Beyond - Legends Play your Hand (Luke/Mara) Complete! Dec 22nd

Really interesting story so far. I like this angle; we rarely see it explored. I especially like the closeness of the family.

 

Oh Han. I love him. Such a mind of a pubescent teenage boy.

Great update. I liked seeing Luke, Leia and Han just talking as family.

 

Just finished reading all the different parts and I love it! The Thrawn trilogy has always been my favourite EU story ARC and Mara is a big part of that. I love the way you have gradually built an honest and trusting relationship between Mara and the others, not just Luke but Leia as well. It is so nice to see her finally finding a space where she is happy and accepted, I imagine it would be very painful for her to leave if Karrde needs her back.

On a side note I love the way you wrote Karrde, definitely caring but always with his thinking head on, and I'm so glad that he took the time to look after the vornskyrs, after all they did kind of save the day on Wayland! I thought the way you described Luke and Mara's adventures as thrilling was great.

Its also great to watch Luke stepping into the role as a mentor, and I agress that working with Leia and Mara is a much more obvious step rather than galavanting off after the nutters in Jedi Academy. Also nice to see him in the role of a baby-sitter.

Please tag me when you update I look forward to reading more!

 

Han really is Luke and Mara shipper No 1

Love Luke's realisation of his feelings.

 

Nyota's Heart

I love writing Han the interfering matchmaker, although I’m not sure going to him for love life advice is necessarily the best plan…

@divapilot

Briannakin

After everything they’ve been through, I fid it hard to imagine that they wouldn’t stay close and make each other as much a part of each others daily lives as possible. It made me ad how much they all get split up from each other so often in the EU – and don’t even get me started on the babies getting sent off to Anoth for their first two years! Sky-Solo family scenes make me happy J

gaarastar58

Glad you’re enjoying it! One of the things that bothers me in the subsequent Eu is the way that Mara is still treated like a pariah despite what happens in The Last Command. None of it makes sense. Having her build friendships with the rest of them (especially Leia) after all they went through together on Wayland just makes sense to me. And as you say, she kinda deserves that after everything she’s been through

JadeLotus

Isn’t he though?! I love the opportunities suggested by the idea of Han incompetently trying to match make (but more of that later)

 

tagging Irish_Jedi_Jade Briannakin and gaarastar58

Part 7

Mara could feel the tension as soon as she stepped into the practice room. Something was bothering the usually irritatingly calm Jedi, and glancing around and seeing Leia was absent yet again, Mara was pretty sure she could guess why. On the days Leia didn’t show up because of whatever political crisis had turned up that day of the week, Mara could feel Luke’s frustration.

“Leia too busy for practice again?”

“If she’s to progress, she needs the chance to focus on this,” he said irritably, gesturing for Mara to come and settle in mediation pose opposite him. “The council on the one hand insists that re-establishing the Jedi order is the greatest priority, but then on the other hand won’t let my most promising student actually study.”

Mara raised her eyebrows. “Are you sure she’s really that committed? If she really wanted to do it, she could take a leave of absence, surely.”

“She’s asked for that in the past, they never agree to it.”

“Your sister’s a free woman, you know. They can’t really hold her in her political position if she doesn’t want it.”

He sighed heavily. “It’s not that simple. She feels a sense of duty to everything she’s worked so hard to build.”

“Of course.” Mara paused. “Maybe her political work is more important to her than your Jedi dreams.”

He looked at her sharply. “What do you mean?”

“It’s just… you always assume every Force sensitive would automatically want to be a Jedi. But I’m not seeing many arguments for why they would.” Luke looked hurt, and confused. She felt bad, and like she needed to explain further. “Look, the old Jedi weren’t all that great. There were lots of things about the old order that just didn’t work.”

“You’re basing that on the Imperial propaganda you were brought up with.”

Mara shook her head. “No. Don’t get me wrong, I know the propaganda stories. But as an agent, I was also really good at picking out the truth from inside it.” Not so good at picking out the lies Palpatine told her, a bitter thought betrayed her. But she pressed on. “A lot of things said about the Jedi were nonsense… but some of it was true. How do you think Palpatine got away with having them eliminated? The populace was already ready to suck up those stories. The old order was distant and remote from the people they were supposed to serve. They did interfere in politics. They… they took young children from their families to become Jedi, and made them sever all ties, all attachments.” Her voice dropped low at that last part, feelings and memories she usually tried to suppress rising up to the surface. “People were ready to hate them, Skywalker. It just took someone stepping in and taking advantage of that.”

“Is that why you’d rather be a smuggler than a Jedi?” he asked abruptly.

She blinked. “Excuse me?” There was something in his tone she didn’t like, and she found herself wondering how he could have possibly known what she’d discussed with Karrde that morning.

He shook his head. “Never mind. Let’s get on with the exercise.”

She decided to let it drop. “What are we doing today?”

“Well, since it’s just the two of us today, I thought we’d experiment with this communications talent of yours.”

“Talent?”

“Well, you said before that was your great skill. That you could hear his voice across the Galaxy. The Emperor kept your Force abilities under tight control and never allowed you to develop them independently, but I have a theory that this was really your great natural talent, not something he gave you. I’d like to see if we can develop that.”

