BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE

Disclaimer: The characters and situations of 'Star Wars' depicted in this
story are legal property of George Lucas, Lucasfilm Ltd. and Timothy Zahn,
and have been used without permission. No copyright infringement intended.

Summary: After Luke Skywalker has been picked up by Mara and Talon Karrde
as his X-Wing was dead, drifting in space, Luke finds out what it means to
be hated. But something about the beautiful red head who is out for his
blood reminds him of a long-forgotten dream. The first of a series of
missing moments to span the time between Book 1: Tatooine Suns and Book 3:
Changes.

NC-17

Comments are welcome and appreciated.

+++++
Chapter One - Stranded

She watched him from afar, her blaster always trained on him. For two
days now they had been making their way through the ancient forests on Myrkr
and up until now, she had controlled her anger and suppressed the urge
to kill him. He killed my life, he killed my Master, Mara Jade
told herself silently. I should do it swiftly and rid myself of the
urge.

Standing up with determination lining her face, she checked her blaster
and walked over to where Luke Skywalker was sitting on a fallen tree stump,
meticulously wiping away caked mud and leaves off his small astromech
unit. Mara frowned when she reached him, his turned back telling her and
everyone to see that he was unsuspecting and trusting of her.

I have never shot a man in the back, she thought as she stepped
over the tree stump then stopped, face to face with Skywalker. His face
rising, he watched her out of blue eyes and for a moment Mara felt a stab
of recognition run through her. She had seen these eyes before, but where
she was not sure.

Raising her small blaster, holding it only a few inches away from his
chest, Mara shook off her troubling thoughts. Time to die!

"Why do you want to kill me?" his gentle voice cutting through her resolve
like it was non-existent.

"You killed my Master!" Mara spat out and stilled her quivering hand.
Blue eyes bored into her and although she knew that here on Myrkr the
Force had no power, she felt strangely spellbound by this man she was
about to kill.

*Kill Luke Skywalker!* she could still hear the last words of
her late Master and with this she steadied the blaster with her other
hand.

Luke watched the woman who had not only saved him in the last 48 standard
hours but had also threatened him repeatedly. He sensed her inner struggle,
even without the Force. They stared at each other until Mara tore her gaze
away.

"Why did you save me only to kill me?" he asked softly and green
eyes bored into his blue ones when her head snapped up.

"You killed my Master!" Mara answered in a rush, then bit her lips.

Skywalker rubbed his neck in thought. He had felt her Force signature
when she had approached in the smuggling craft, but he could not recall
any dark side stirrings within her and the Sith Masters he had battled
recently did not have apprentices. Well not those who were alive,
Luke added silently.

"Your Master?" Skywalker asked. "I don't think I have met you or your
master..."

Something tugged at his mind and coming short to reach out with the
Force he was reminded of the Ysalamiri that shielded this planet effectively
from the Force.

Something about her reminded him of someone else, someone so elusive
he only could see her in his dreams, and even then it was just a specter.
Suddenly he remembered something, a redheaded woman, clad in the skimpy
dress of a dancer at Jabba's Palace.

"You were one of the dancers of Jabba's?" he asked and ignored the snort
from the redhead. "I saw you! I wanted to help you escape but you aimed
a blaster at me all of a sudden..." His voice trailed away when she pointed
the very blaster to his head.

"Do you honestly think Jabba was my Master? He was an assignment and
if that Princess of yours had not killed him it would have been my incentive
to dispose of that fat slug myself."

Incentive? Dispose? Luke mulled over in his mind. These are
words used by the military, commando style.

"But if it wasn't Jabba ... who is your master?" Luke asked and stilled
all movement, even calming his breathing as he waited for her either to
pull the trigger or explain it to him, or both.

"I was the Emperor's Hand. You killed him like so many others!" Mara's
voice shook considerably and she hated herself for that.

"You are responsible for destroying my life completely, Master
Skywalker!" She rose the blaster a notch and aimed.

*Kill Luke Skywalker!* the voice boomed inside her head - urging
her on and yet she could not pull the trigger that rested against the
skin of her index finger. She could not.

Mara Jade's arm fell to her side, pointing the deadly blaster to the
ground. Two pairs of eyes bore into each other and with a groan that resembled
almost a sob, Mara slumped down on the ground.

*Kill Luke Skywalker!* the voice inside her head taunted her
still but she could not kill this man in cold blood. She just couldn't
... not anymore.

