the landscape, all in done in harmonious shades of bronze and gold to shine against the rich backdrop of the native greenery. The capital of the Consortium was kept purposely small, relatively speaking, so as to not impact the planet’s biosphere overly much. To make up for the carefully controlled urban congestion, rotating rings of floating landing pads held mini-suburbs in the sky to add additional room for the ever turning populace of nobility, merchants, and supplicants the city routinely hosted. Planetside, the most dramatic mark of man-made design was the Fountain Palace itself, standing high above the city on one of the sweeping bluffs of black volcanic stone. The Queen Mother’s residence was as intimidating in shape as it was elegant and tasteful, and it dominated the skyline from every angle in the city below. The Hapan seat of power was, Luke could admit, an impressive sight as a whole.

“It’s not just you with your wide eyes, kid,” Han had gruffly commented as they were escorted away from the Falcon by their hosts. “Hapes is in a league all its own.”

“It’s not Alderaan, of course, but this is probably the most naturally beautiful setting I’ve seen for a palace since then,” Leia had agreed, her eyes tracing over their surroundings with undisguised appreciation. Han hadn’t frowned – never that – but there had been a touch of unease in his expression for the clearly displayed wealth and grandeur they passed. Over all this and sixty-two planets more, Leia could have been the monarch if she’d accepted Prince Isolder’s suit. The survivors of Alderaan could have called this wondrous place their own, if only she'd been able to ignore what her own heart said on the matter to marry for duty rather than love.

But Leia merely hooked her arm through her husband’s without breaking their stride, careful not to disturb where little Anakin was nestled in the crook of her elbow to sleep. “That said, it’s all a little ostentatious for me,” her voice was gentle to smile up at Han. “I’ve come to prefer my aesthetics a little more . . . rustic, now.” Even over the Solo family’s permanent address on Coruscant, the little cabin aboard the Falcon had been where she was most at home since Alderaan, Luke knew. Hapes had nothing on that.

“Well then, rustic you know I can provide, Princess,” Han had smiled a toothy grin, puffing out his chest not quite unlike the red crested birds high in the fronds of the trees above them. “Whatever Your Highness demands, of course.”

“How can I resist such charm?” Leia’s voice would have been droll to outside ears, but Luke was close enough to see the way her eyes softened, taking on a warmth that was reserved for her family and family alone. For a moment, there was just her and her husband and nothing else.

For the smile they shared, Luke was more than happy to hang back with Winter and Threepio, minding Jacen and Jaina as the twins took in their surroundings like only two-year-olds could. The trip to Hapes had been deemed safe enough for the children to come out from hiding on Anoth, especially seeing as how in a few months they'd return to living with their parents fulltime anyway. This was a trial run for the young family, so to speak, and one that was sorely needed. Luke didn’t want to say that there had been difficulties – their bond was stronger than that – but there had been some . . . strain on his sister’s marriage since she was elected as Minister of State in Mon Mothma’s cabinet. While Han would never ask Leia to slow down or step back from her political life – that was her heart’s pulse and lifeblood – that did not change the fact that a great deal of her time was devoted to the New Republic first, leaving her to balance time with her family second. No matter how she tried, one had to give to the other, and it sometimes seemed as if her family capitulated to her career often than not. Hers was a balancing act that Luke did not envy.

They deserved this vacation, Luke let out a breath to acknowledge, more so than anyone. And since it was officially a matter of state as well, their journeying to Hapes – Isolder and Teneniel were using their first wedding anniversary with Teneniel crowned as Queen Mother as an excuse to cut through quite a bit of political drama and ancient taboos when it came to welcoming foreign interests into the Consortium – Leia could successfully kill two birds with one stone. This trip was as much for the economical gain of the New Republic as it was for her family, and Luke was happy for her, really he was.

Yet, that said, he could personally do without his sister – and Teneniel, for that matter – trying to extend that selfsame familial bliss to him. Force love and keep both women, but they were really trying too hard, especially when Luke didn’t need or want them to – at all. Just because they were both happy with their nascent families didn’t mean that he was missing out on any sort of domestic fulfillment himself. He was living vicariously through his niece and nephews, and was for now more than content to continue on as a carefree old bachelor.