“Alright. What have you got in mind?”

“Let’s keep it simple to start with, and just practice talking mind to mind.”

“Isn’t that easy? I’ve experienced your sister do it on Wayland, and I’m pretty sure you and her do it all the time.”

“Well yes, but I think that’s mainly to do with our close family relationship. Most of my experience of this kind of communication has been with family members. Without that connection… well, it’ll be interesting to see how it works.”

“Alright then, lets get started. What do you want us to do, close our eyes and hold hands?”

Luke looked strangely abashed at the suggestion. “Um no, I doubt that’s necessary. Just close your eyes and channel the Force and um, see if you can talk to me without opening your mouth.”

She closed her eyes and opened herself to the Force, reaching out towards his familiar, open sense. She felt him reach back, and their minds gently touched. Hello farmboy, Mara sent mockingly. A sense of warmth came back to her, like one of his bright smiles translated into pure feeling.

Hello, he returned. The word and his warmth were like an invitation to step further in to his consciousness. She stretched out her senses in wonder at the way he glowed in the Force, his connection to it so intense and all consuming, it felt almost intoxicating. No wonder he assumes everyone would want this, she thought. His happy laughter in her mind made her realise he’d heard the thought. Stang it, Skywalker, that’s not fair! She almost withdrew abruptly at the realisation she wasn’t very good at keeping her own thoughts to herself, but then she was hit with such a sense of wonder from him and she felt drawn in again, trying to work out what had prompted this reaction. She peered through the Force into his thoughts… and saw herself reflected back from him, laughing, beautiful, captured in his gaze, a woman she didn’t even recognise in herself except from the certain knowledge from his sense that this was how he perceived her.
She closed down her Force sense and withdrew abruptly, opening her eyes to stare incredulously at him. His eyes opened slowly and regarded her calmly, waiting for a response.

She pushed herself to her feet, thinking only to get far away from this place, from his eyes.

“Mara, wait,” he said, getting up and reaching out to her. “I’m sorry. We should have practiced reinforcing your mental shields first, before trying that. It was too… freeform.”

She turned on him. “What the kriff was that, Skywalker? Is that how you see me?”

“Yes,” he said simply, openly. “Does it really surprise you, that others see you in a better light than you perceive yourself?”

“That wasn’t a ‘better light’! That was… I don’t even know what that was! What is wrong with you, for kriff’s sake?”

He shook his head. “There’s nothing wrong with how I see you, Mara. I’m sorry, but I’m glad you had a chance to see it too.” He took a step towards her.

They were face to face now, so close she could feel his breath on her face. She wanted to turn and walk away, but somehow couldn’t. She told herself it was because she wouldn’t be the one to lose, he should back down. But back down from what? She wasn’t trying to kill him now.

What in the hells was she trying to do with him?

And before she had the chance to sort that thought out in her head, his lips were on hers, kissing her hard, as though he could convey everything they’d felt in that brief bond again through touch, and her hand came up to touch the side of his face and hold him closer to her…

And she broke away, her previous thought finally coalescing into rationality again and realising she just had to get away.

“What the kriff is wrong with you?” she said again, and turned and stalked out of the practice room.

 

As one who loves Force bonds and mind melds, that was scrumptious!!!!!!!! I'm very happy Mara saw herself through Luke's emotive filter. She's right about the general perception about the Old Jedi order -- that's why it needs to be made over. Her defensiveness shows her conflictedness. Which is understandable on a personal and professional level. But if she and Luke allow the other to pull away without open communication - Totally looking forward to more!

 

Some of my favourite L/M scenes include one of them calling the other on their ****, and this was excellent - exactly what Luke needed to hear.

And then Mara seeing herself as Luke sees her, and that ending...

 

Well, considering what happened to the LAST Jedi order

I love how Mara tells it like it is, but as soon as she sees how Luke sees her, she can not take it. So very much Mara. Great update

 

Oh boy, this is getting interesting! The last three updates are excellent! I am finally caught up with this story. I look forward to reading more.

 

Thanks all

Tagging Briannakin Irish_Jedi_Jade gaarastar58

Part 8


The deal between the New Republic and the Smugglers Alliance was very close to being signed and sealed, and work on it now stretched into the late hours again as the key stakeholders in the deal arrived on planet to try and push their pet points back into the deal one last time. Mara found herself tired and irritable, which was strange as long working hours didn’t usually bother her. Of course those long hours didn’t usually involve being trapped in a negotiating room all day with annoying bureaucrats.

On the positive side, it did at least mean there was no time for Jedi practice, which made it considerably easier to avoid Skywalker. He’d tried to get her to meet him, of course, but it had been easy enough to brush him off with a quick few words about how busy she was. She felt bad about it – it wasn’t that she didn’t want to see him, as such, in fact she was missing their daily conversations – but she needed some time away after that… whatever it was. The idea that Luke saw her like that, on top of all the other changes going on at the moment, the other decisions she needed to make, was just too much for her to process right now.