Luke watched her. He had heard about the various hands of the Emperor,
assassins and personal servers to Palpatine. His father had been one of
them and had he not been careful, he himself would have ended up as the
Hand of Palpatine.

He knew it was outright foolish to show pity or compassion for this woman
when she was still armed, but Luke shrugged off the sense of danger surging
through him and he bent forward, still on his knees, bracing his hands
against the ground to keep from tumbling over. Mara reacted immediately and
with the blaster resting against the taut flesh of his stomach, she
levelled her gaze at him.

"I did not kill Palpatine," Luke said softly, talking to her as if he
would with a scared animal or child. The snort coming from Mara Jade told
him she didn't believe him.

Sighing, Luke sat back and rubbed his eyes wearily.

"Why don't you ask me some questions and I tell you what I know about
the death of the Emperor?" he challenged her and met her incredulous green
stare with a steady blue one of his own.

"So you don't deny being there when the Emperor died?"

"I don't deny it. But I was too dazed as to remember much clearly," Luke
replied and looked up to meet her intent gaze. "The Emperor almost killed
me with Force lightning ..."

Involuntarily, Mara shuddered. Her own scars itched at the memory of
how she had received her first Force whipping. It had been after her first
mission, when she had met her farmboy, the only man she had ever felt close
to.
Shaking her head, Jade tried to free her mind of the memories and concentrated
on the man before her.

"So you were on the Death Star when Palpatine died?" she
choked out.

"Yes, I had given myself up to buy the Rebellion more time on Endor.
Vader ... he was there to present me to the Emperor. They engaged in a
fight when Palpatine tortured me with the Force ..."

Mara almost gaped at him. Vader had protected the Jedi? she asked
herself silently.

"You want to make me believe that Darth Vader, loyal subject to Palpatine,
actually saved your life by attacking my Master?"

"He knew that with killing me, the light side of the Force would be closed
upon him forever. He still had a lot of good in him," Luke answered, careful
to hide the dark secret why the dark Lord had protected him -- his son.

Mara jumped to her feet and shook her head, then turned abruptly, blaster
aimed at his head again.

"Try again, Jedi!" she growled. "Darth Vader did nothing without considering
his own gain!"

Luke ducked his head, even without the Force the viciousness that this
woman felt was almost palpable. He watched her, musing over his options.

What will happen if she knows the truth about my parentage? he
asked himself. Will she kill me despite or because of Darth Vader being
my father?

"Darth Vader ... he ...," Luke bit his lip and squinted against the glaring
sun that had come through the thick foliage of the trees above. "Anakin
Skywalker was my father."

Mara's eyebrow raised another notch. "So?" she asked, her hands on her
hips. "So your father was a Jedi ... he was probably killed by Lord Vader."

Luke breathed a sigh of relief. If he would stick to the tale Ben had told
him the first time they had met, he could tell her the truth without
telling her the truth ... in a sense.

"Yes," he said and ducked his head, only to have his chin yanked up again
by a small yet strong hand.

"I'm not buying it, Jedi. If Lord Vader had killed your father why would he
spare the son? You were a rebel, I have seen your file, Vader would have
achieved even more power if he had killed you."

"Vader ...," Luke said and swallowed. "Vader was Anakin Skywalker before he
turned to the dark side..."

As if she had burned herself, Mara Jade let go of Skywalker's chin and
stood up. She could not - would not - believe it. How can a dark
powerful lord like Vader have a child? The Emperor must have known ...

"You are lying," Mara spat out and rose the blaster in her hand again. "The
Emperor would have known and killed you before you had a chance to reach
adulthood."

"How do you know, Jade?" Luke snapped back, his patience with the woman
slowly running out. He had told her his best-guarded secret and yet she was
not believing him. "Were you so impartial to the Emperor's secrets that you
know all?"

Mara was taken aback slightly with the ferociousness the Jedi was speaking.

"I was the Emperor's Hand, I was only told on a need to know basis," Mara
bit out and swore under her breath. "Sithspit!" Whirling around she
sheathed the blaster and rubbed her neck wearily.

"So the great Emperor's Hand was a grunt after all," Luke commented and
rose to his feet when he saw Mara reacting. Like the vornskr on this
planet, she was fast as she attacked him.

While he could parry her first blow, the velocity of her attack made him
stumble backwards and he hit the ground with an audible thud.

For several minutes they fought, the hitting blows as well as chokeholds
and grunts followed by worried beeps from Luke's astromech unit. After a
vicious blow directed at his head, Skywalker captured one hand of his
attacker and he twisted her around. Jerking reflexively, Mara rolled onto
her back, following her arm as it threatened to be dislocated.