Honest he was.

Teneniel looked wonderful once they were finally permitted an audience. She’d come to make Hapes her own since leaving Dathomir behind for love of her husband, as much as she could. If there was a shadowed look about her eyes that caused him concern enough to comment on, she’d brushed his worries aside to say that if any head bearing a crown wasn’t heavy, then they didn’t deserve the weight they carried. She knew what she was getting into with her marriage, and she was determined to fight for what she’d claimed as her own for as long as need be.

“After all, it’s no trial in life is impossible to overcome with the right partner by one’s side,” her grey eyes had glinted mischievously to say and no – oh no, he wasn’t falling into that trap again. Nope. He already caught enough flak on that subject from Leia, and he’d allow his twin sister certain liberties that he wouldn’t tolerate from anyone else – not even from an old friend like Teneniel.

For the most part, he’d been able to ignore her not-so-subtle implications in favor of discussing his ideas for establishing a new Jedi Academy to replace the old order the Empire had destroyed. Over the last year, and primarily through Leia’s help with spearheading the whole endeavor, they’d been able to cut through quite a bit of the political minutia and had even tentatively selected the old Rebel Base on Yavin IV as a possible site to host the praxium. Within a month’s time, Luke hoped to start recruiting potential students – he was unofficially now, to the best of his ability.

Teneniel, as a Dathomiri warrior whose people had long respected the power of the Jedi since the time before the Old Republic’s founding, had been all bright eyes and wonder to hear him say so. “Finally, you are restoring balance to the Great Song once more,” she had enthused. “It’s how it should be.”

“Maybe you’ll come for a for season or two to hone your own powers, Your Majesty,” Luke had grinned at her to offer. “You have an open invitation; always.”

“As much as I appreciate your offer, my future is now aligned with that of Hapes. I cannot abandon my place in the capital for overly long without risking everything my reign hopes to accomplish,” her voice had been more wry than bittersweet to say. “Yet, that is not to say that I do not hope to send my daughter to you one day.” For those words, such a fondness had shone from her eyes as she turned to watch where her own toddling youngling was playing as they walked the paths of the queen’s personal gardens. The crown princess of Hapes was just a few months younger than the twins, and was currently looking over Jacen’s shoulder with a serious expression as he tried to coax a purple-backed frog to come out of the pond and play with them. In the easy way of children, the twins and little Tenel Ka were already fast friends, even with only just having met each other for the first.

“She will have the freedom to chose what she wants in life,” Teneniel followed his gaze to declare. Her voice was firm, rippling with conviction. “My keeping that vow will be the greatest gift I can give as her mother.”

Prince Isolder, for his part, had been quiet for her bold words, but he did not disagree with his wife aloud. Even so, his mouth pressed into a thin line, and his expression was troubled. Luke understood both sides on that particular argument; Tenel Ka had two strong heritages at war within her blood, and resolving that dichotomy would be a lifetime’s work spent in achieving true harmony. And yet, Hapes was poised on the cusp of a great precipice. Only with Teneniel’s rule was the Consortium shrugging aside its long history of isolationism, misandry, and xenophobia; that work would not be accomplished solely through her reign alone – the next generation would need to have a strong willed leader of like mind to carry on her legacy. In a perfect world, Isolder would encourage his daughter to follow her heart, Luke didn’t doubt his love for his family in the slightest; but the fact remained that if the queenship fell into the hands of one of Isolder’s aunts or female cousins or even, Force forbid, returned to his mother . . .

Well, Luke felt a chill that wasn’t wholly caused by the lingering bite in the spring air, and fought not to shiver. Better was it for the entire Consortium if the future didn’t come to that.

Even so, no matter how he thought that Teneniel – and Leia, the traitor – would draw the line at friendly teasing, that didn’t explain how many beautiful and coincidentally single women were introduced to him as the celebratory week of merriment drew on. Hapes was famously in a league of its own when it came to stunning outward appearances, and Teneniel’s citizens were each as lovely as dreams, there was no doubt about that. Lovely and talented and easy to talk to – between she and Leia they managed to leave no stone unturned. Each woman they sent his way would make a wonderful potential wife to some very lucky partner.

Yet . . .