The session finally came to a close and the tired group of negotiators filed out of the conference room, each looking for a late supper and probably late night debriefings between their teams before bed. Mara gathered her datapads, leaving the room last so that she could observe any post meeting conversations that were developing between different parties. It was dark outside, with the never ending flash of multitudes of speeder lights moving outside the broad windows, and as she stepped out of the room, the lighting dipped automatically, leaving only that stunning vista behind her.

“Hey Mara,” came a familiar voice from outside. Mara turned her gaze towards it, spotting Han Solo seated casually on a bench outside the conference room. She frowned at him in confusion.

“Solo,” she nodded to him. “What are you doing here this late?”

“Waiting for you, obviously,” he said with his familiar quirk to his lips. Then he sat up and shrugged. “Leia sent me. She wants to hear from you how the deal’s going at this late stage, and you’ve been missing breakfast lately.”

“I didn’t realise it’s compulsory, Solo. I’ve just not had the time, I’ve been working all hours on this.”

“Uh huh,” he looked at her skeptically. “But, you know, I thought our breakfast meetings were useful for working on this?”

She avoided his gaze.

“Hey look, tell you what, why don’t we go grab a drink somewhere and you can bring me back up to speed?”

Mara almost refused, but reasoned if she caught him up tonight, it would give her enough excuse to avoid breakfast with the whole family in the morning. “Alright. Where were you thinking of?”

“Dunno. Not somewhere in this part of the palace – all the bars in this place are so sterile. Did you have any favourites when you lived here?”

She snorted. “They’ve probably all changed completely since then. It was a long time ago. But… there were staff bars, actually, on the lower floors, that managed a bit of atmosphere. The lack of pretention I think. Might be nice to see how those are faring these days.”

“Ok, show me the way.”

As they made their way down in the turbolifts, Mara briefly sketched out the state of negotiations. It was good to get Han’s feedback on things, she thought sadly, feeling a little foolish for cutting them out just because Luke… confused her. The conversation of course drifted on to a discussion of the foibles of smugglers familiar to them both, which was deeply cathartic to joke about, and they were laughing together as they settled on stools at the staff bar in the deeper depths of the Palace building. The lighting was kept intentionally dark and the walls were the cavern-like stone that made up the foundations of the gargantuan building. It felt like a different world – like they could be out in some smugglers' dive on the rim somewhere, not in the heart of galactic government.

“So Booster turns up with this damned pelt that he insists is some priceless – and contraband – relic of an extinct species, and the vornskrs just went nuts at the thing! You should have seen the look on Karrde’s face as they ripped the damned thing apart and sent animal hair all over the Wild Karrde’s bridge. The crew was sneezing for months, and Karrde’s sworn never to let the man on his ship again…”

Han was guffawing at the image. “Booster really does live up to his reputation, doesn’t he? Is that why he’s stayed out of these negotiations – avoiding Karrde’s ship cleaning bill?”

“Yeah, maybe, although I think it’s more that he likes to go his own way. He and Karrde have this weird friendship/rivalry thing going back years, and I think being on the same team would entirely ruin the fun of that for both of them!” They were just finishing their second drinks and Han signaled for another. Mara narrowed her eyes at his turned back. Was he trying to get her drunk? Or maybe just make her more talkative or something. Whatever it was, he was out of luck.

“Speaking of weird friendships,” Han segued entirely unsubtly as he handed her the next drink, “how you getting on with the kid these days?”

She stared into her drink. “What, Skywalker?” she said as casually as possible. “Fine. I’m not feeling any urges to kill him anymore, if that’s what you mean.”

He raised eyebrows at her knowingly. “We both know that’s way behind you now. You know exactly what I mean.”

She gave him a hard look. “No. I don’t.”

“On come on. First you were spending all your spare time with him, now suddenly you won’t go anywhere near him.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “Why, what’s he said to you?”

He gave her an innocent look. “Nothing. Or I wouldn’t be asking you.”

Suddenly tired of it, she threw back the rest of the drink, swallowed hard, and started to push her stool back. “It’s late. I have to be up early and fresh with it. See you sometime Solo.”

“Mara, wait.” He put a hand on her arm to stop her from rising, and she shot him a look that made it clear such an invasion of her personal space was likely to find him face down on the bar in an arm lock. He removed the hand gingerly. “I don’t mean to interfere. No, actually, I totally do. Honestly, Mara, I don’t know whatever it is the kid’s done to put his foot in it with you, but you gotta cut him a break. I haven’t seen him so happy for a long time till you turned up. Now…”

“It’s not my job to make Skywalker happy,” she bit out.

“No, no, of course not. But you seemed to be pretty happy too – with this new job, being on Coruscant, hanging round with us lot – and him. Studying to be a Jedi.”

“I am not studying to be a Jedi!” she retorted.

“Really? Well you’ve sure been acting like you were! Are you really gonna drop that and let the kid down?”

“I’ve never promised him anything, Solo! I don’t know where you all get your delusions…”

“Seriously Mara, what is so wrong with the idea of you both being happy?”

“You have no idea what makes me happy,” she spat, and turned and walked out.


As she stalked off, it bothered her to realise that she had no idea what made her happy either.

 

Ah, wonderful cut to the chase Solo! Yup, well, Mara is clueless about what or who would make her happy. I think we all have a suggestion along that line.