Luke had followed her movement and was now straddling her, one hand
securely behind her back and the other above her head, both entangled in a
mock embrace.

"It's enough," Luke panted as he bent down to look into her face. "I don't
know why you react like you do or why you want to kill me, but I have
enough of this. Either kill me or don't, but I won't abide to your every
whim of your sick twisted mind."

"Let go of me!" Mara growled and indeed, Luke loosened his grip on her only
to find out that it was a mistake. Mara freed her hand and with the help of
her agile legs, she threw Skywalker off her. She readied herself to shoot
him, when she noticed a movement to her right.

Her reflexes taking over, she fired two shots in quick succession and the
growl of a vornskr was heard when the two beasts dropped dead onto the
ground behind Skywalker.

Luke stared at her, then turned and stared at the two dead animals and
swallowed hard.

Standing over him, she glared at his dumbfounded expression. "If you ever
touch me again, Jedi, you will loose a hand or two! And you will be glad
afterwards if I had killed you as swiftly as those two!"

Mara Jade did not see the pained expression as Luke rubbed his artificial
hand while she stalked away to her backpack. Luke grimaced as she gave the
sign to break their camp and he reluctantly followed her with Artoo.
+++++
The heat of the sun that had risen unmercifully to its zenith as noon
approached, turned the air beneath the thick foliage of jungle trees into a
stifling almost impenetrable wall of humidity. Skywalker stumbled over tree
roots, pulling Artoo's travois behind him and he cursed under his breath
ever so often, when the travois was caught up by a protruding root. He felt
sweaty and tired and Jade's blaster poking into his ribs had left a sore
spot just above his kidneys on his back.

For the umpteenth time he asked himself why he had helped her getting out
of the crashed craft. He should have known that she was dangerous, lethal
even, considering how she had expertly shot two Vornskrs earlier.

He had to admit he was in awe. Her cool professionalism as well as her
determination impressed him and her beauty ... he had never seen hair that
colour, let alone such eyes ... had he? Ever since he had first opened his
eyes after she and Talon Karrde had picked him up in his disabled X-Wing,
something in the back of his mind had nagged him, wanted him to remind him
of something, but every time he tried to retrieve it, he came up with a blank.

He was relieved when she called a halt and he slumped tiredly into the soft
grass on the bank of a lake. Luke heard Artoo whistle softly and he tiredly
crouched over his astromech, reassuring him softly that everything was all
right.

"We rest here," the voice was tired, so much he could tell. When Luke
looked up he saw firm, muscular legs in tight combat trousers standing over
him and he had to squint his eyes to discern her face. Up till now she had
used her surroundings to her advantage, always approaching him with the sun
in her back, so that he always had to squint when he looked
at her, blinding him efficiently.

"Can I take a bath?" Luke asked and looked over to the waves that softly
lapped at the small embankment and suppressed a yearning sigh.

"What and let you swim across the lake so you can escape?" Mara Jade
snapped and shook her head, her golden-red mane dancing with thousands of
lights. "I don't fall for such a ruse, Jedi."

Luke sighed and shook his head while he tiredly rubbed his eyes. Without
the Force to sustain him even he had to admit he had limits.
"You could do with a bath as well, Jade. You and I stink, and I don't
want to exit this life already stinking like a dead carcass."

He watched as the woman in front of him seemed to muse over his suggestion.
With an efficiency and grace that sought its rival, she slid her blaster
into the holster on her wrist and pulled a coil of synthrope from her
backpack.

"Take off your boots and jacket!" she ordered and Artoo let out a warning
whistle.

"It is okay, Artoo, don't worry," Luke assured his artificial friend more
out of custom than any real conviction while he loosened the bindings that
held the astromech to the travois.

"Get to your feet and strip, Jedi," Mara Jade growled, she was getting more
annoyed by the minute. The man was weird, looking after his astromech like
it was a real being. "If you don't get a move on I will use your tin here
as a target for my shooting exercise." She indicated Artoo with a curt nod
of her head.

The agitated whistles from the astromech almost sounded like whines and
Mara smirked at that. Taking out her vibroblade, she cut off a fair amount
of the synthrope and watched as Skywalker took off his boots and then his
jacket.

Pointing at the top he was wearing, she let the rope snap. "That too, or do
you always wash in a tank top?"