If he was honest with himself, if he ever did bind himself to a marriage mate, he would like that partner to be someone he could share his life’s work with. And, right now, resurrecting the Jedi Order was his definitive goal, first and foremost. Restoring balance to the Force by undoing the ill deeds of his father and Darth Sidious: that was his complete focus, and the true marriage of his heart. Sharing himself with someone who couldn’t, in turn, share the highs and lows that would come with the burdens of that mandate . . .

. . . well, that just wasn’t what he wanted.

It was that which saw him currently walking through the Chume’Dan Royal Botanical Gardens with a holo-brochure held in hand to point out many of the species of planets and flowers he passed. He wasn’t hiding, per se – never that, he was a Jedi Knight, after all, a hero of the Rebellion and the son of Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala, two fierce figures in galactic history, each in their own right. What’s more than that, Owen and Beru Lars hadn't raised their nephew to shy away from anything; the desert never produced folk who shrank away when things turned tough. He didn’t need to duck and run to avoid something as simple as talking to a girl – or, a whole slew of girls, in this case. He just needed to catch his breath, and doing something as touristy as this – alone – was the best way to do so.

Teneniel wasn’t lying when she'd recommended the conservatory, proclaiming it as one of the foremost jewels of the royal city. Encased by a massive greenhouse dome of everglass, the interior was humid and fragrant with the scent of thousands of flowering plants, trees, ferns, grasses, and mosses. Here in this one place, there were botanical samples from all over the Consortium and even the known galaxy beyond, all gleaned and brought back to Hapes by the Lorrel Raiders in times of antiquity and then expanded on by every generation since then. For Han and Leia’s wedding, Isolder and Teneniel had gifted a Alderaanian Provinious rosebush, carefully bred and maintained from a line that was easily over a thousand years old. The gift had brought tears to Leia’s eyes to receive at her marriage banquet; she had climbing Provinious roses growing outside her window as a girl, and she welcomed the restoration of an impossible memory. The original stock plant was here, Luke thought, and he was enjoying the hunt to find it.

Along the way he was treated with all sorts of wonders: silver daisies from the mountains of Kavan, and massive sunny yellow blossoms that were bigger from the span of his hands called castliaph from the endless prairies of Sennex. There was a fascinating specimen of carnivorous planet with a flushed fuchsia interior from Archais, and weeping hearts growing on vines from the Gateworlds. His own personal favourites were the Hapan water blooms that were native to the capitol planet. They floated in the endless fountains and pools on great green leafy beds, their petals flushing from soft ivory to the brightest of pinks and the softest of violets and blues. Delicate flutter-flies gracefully glided from bloom to bloom, while free roaming infinity-birds flapped their wings faster than the eye could see as they hovered to sip nectar from the heavy cups of the hanging Queen’s Glories with their long, delicate beaks before flitting off again for a new perch. It was a place so rift with life and harmony in a way that still made his eyes wide with wonder; the Living Force was not just a faint humming here, but a symphony to his senses; he was, he thought, verging on the edge of overwhelmed, as far from the Lars homestead as it was possible to be.

It was, then, just on the wings of that thought that he heard: “You’ve come a long way from Anchorhead, haven’t you, farmboy?”

He knew that voice, he couldn’t help but smile in recognition as he straightened from where he was crouched down to better appreciate the floating blooms in the water. “Mara Jade,” he greeted warmly, his mouth reflexively quirking upwards in a smile. “I’d say that you’re a ways away from your haunts, as well – what has you out as far as Hapes?”

Mara, for all intents and purposes, looked just as touristy as he suspected that he did. Gone was her usual taste for practical jumpsuits, sturdy leathers, and boots. Instead, she wore a casual, blue-grey suit in a shimmering, expensive looking material, with a near transparent beryl colored vest that fell down to her ankles and fluttered as she walked. Her red-gold hair shone against the watery tones of her ensemble, swept back from her face as it was and out of the way in a style that was both easy and professional. She too held a holo-brochure in her hands, and had a matching earpiece clipped on to narrate the highlights of the collection in keeping with the markers on the pathways.