 

Trust Han to say what everybody else is thinking but just won't come out and say. I love the way you write Mara, just the right blend of ferocity and vulnerability. Great writing, looking forward to next part.

 

Solo knows the deal. Han and Leia did the same little romance dance. They hate each other, they like each other, they argue with each other...back and forth. At least he got Mara thinking about what might make her happy.

 

Han playing matchmaker is my absolute favourite trope, and loved him here (and Mara's confusion and uncertainty are perfect).

 

I love the Han ‘shipper/matchmaker trope, but partly because of just how bad he would be at it – I mean, based on his approach to chatting up Leia in Empire, which is essentially to constantly pull her metaphorical pig tails, his love life advice is liable to be some what, well, hit and miss!

Oh gosh yes, and that’s the thing isn’t it? He recognises how good it could be for both of them if they can get past all those barriers. No wonder he’s their biggest ‘shipper

Thank you, that means a lot. Her vulnerability is something that so often gets forgotten, and the complexity of her character is lost without it, so I’m glad that’s coming across J

 

Tagging Briannakin gaarastar58 Irish_Jedi_Jade

Part 8

It was a small soiree, an opportunity for the various signatories and staff who had worked on the Smugglers Alliance agreement to socialise and pretend to all be friends and allies now that the whole thing was signed and sealed. The party was taking place in Leia Organa-Solo’s apartment, in formal rooms that Mara hadn’t seen before because apparently the Solo’s didn’t like using them day-to-day. It wasn’t an official New Republic function because the whole deal was being kept as far under the public sensors as possible. After all, the official government working with criminals to source information and extra shipping capacity was not exactly something to shout from Coruscant’s rooftops. But the private nature of the party was a reminder to Mara how far from mainstream society she still was.

Karrde stepped over to her and handed her a tall drink. Mara looked at it suspiciously and gave it a sniff, then wrinkled her nose at the obvious alcohol content.

“Ah, come now Mara,” he said. “You can relax and enjoy a drink. Your job is over for now and you don’t even need to get up early tomorrow unless you want to. We won’t be taking off till midafternoon. Try to enjoy yourself and accept all the congratulations on the good job you’ve done.”

Mara shot him a raised eyebrow at the effusive (for him) praise, but took a sip anyway. It was some bittersweet cocktail, but clearly included some good Corellian brandy, so she wasn’t complaining. She glanced round the room. There were only about thirty people present, but then the reception room in the private apartment wasn’t that large. It was odd, as the officials that had been so snooty and suspicious of all these fringe types during the talks now seemed giddy with excitement to be mixing with such thrilling company. The effect of a few drinks and some good tall story telling, she supposed. She noticed in one corner one of the more uptight New Republic datapushers was lapping up every word Gillespie had to say and looked entirely enamored in a way she would never have expected from the way they had bickered down in the conference rooms.

“Looks like you’re going to have to actually socialise, Mara.” Karrde nodded towards Mazzic, who was closing in on them with that exotic companion of his in tow. Shada, Karrde had said she was called. Mara examined her speculatively, remembering what he had told her about how the woman had got the drop on him on Hijarna. Her lips quirked, amused that even Karrde could get caught out by a distractingly attractive woman. This was not a woman to be underestimated.

However Shada kept quiet now and played her usual role, hanging on Mazzic’s arm as he opened the conversation.

“Good job, Mara,” he drawled, looking her up and down in a way she wasn’t entirely happy with. She knew it was part of the persona he liked to put across… but still. “So you decided whether you’re staying on yet? We’ve got a good package built in there for you, if you take up the position.”

“I’m considering my options,” she replied blandly.

“Aww, c’mon, don’t let this boring old git keep you to himself! We need you in there – otherwise some annoying New Republic bureaucrat will get the role! Making this thing work is gonna take more than just getting everyone to sign – we need someone we trust – one of us – to co-ordinate it all.”

“I said I’m thinking about it.”

Mazzic turned to Karrde. “Let me guess, you’re offering her some big pay rise not to go? Can’t blame you really!”

Karrde smiled politely. “I wasn’t, but now you’ve given her that idea, undoubtedly I’ll have to. Thanks for that, Mazzic.”

Mazzic just laughed heartily, and then turned at some disruption at the doorway. Mara glanced over.

Luke Skywalker had just entered the party.

She swore lightly. “What the kriff is he doing here?”

Karrde glanced at her mildly. “Well, he was a crucial part of getting this started, even if he has kept out of the way of the talks.”

“I doubt the fringe really wants to be reminded that the great Jedi, symbols of law and justice in the Galaxy, have anything to do with this,” she said sourly. “He should have kept well away.”

“Well, it is a party run by his sister,” Karrde said. He looked amused, and it annoyed her. “Nobody would expect her not to invite her own brother, I’m sure.” Mara just scowled, and tried to sink further back into the corner they were loitering near. She watched as Luke was greeted by Han, Leia and Chewbacca, and was then led round by Leia introducing him to various parties that had been instrumental in the agreement. He had at least had the sense not to dress in Jedi robes, instead opting for a simple black shirt and dark brown trousers. It was strange to see him in this context – all bright smiles and friendly chatting and putting people at their ease. Even the hardened smugglers seemed to be lapping it up, meeting the famous Luke Skywalker, destroyer of Death Stars.