Sighing, Luke hooked his thumbs into the hem of this tank top and pulled it
over his head. It was a good feeling to get rid of the sweaty garment and
feeling the cool breeze on his skin.

"Hands!" He heard his captor snap and he held them out to her. He watched
as she efficiently and tightly bound his hands together, leaving a good
length of rope. She wrapped the end around her left wrist, then started to
take off her boots as well. Luke blushed when he noticed her stripping down
to her underwear and he was surprised to see a pair of tight military
issued underpants covering her shapely behind.

Tugging at the rope she dragged him towards the lake and all Luke could do
was to follow behind, trying not to stare too openly at the woman whose
swaying hips captured his whole attention.

Despite his own discomfort, he was mesmerized by her slender figure. She
had a dancer's slim body, she was even smaller in size than he was without
the boots. He was so engrossed with musing over her backside, he gasped
when she gave the rope a sharp snag and he crashed into the lake, head first.

When he came up for air, sputtering and trying to get the water out of his
eyes, she had already advanced into the lake further and squirted cleanser
into her hand. When Luke came back to his feet she tossed the bottle
towards him and he fumbled to catch it.

With tied hands, it was a struggle to wash and most of the cleanser dripped
off into the water instead of meeting his skin. Sighing he tried to cup
water with his hands but failed miserably. When he looked up, he met Mara
Jade's incredulous stare.

"What ...?" Luke asked and struggled against the synthrope, but managed
only to almost drop the cleanser bottle into the water.

"Jedi ..." Mara cursed and shook her head. "I begin to understand why
Palpatine purged you."

With a sigh that bordered on a growl, Mara dragged him over to some
overhanging trees and after she had made sure that his arms were securely
locked in place above his head , she stretched and took the bottle out of
his hands.

Deftly squirting cleanser into the palm of her hand, she worked up a
lather. Luke backed away from her when her lathered up hands almost came in
contact with his bare chest.

"What are you doing?" he asked with a catch in his voice.

"What does it look like, Jedi?" Mara asked and frowned at him. "As you had
mentioned before, you stink and with your hands tied you can't wash
yourself. So either I'll drag you a few times under water with the
possibility that you might drown or you let me wash you...It's up to you."

Comfort and cleanliness won out over decency and shyness and so Luke
stepped closer to her, decreasing the gap between their bodies.

Luke shivered beneath her touch as she started to wash him with efficient
and determined strokes but he could not suppress a groan when her hands,
surprisingly soft hands he had to admit, roamed over the expanse of his
chest, the movement almost a caress. His head slumped forward and he
gritted his teeth, willing himself to ignore the feelings she unwittingly
aroused in him.

Luke's body had been unloved territory for a long time. If he was honest
with himself, it had been ever since he had met his dream girl. Shuddering,
Skywalker squeezed his eyes shut but as hard as he tried, he could not
block Jade's hands that moved over his skin.
When she tiptoed to wash his arms in determined strokes, he inhaled sharply
as the soft damp fabric of her t-shirt teased his nose. Inhaling softly, he
was almost intoxicated by the heady odour of cleanser and musk.

Oh Gods, Luke thought as he willed himself to ignore the odour that
was exciting parts in his body he was sure a Jedi had no use for. When
something soft brushed over his nose and part of his cheek again, his eyes
snapped open and all he could see were soft breasts swaying freely beneath
the material of Jade's shirt. Tantalizing, beckoning him.

It would be easy just to open my mouth and draw her nipple in between my
lips, the thought came unwanted but the rush of passion surging through
him, made him twitch, resulting in driving the synthrope deeper into the
skin of his wrists.

Mara who had been unawares of how enticing a sight she offered to the Jedi,
strained again to reach his outstretched arms. "Hold still," she snapped.
"For a Jedi you don't have any patience, that's for sure."

From deep within his chest, a strangled sound rose to his lips as Luke
Skywalker, Jedi Master, lost the battle with his control and when he buried
his face between the cleft of her breasts, he inhaled deeply.

That Mara was surprised was the understatement of the standard year. Here
she was washing the recalcitrant Jedi and the next moment he had buried his
face between her breasts. The sensations he was eliciting in her, his
breath through the fabric caressing her skin, made her dizzy. She stared at
the Jedi, for the first time really seeing him, the well-toned muscles, the
strong expanse of his chest, the flat stomach.

During her training as Emperor's Hand she had been taught in the Arts as
well, she had seen the sculptures of male and female perfection, but here
it was flesh and blood, and she had touched the warm skin, had
unconsciously revelled in the touch ...