She was a sight enough to give the gardens competition, Luke couldn’t help but think – not that Mara Jade wasn’t ever not lovely, of course. Even stranded in a muggy jungle, scowling and leveling a blaster at him, he'd noticed that she was beautiful from the start. Here and now, minus the misplaced murderous intent and her actually smiling happily to see him, he couldn’t help but beam openly in reply.

“I’m here for business, can’t you tell?” Mara held her hands up and made a sweeping gesture, all the while quirking a wry expression.

“I might have suspected,” Luke answered. “I take it that Karrde's was one of the trading organizations that Teneniel invited?”

“You got it,” Mara confirmed. “You should have seen his face when he received the message – as giddy as a child on lifeday morning. It’s a pity that the traditional sorts here still prefer a female representative – Karrde wouldn’t have been taken seriously if he attended the Queen Mother's summons, at least not yet. I think he actually shed a few tears when Faughn and I packed up to leave; I almost felt sorry for him.”

“I can imagine; it’s honestly a shame that Hapes is still so . . .” he searched for a word to properly surmise his thoughts.

“ - lethal?” Mara supplied bluntly. “Elitist; suspicious; bigoted?”

“They’re evolving, I would better say,” Luke diplomatically suggested instead. “But you have to admit their sense of humor – Karrde doesn’t run the most . . . legitimate of organizations, to put it lightly. Teneniel is subtly reminding the noble houses of their heritage.” Hapes' claims of superiority, after all, were built on the legacy of pirates' gain, no matter how many centuries has passed since then.

Mara snorted. “Canny woman,” she approved, her green eyes glittering. “She has her work cut out for her, reforming the matriarchy here.”

“That she does,” Luke couldn’t help the fond expression that softened his face. “But she’s equal to the task. If anyone can save Hapes from itself, it’s Teneniel.”

Mara stared at him for a moment with an expression he couldn’t quite decipher. But her look was gone as quickly as it first appeared. “I take it your sister is a guest of honor, then?” she filled in from there. “It’s sort of funny, isn't it, attending the anniversary celebration of an ex-suitor?”

Luke shrugged, and, without needing to say a word they fell in step to walk down the path together. “Hearts were never involved,” it was as simple as that to answer, “only politics. Without Isolder failing to woo Leia, he never would have met Teneniel. They are grateful, in their own way, for how their stories met and overlapped. And Leia’s former title means as much to the Hapans as her current title does; if anyone can help negotiate on behalf of the New Republic, it’s her.”

Mara made a face for that. “I don’t envy Leia in the slightest – or Teneniel for what she’s trying to do with her reign, for that matter. Even the Emperor knew to leave well enough alone where Hapes was concerned. The one time the former Queen Mother graced Imperial Center with her presence was . . .” but she pursed her mouth, and shook her head as if trying to shake away something she’d rather not remember. “Anyway, I thought she was toxic then – even standing next to Palpatine.”

Luke fought a shudder for her words. The idea of Ta’a Chume and Darth Sidious was not a combination he wanted to consider any further than that. So. Anyway.

“What brings you to the gardens, Jade?” he asked next. “Do you have a green thumb I didn’t know about, or . . .”

“You don’t know everything about me, Skywalker,” her grin was sharp to tease, before it softened. “But no – it’s still just business for me. There’s a flower – pulchritudinous something or other, that Karrde is interested in procuring; I’ve been ordered not to leave Hapes behind without a sample. Now,” her expression tugged with dry amusement, “there is a closeted botanist if ever there was one.”

“Huh, you don’t say?” Luke blinked. “If I ever had to guess . . .”

“People are always full of surprises, aren’t they?”

“In every way,” Luke agreed.

A moment passed, easy in its silence as they walked down the path together. Then, Mara asked, “How about you? Are you just hitting the high points, or . . .”

He couldn’t help it: his cheeks flushed. It was a reaction that he was helpless to stop, and of course Mara noticed. She arched a red brow, unwittingly catching a sign of weakness like a vornskr on the prowl.

“Just being a tourist,” he was quick to deflect. “You said it yourself: this is the furthest from Anchorage you can get, in every way. I’m soaking up the highlights.”

That wasn’t wholly a lie, and yet -

“ - uh huh,” Mara was not impressed by his flimsy attempt at subterfuge. “Out with it, farmboy: what are you hiding from?” she uncannily reached her own conclusions. “I don’t see your sister here, now that you mention it,” she glanced around the garden. “Or any of the Solo clan, for that matter. You’re here alone – purposely so, aren't you?”