Karrde apparently noticed it too. “Nothing like a reputation as the best star fighter pilot in the Galaxy to impress a bunch of smugglers,” he noted mildly.

She tore her eyes away from Skywalker, embarrassed Karrde had been so easily able to read where her thoughts were drifting. “They’re easily impressed,” she said with a snort. But the truth was, seeing the way they reacted to him as he was paraded round the room as a hero and celebrity was disconcerting and left her feeling strangely intimidated. And nothing intimidated Mara Jade.

“Mara.” Leia appeared at her elbow. “I hope you’re enjoying the spoils of your labour?” She gave Mara a quirky little smile she must have picked up from her husband. “By which of course I mean I hope you’re enjoying the party. Everyone seems very impressed with your work, you should be pleased with yourself.”

“Thank you Leia,” she replied. “I couldn’t have done it without you and Han’s help.” She said it with genuine gratitude and felt a little bad for avoiding Leia the last few days. She was a valuable ally.

Leia just smiled warmly and turned to Karrde. “You must be pleased with how this has all turned out.”

“Well yes. For all the smuggler bravado, a good contract and a guaranteed income is the real jackpot. And I expect to make a good profit from the whole arrangement.” He smiled his usual cool smile, but there was a bit of smugness in there. Karrde had taken a big gamble when he started bringing together this whole alliance of smugglers, one that had nearly cost him everything. He clearly took a great deal of satisfaction from how it had worked out.

“Of course, there’s still one last bit of business to finalise,” Leia gave Mara a meaningful look. “But here probably isn’t the place for it. Mara, could you possibly drop by my office tomorrow to have a chat about the liaison role?”

Mara considered her cautiously. She at least owed her a proper conversation about it. “Sure, but we’ll have to fit it in in the morning. The Wild Karrde is scheduled to depart tomorrow afternoon.”

“Leaving so quickly?” a soft familiar voice came from behind her. Mara closed her eyes a moment before acknowledging him. Luke certainly did have a knack for timing.

“I’m afraid I have a lot of work to do to get our new operations running after the deal,” Karrde interjected smoothly.

Luke examined the man with hard eyes, but offered a smile in response. “Of course. This must all have been very disruptive to your usual work.”

“But of course we’re all very grateful for all the assistance you’ve given the New Republic recently,” Leia added quickly. “How are those animals of yours doing now?”

Karrde took up Leia’s blatant offer of a way to change the subject enthusiastically, going into a little more detail about Sturm and Drang’s recovery, general personalities and care needs than Mara thought strictly necessary. She had to stand and politely listen to it as she realised she was boxed in to the corner by her three companions, Luke by her right arm. To move away she would have to push physically past him… which she found she desperately wanted to avoid.

“Of course, Mara and I had some interesting experiences with the creatures in the wild on Myrkr,” Luke added to the conversation, shooting a look with twinkling eyes. “I lost count of the number of times she shot the things off me.” Was he enjoying the memory? She never would have thought that trip would become a pleasant party anecdote.

“They seem to be attracted to Force users. The stronger, the better. I think Karrde had a theory about that.” Mara elaborated.

“Oh yes. Sturm and Drang reacted especially strongly to your presence on my base there. I suspect they naturally hunt using the Force, and the ysalimiri have developed their properties as a means of eluding them. Fascinating really.” Of course, everyone in the small group already knew this theory, but such was the nature of small talk. “In light of that, Luke’s survival in the jungle there is all the more remarkable.”

“I have Mara to thank for that. I can’t think of a better person to have at my back.”

The conversation fell silent for a moment, everyone clearly turning over how they all knew Mara had felt about Luke back then, but no-one willing to mention it.

“Oh look, I think I need to rescue Han from that Mazzic chap,” Leia suddenly said, clearly surrendering in the face of the awkwardness. “Before he convinces him to go into partnership or something.” She turned to drift away.

“I’ll help you,” Karrde said blandly. “I need to talk to Mazzic about some business of our own.”

Mara found herself abruptly stuck in the corner with Luke. She glanced round for an excuse to escape.

“I mean it, you know” Luke said to her quietly. “That you’re the best person to have at my back. And I wonder how the vornskrs would react to you now. Your training has come on so far.”

She avoided his gaze. “Actually, Sturm and Drang do seem to be a little more volatile around me since they got back.”

“We might be able to do something about that, with practice. It would be interesting to experiment and see what would work to make them less aware of our presence.”

Her lips quirked at the thought of vornskr related experiments and found her eyes meeting Luke’s in spite of herself. His lips were quirking too and she knew he was imagining the same thing. “Okay, that may not be the best plan ever,” he conceded. They both laughed.
Damnit, why was it just so easy to be around him?

Luke hooked a couple more drinks from Artoo as he rolled past with a tray balanced on top and passed one to Mara. They fell into easy conversation, exchanging notes and commentaries on the people around them. It wasn’t like the bravado of her gossiping with Han at the bar; Luke had a kind but witty way of observing the people around him, clearly interested in them all. It was a novel perspective on the universe that was only just starting to open up for Mara.