"Sithspawn!" Mara growled and kicked his legs from under Skywalker's body.

"Argh!" The Jedi Master groaned as his weight was only supported by his
arms and the pain that shot down from his arms to his spine was
excruciating. Panting, he squeezed his eyes shut as he struggled to regain
his footing. When the pain subsided he glared at Mara.

"What was that for?" Luke demanded and drew in deep swallows of breath.

"What that was for?" Mara spat back and crossed her arms over her chest.
"You Son of a Sith tried to come on to me!" With these words she whirled
around and made her way through the water towards the beach.

Luke stared after her and when she stepped out of the water, his mind
registered that she had not cut him off the tree.

"Hey, Jade, didn't you forget something ... like cutting the Jedi off the
tree?" he hollered after her.

Mara who had taken a small towel from her backpack turned around and green
eyes shot laser bolts at the Jedi.

"Try again, Skywalker," she yelled back. "How about cooling off the Jedi. A
Jedi knows no passion!"
+++++
Despite the warmth, Luke shivered. Mara Jade had kept him in the water for
more than an hour before she had come and cut him down. During that time
any lusty feelings for his beautiful captor had dwindled for sure and he
was grateful to massage his aching arms while he sat at the small campfire
that Mara had prepared.

He eyed her carefully, trying to gauge what she was feeling and thinking
but without the Force, he had to rely on his knowledge of human nature and
he knew it was limited at best. Luke knew he should not let himself be
deceived by her looks, she was deadly, he knew it, but something in the
back of his mind told him that he was safe. Despite the fact that she
professed to kill him, her behaviour so far had been caustic but she yet
had to pull the trigger.

Or snap my neck, he added thoughtfully and rubbed the strained
muscles on his neck and shoulders. He watched her over the fire with
guarded lids.

She had thrown two ration bars into his lap, and then she had settled down
a few feet away from him, and cradled her blaster in the crook of her arm.
The noise of the wild things in the jungle increased as nighttime
approached, and Jade tried to concentrate on the different noises and sounds.

Luke watched her closely, but when she had not stirred for a little while,
he quietly pulled his jacket on.

"I'm not sleeping Jedi, so if I were you, I wouldn't even think of
escaping!" Her voice was overly loud and Luke flinched in surprise.

"It was worth a try," he muttered underneath his breath and settled back
onto the small sleeping pallet, Jade had given him.

Silence settled once more over the two of them, but sleep eluded Luke.
After he had tossed and turned on the bumpy pallet, he stared up into the sky.

"In need of a bedtime story, Jedi?" the taunting voice of Mara Jade sounded
eerie in the dark of night.

Luke sighed and sat up. "Do you never sleep?" he asked and turned towards
the direction her voice had come from. He flinched when he all of a sudden
felt the butt of the blaster poking into his ribs from behind.

"I don't need sleep, Jedi," Mara's voice breathed near his ear and
involuntarily Luke shuddered.

He turned towards the voice only to be met by strong hands that shoved him
down.

"Go to sleep, Skywalker, you'll need it. Tomorrow we'll trek through some
dense undergrowth and you'll need all your strength to pull that tin dome
of yours through it!"
+++++
Mara Jade watched with squinted eyes the sleeping form of Skywalker. After
he had settled down at last, she had soon felt him falling asleep, his
change in breathing telling her he was fast approaching a deep slumber.

Tiredly, Jade brushed over her eyes and tried to wipe away some of the
sleep that threatened to overcome her. When she heard a soft sound, a
whimper coming from the Jedi, she slowly crawled over to the sleeping man.
What she saw surprised her. Even in the soft glow of the dying embers, she
could make out the body lines of the young man clearly as he lay on his
back, one hand tucked underneath his tousled head and the other ...

Mara frowned and cursed beneath her breath. Skywalker's left hand lay in
the shadows but it was clearly lying on his crotch, slowly moving over the
increasing bulge in the tan trousers.

"I'll be Kesseled," Mara whispered and sat back. After the incident in the
lake earlier, she had tried to ignore the emotions that had shuddered her
body before her mind had kicked in again but now watching the Jedi Master
in such a vulnerable and yet excited state, she wondered what it would feel
like if her hand would give him pleasure.

"Sith!" Mara exclaimed, this time louder and she quickly rushed back to her
former position.
The Jedi Master is a only human after all, she thought, her eyes
being riveted again and again to the enticing form of the sleeping man. She
could hear a soft moan and she closed her eyes to block out the images, but
to no avail. Her mind conjured up images in accord to the soft muffled
moans. Against Mara's will, her body responded to the powerful sexual
tension that had built up.