Still, he hesitated. It sounded so . . . juvenile, almost, admitting that he was hiding from a his twin’s attempts to introduce him to yet another interesting so-and-so. Leia was a force of nature when she had her mind set on something, and, sometimes, the only way to evade her was to avoid her completely. Luke, he tilted his head up without shame to admit to himself, was currently in the midst of a tactical retreat.

Yet, he didn’t necessarily want to tell Mara Jade as much.

A moment passed, and some of his discomfort must have read on his face. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,” Mara said neutrally, sensing his reticence. “You can keep your secrets; I didn’t mean to pry.” He couldn’t explain what – but the sight of her visibly shuttering off her interest bothered him. He’d fought hard and long for what a friendship – as it was – they did have between them, and he didn’t want to turn her aside when she was actively reaching out to him. The idea of sliding backwards, even just a step, after coming so far, twisted at something within him, deep inside.

So, he took in a deep breath, and said: “I may be hiding from my sister . . . just a little bit.”

“Oh?” she narrowed her eyes, as if she was puzzled but not wanting to admit her interest to herself. She waited without pushing him to share more, and Luke sighed, resigning himself to his fate.

“Leia is . . . very concerned about my personal life,” every syllable was awkward to admit. “Teneniel, um, shares that concern.”

He waited: Mara blinked, and her mouth fell slightly open as she processed his answer. Then, her mouth stretched. She held a hand up to her face to hide her grin.

Luke only scowled in reply. “It’s not funny,” he insisted.

“Oh, but it is!” Mara couldn’t help herself. But she was a professional, at least: only a snort of laughter escaped before she successfully swallowed back her amusement – just barely, and only for his sake, he suspected. “Look at you: Luke Skywalker, Jedi Master and Hero of the Rebellion . . . hiding from a few pretty girls who are hoping to snatch a husband.”

“It may be easy for you to laugh at,” he muttered, “but, I feel like the long-eared hare at the end of a howlrunner track.”

“Oh, you’re selling yourself short.” Mara didn’t laugh again, but there was still a brightness to her jewel-toned eyes that he couldn’t help but notice. “You’re as enticing as Scatha’s lost horde to these women; you’re downright tooka-nip. Don’t you realize? You’re the galaxy’s most eligible bachelor – just ask the HoloNet. A war hero; the last scion of the Jedi; near royalty, in a way, thanks to your sister and mother – and you have a face that screams kindness and empathy and I’d be a good father to your children.” She flicked a hand up and down at him, still trying to restrain her mirth. “You’re the complete package, Skywalker – what woman out there wouldn’t jump when your sister all but throws you at them?”

It was a strange sensation: feeling all of the blood drain from his face to realize just how spectacularly the odds were stacked against him, all the while staving off a furious blush for her words. He was just . . . well, himself. He still didn’t see what all of the fuss was about. “Well, when you put it that way,” Luke scowled, casting furtive glances over the scattered tourists in the gardens, “I may never leave these gardens. It’s safe in here . . . I think.”

Mara snorted. “Don’t worry, farmboy – I’ll protect you.” She stepped up to wrap an arm through his own, joining him in staring down the nearest walkers on the path as if they were enemy combatants. He knew her well enough to know when he was being teased, but, strangely, the idea didn't rankle. Her humor was contagious. “Stick with me – we can take them together.”

“It’s good to know that you're impervious to my charms, at least,” Luke muttered darkly.

“Oh, my heart’s blaster-proof,” Mara waved her free hand blithely. “You just better be glad that I’m in such a giving mood. Want to help me find this plant for Karrde? That should buy you an hour or so of peace, at least.”

He looked down at her arm, wrapped firmly through his own, and couldn’t help the smile that threatened to bloom. With her, at least, there was familiarity – and safety. And, truth be told, he didn’t mind the excuse to spend time with Mara without an imminent crisis forcing their paths to intersect.

“My savior,” his words were wry, but he didn’t move to shrug her away. “Lead on, then, Jade – let’s find this plant.”


TBC


~MJ