She found herself absently examining his features. He wasn’t good looking exactly – at least not to her tastes. Oh, she had seen the holos of him as a young pilot, back when she was studying him as a target, and he’d been the very image of the young chisel jawed rebel poster-boy back then. But the years of war and battle scars and who knew what he’d gone through with his father had taken their toll. Gone was the tanned youthful skin, and light scars traced his face from something or other that had happened to him over the years. The nose too, slightly out of place, and an odd looking mouth, almost too wide and generous, she thought. And yet those eyes, when she met them. That too wide mouth when transformed into a smile… for every critique she listed to herself, there was something arresting about that face anyway. The kindness, the sweetness – and the rock certain strength of a man who’d faced his demons and won.

She suddenly realised that the conversation had petered to a stop as she had been absorbed in thought, and they were just standing there staring at each other. He seemed very close now.

“I wanted to say sorry, Mara. For the other day,” he said softly. “But some how there hasn’t been an opportunity. Can we talk?”
She found something fluttered unfamiliarly in her stomach. “Sure,” she said softly.

He took her hand and led her out through a subtly placed side door, away from the party and into the darkened living space of the Solo’s apartment. Mara was grateful that he realised she wouldn’t want to talk about this in front of a whole room full of her colleagues.

They were in the open plan area that the Solo’s actually lived in now, the space familiar to her from all the breakfast meetings. Despite the sumptuous reception and dining area they had just left, the Solo’s preferred to spend their time in the more intimate space of the open plan kitchen/diner/lounge set up in here. It was a family area, where real lives could be lived, tangled up in each other. Now only low lights peeped out from the kitchen and along the corridor to where the bedrooms lay. They came to a stop beside the big table where the family shared all their meals. Mara waited for him to start speaking, say whatever it was he had to say, but nothing came out of his mouth, just eyes looking intently at her, as though trying to read her likely response before he even started. She became very aware of her hand still in his, of the texture of his skin, the firmness of his palm in hers. His real hand, she noted absently.

He leaned in and she could sense his desire, and felt herself respond, and as those to broad lips brushed over hers, she felt a wave sweep over her, a horrible realisation of exactly what had been lurking beneath the surface all this time, denied inside her. And the kiss deepened, as though searching inside her for a response, and some deep part of her brought to the surface the question she’d always avoided: why didn’t you kill him? And faced with that truth at last, she gave him the response he searched for. She wanted this so much, desired this so much, and had never allowed herself to realize it. She kissed him back, hard and passionate, pulling him back towards the table, so they were leaning against it, falling back onto it…

“Mara,” Luke gasped out, breaking the kiss, and pulling them back upright. His hands were cupped gently around her face, his face still hovering close to hers, examining her with a scrutiny she could hardly bare. “I’m so glad you’re here in my life. Please don’t go, please stay here and be with me, learn with me, be one of the first of the new Jedi…” Words were tumbling out of his mouth, unplanned and barely making sense.

Mara straightened up, trying to push the fog of desire away. “Jedi?” she said. That’s what he wanted to ask? He wanted a decision on this now?

“Yes, Mara, I want you to be part of my life, my plans…”

She pushed him firmly back from her now. “Your plans? Do I get to have any plans of my own?”

He blinked. “Well, do you have any plans, Mara? What are you planning to do next?”

“I don’t know, Skywalker! I’ve only just been freed of this whole life-controlling Force-damned programming! I’ve no idea what I want next, but nobody seems to want to give me time to work it out! I’ve spent the last five years with my life revolving around you, and now the moment I’m freed, you want to make it all about you again!” She was furious at him, and furious at herself, furious at the part of her she’d just discovered that apparently wanted to revolve her life around his again.

“That’s not it Mara! That’s not what I meant at all. Can you blame me for being happy to find someone like me and want to have you in my life?”

“You don’t know who I am! Shavit, I don’t know who I am. How can you possibly say I’m like you?”

“Because I can feel it, Mara,” he pleaded. “We have a connection. I can feel it through the Force – and I can feel it every time I’m around you. I’m just happy when I’m around you. What is so very wrong with that?”

“I don’t really know what happiness is, Skywalker, and it’s nothing that’s ever bothered me to miss.” The look he gave her then was one of pity, and pity was one thing she could not stand. “Don’t assume to know who I am and what I want, Skywalker. And don’t assume that you’re a part of it.”

She pushed off the counter and strode to the door, trying to block out the sense of anguish coming from behind her that Luke was doing nothing to hide. As she left the apartment, she felt relief at the door sliding shut behind her, and tried to push away the unfamiliar, mixed up feelings of anguish and desire that were now rising up inside her too.

Damn him.

 

AH! NO! She has to stay, gosh darn it!

Great chapter. I really liked all the conflicting emotions.

 

Blargh! I can totally understand where Mara is coming from. She was dominated by that infernal last command and the whole sheevy influence and now Karrde is saying stay with our group and the NR is saying no, be a liaison, which is a testament on either side to her skill and trustworthiness. Then Luke comes along with his irresistible undeniably self! And makes his demands too. Which I certainly understand since he feels connected to her Force-wise and guy/gal wise. LOL Woohoo! This just gets better all the time!

 

Luke is an idiot. In one of my fics I had Han telling Luke, "Get the girl first and then nag her to become a Jedi".

 

Loved this chapter! The natural way Mara studied him and realised her feelings was beautifully written, as was the kiss that followed. But of course, this is Luke and Mara so its never that easy (how could it be?)

Mara makes an excellent point about her life for years being about him - she needs to find herself first before she can make decisions about the future, but Luke runs on instinct and can't quite comprehend that yet.

 

Thank you J

Ha ha! She really is in a awkward position. For someone like Mara, having all these real choices for the first time ever would be uncharted ground – everything’s been defined by Sheev before that. I imagine she’d feel a bit caught in the headlights!

That’s actually good advice from Han! I always preferred the idea of the two things being separate – either romance first or Jedi first, not the whole thing coming as a package

Thank you! The thing is, Luke did know this, but since he realised he has feelings for her, he’s sort of lost track of that and got a bit carried away. The muppet!

 

Tagging @Briannakin @gaarastar58 @Irish_Jedi_Jade

Part 9

Mara dutifully walked into Leia's political office midmorning the next day. She'd said she'd be there, so she was. Mara Jade didn't break her promises, no matter how tempting or easy it would be.

A junior aide checked her appointment on a datapad and then ushered her into an inner room. Leia was just finishing some meeting with Winter, and both women's eyes flicked up at her entrance. She felt the white haired aide's cool evaluation, and not for the first time felt disconcerted at the fact that Winter could and would remember every detail of every contact they'd had. Did she and Leia sit around deconstructing every detail of every meeting they had? Probably. Mara found herself troubled by the realisation that Winter had been at the party the night before, and hoped the woman hadn't been paying any attention to her and Luke.

Leia herself was keeping her emotions carefully controlled through the Force, and Mara could get no read of her. The politician nodded to Winter that they were finished, and the aide gracefully sashayed out.

"Good morning, Mara. Please do take a seat." She gestured to the chair the other side of the desk. Mara complied, feeling like she was about to be interviewed. It was a change from their usual dynamic. Mara found herself wishing for the friendly, informal breakfasts.

"Thank you for coming last night. I think it went well, don't you? I'm sorry I didn't get to say goodbye." It was an obvious pry for information, but Mara didn't rise to it.

"Building such relationships is of course important if the deal is going to work long term," Leia continued. "These are drastically different people with very different world views; really this is just the beginning of the work to make it all stick. That's why the liaison role is so important."

Mara nodded. "And that's why you got it built into the deal," she provided. She'd kept out of that part of the negotiation, for the most part; in the end it had been Leia and Karrde that had made sure that there were provisions - and good recompense - built in at the last minute.

"And why we need to have the right person in the role." Leia cocked her head. "I know Karrde and his crew are due to fly out this afternoon. Have you come to a decision?" Typically direct.

"I'll be leaving with him," Mara confirmed firmly.

Leia nodded. "That's a pity. You are the preferred candidate on all sides. Even Karrde agrees you'd be the best choice, and he has the most to lose. May I ask why?"

Mara shrugged uncomfortably. Part of her wanted to tell the woman it was nothing to do with her, but all her help - and growing friendship - over the last few weeks made Mara feel she owed her a bit more than that. "I have good prospects with Karrde's organisation. I'm already his second in command, with the opportunities that implies. It's not quite so clear what opportunities the liaison role offers me, in the long run."

Leia narrowed her eyes. "I'd have thought the liaison role offers you a wider range of prospects. It takes you out of the fringe and into the mainstream without sacrificing your fringe connections. You get to make new connections on Coruscant, particularly in NRI and the information gathering community, which is where your skills and experience obviously lie. All without making a big commitment either way. It would seem like a perfect opportunity for where you are right now in your life."

Mara shook her head sadly. "It's just too much change, too soon. So much has happened, so quickly, I just need some space, some stability for a while."

"That doesn't seem like what I know of you Mara. I know you've been through a lot with Mount Tantis. But just a few weeks ago you seemed happy to take on this role. What's changed?"

Mara sighed, but said nothing. She didn't want to outright lie to Leia.

"Is this something to do with my brother?"

Mara just looked down.

Leia got up from behind her expansive desk, made her way across to a drinks tray on a sideboard and poured two glasses of what looked like simple water. She then went and seated herself on a comfortable chair in a more casual group of seats, setting the two glasses on the low table in front of her. The indication that the conversation had turned from a formal one to a more personal one was clear. Mara wondered briefly if that meant she could now get away with just walking out, but decided to opt out of that melodramatic approach and instead went over and joined Leia. The water was welcome anyway – her throat had suddenly gone very dry.

“I hope Luke’s not driving you too round the bend, Mara. He can be most single minded and even blinkered when he gets his sights set on something. Trust me, I know – particularly with this whole Jedi business.”

Relieved that was the direction the conversation was going, Mara agreed. “It just doesn’t seem to occur to him that being a Jedi isn’t the obvious choice, just because I’m Force sensitive. It’s… it’s just too soon to know if that’s want I want.”

Leia nodded. “I know what you mean. I’ve had five years to get used to the idea and think it over – and I don’t have a solid answer yet!”

“You don’t?”

“No. I mean, I do want to learn, and help him rebuild his order, and rebuilding a functional Jedi Order is important to the New Republic. But the truth is being an obvious Jedi would be very difficult for me politically, given the old Order’s history and role in the demise of the old Republic, and the on-going legacy of all the propaganda against them. I do want to fulfil all my potential – but I don’t want to compromise my political career in the process. There’s still so much I need to do, to make all this” Leia gestured generally at the world around them “into a firm foundation for the future. To make everything I’ve fought for mean something. So you see, I understand how difficult this decision is for you – and how Luke’s enthusiasm doesn’t always make it easy.”

“Why did he become a Jedi?”

Leia hesitated before answering. “I think you should ask him that sometime. I think it started out as an idealised notion of following in his father’s footsteps. By the time he found out the truth of that, I think he’d learned so much about the Force that it had become a part of who it was – there never seemed any inclination in him to give it up, despite it all. Or perhaps he really just saw the idea of becoming the perfect Jedi as the way to make up for everything our father did.” She shrugged. “Like I say, it can make him a bit blinkered sometimes.”

“And maybe he thinks me becoming a Jedi is the obvious way to make up for my past,” Mara suggested slowly.

“Maybe. Or perhaps to make up for what Palpatine did to you. But either way, it’s presumptuous, if well meant, for him to think that for you. If you’ll let me, I’ll have a talk with him about it – I think it’s about time I had an entire discussion with this and how it relates to myself anyway.”

Mara frowned, not sure. As much as she didn’t want to confront Luke about it, it felt cowardly to leave it to someone else. Also… her circumstances with Luke were a little more convoluted than Leia’s.

It seemed Leia picked up on that emotional flutter, as she cocked her head at Mara. “There’s something else to all this, isn’t there?”

Mara found herself looking anywhere but at Leia, trying not to meet her eyes. Couldn’t think of anyone she wanted to talk to less about this than Luke’s sister.

“Oh good grief,” Leia exclaimed. “So Han’s right, there is something else going on. Last night?”

Mara found herself having to work very hard not to blush. This sort of thing – from romantic entanglements to girly chats – was very far out of her area of experience.

“So am I right in thinking that my brother, as well as pressuring you about the Jedi thing, has been pushing you for something more? I could kill him!”

Mara looked up at her in surprise.

“Honestly Mara, as much as I care about my brother and his happiness, I get really irritated when it messes with work. It’s going to be really tough finding an adequate liaison to replace you, and if he’s chased you off, I’m going to be very annoyed with him!”

Mara nearly laughed at her response. “I’m sorry Leia. It’s not his fault, really… it’s just all too much, too soon. Too much change…”

“… before you’ve had a chance to work out who you really are now, what you really want? No, I totally get it.” Leia shook her head ruefully. “Honestly, he’s as bad as Han sometimes!”

“Really?”

“Oh yes. Sometimes I think Han and I got together despite the way he pursued me, rather than because of it. Try to imagine two years of being ineptly pestered by Han. Luckily for him, I probably fell for him, ooh, about the point where he chased off after an entire squad of stormtroopers by himself on the Death Star. I just took me a while to admit it to myself.”

That gave Mara pause for thought, thinking of her own surprising response to Luke last night.

Leia’s eyes narrowed again. “Han didn’t stick his oar in on this the other night did he? When he came home drunk after I sent him out to have a quick catch-up with you?” Seeing Mara’s expression, she gave out an exasperated laugh. “I’m going to kill them both!”

“Honestly, Leia, what am I supposed to do?”

Leia sighed. “Do what’s right for you Mara. I can entirely see why you’re not ready for this. I mean, I can give you an inspirational speech about how Luke is the most wonderful man you’ll ever meet and all the many reasons why you should give him a chance – but to be honest, I don’t think I’d be telling you anything you don’t already know, would I? But none of that matters unless it’s what you really want.” She paused a moment, collecting her thoughts. “What I would say – and I mean this about becoming a Jedi as well – is even if you get on that ship this afternoon, don’t close off those options. Don’t rule them out. Give it time – give yourself time – but don’t make this have to mean that it’s all off the table.”

Mara nodded. “Thank you Leia.” And she meant it.


Leia nodded and stood, leading Mara over to the door, indicating the limited time for this appointment was over. To her surprise, before she left the room, Leia leant over and gave her a warm embrace. “Stay well, Mara, whatever you choose. And may the Force be with you.”

 

I really liked this chapter with Leia trying to be all business, but ending up just pissed off at Luke. I could see that happening a lot in this timeframe. Loved this line:

I also liked her depiction of the moment she fell for Han.

 

Besides Luke and Mara moments, I love Leia and Mara scenes with gal-chat. And this is one of the best ...
Mara was being honest about too much happening too fast, professionally and personally. But Leia's advice is sound: just because she's opting for more stability doesn't mean she should shut the door on other choices. I was totally enlightened and intrigued by Leia's sharing the whole "I'm not sure I want to be a Jedi" outlook, although she knows it's important.