Mara shifted uncomfortably when she could feel her breasts growing heavy,
lust pooling between her thighs. Another groan coming from the Jedi Master
as he fondled himself, made Mara shiver.

Who is it he is imagining? Mara thought as her hands clenched around
her blaster, willing the strong, yearning passion to subside.

On the other side of the fire, Luke Skywalker revelled in the throes of his
dream, his frantic mind conjuring up the dream images his hand so
unwittingly created.

The kiss was slow and passionate, and Luke's hands found their way along
her slender body.
He could feel her shivering, her breath catching in the back of her throat
as she arched into his touch. His hands cupped her breasts, caressing,
kneading them, weighing them in his hands like precious jewels.

Luke Skywalker was back in the cave ... back in his dream that had haunted
him most of his late teens and way into the time of his Rebel days. He was
with his dream girl again, soft creamy skin beneath his callused hands,
skin that was vibrant with sexual tension.

The girl stirred under his gentle caresses, bringing herself closer to him.
Skin meeting skin, clinging hotly. Luke started to kiss her neck, hearing
her breathing change in his ear, as he found her pulse point. The catch in
her throat as she breathed, fanning his ear and temple as he kissed his way
around her earlobe, sounded incredibly sexy, the soft whimpering making his
blood roar through his veins. His mind was racing, but he tried to control
himself, tried to control the inevitable, as her soft body moved and
lowered herself completely down onto his own, covering him from head to toe.

Red-golden curls tumbled over creamy white skin onto his chest, keeping him
prisoner as it enshrouded both his face and that of the girl. But his dream
had changed, somewhere in the back of his mind, his dream girl had gotten a
face .. a face that he had only recently encountered. Green eyes, glazed
over with passion, bored into him as the girl bent her head and kissed him.
Luke arms came up, burying his hands in the glorious mass of her hair and
he knew the inevitable was coming.

Luke groaned out loud, his hand now rubbing furiously at this pants, still
deeply asleep he groaned when touching was not enough anymore. 
Mara heard him, listened to him, his moans beckoning her to him, making her
blood boil. Without conscious thought, Mara had scrambled over to him
again, checking that he was still sleeping, then she tentatively reached
out a hand.

"Jade," Luke whispered, his voice husky and Mara froze. Her hand, only
inches away from his own erratic hand, hovered over the fly of his pants.
"Jade ..."

Mara Jade was shocked but every time the Jedi Master breathed her name a
ripple of passion surged through her body, made her breast ache and her
lower abdomen clench in response.

For a moment or two, Mara stared down into the contorted face of the Jedi
Master, passion warring with sleep in his expression. She was so engrossed
in her contemplation that she almost missed the movement beneath her hand.
Skywalker's hips had surged up in response to his own ministrations and she
came in contact with his hand and the fly of his pants, feeling the bulge
straining against the material.

Gasping she tried to extract her hand only to have it grasped by Luke's right.

"Yes, Jade ..." Luke whispered as he pressed her hand against his crotch
while his left hand had found her thigh and travelled up and down the inner
side.

Hot passion shot through her, beginning from where Skywalker rubbed her
thigh straight to her feminine core and Mara bit her lip. Easing gently
away from him, she disentangled herself from him and backed away. Her
breath was coming out in shallow panting and she had worked up a sweat that
had drenched her hair and a few curls clung damply against her forehead.

With shock she realized what she had almost done. Cursing, she made sure to
put as much distance between herself and the still dreaming Jedi as she
could without letting her guard down or him out of her sight.

It would be a long night.
+++++

Una

Summary: Myrkr and Wayland .. spanning more of the missing moments ppl have
nagged me about <lol>

Special thanks to Andy for kicking my butt, nagging me about continuing the
fic and overall bouncing ideas :)

Comments are welcome and appreciated.

BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE
+++++
Chapter Two - Truce

Mara felt tired as she crouched at the lakeside and washed her face and
arms with the cool water. She had not slept the whole night, just like the
night before and she could feel her concentration failing her as well as
the fatigue playing tricks on her.

When the sun had started to rise she had checked on Skywalker. He had lain
on his stomach, using his arms as a cushion and she wondered if she had
just imagined the Jedi in the throes of passion the night before. There was
no indication that he had been dreaming and enacting the dream with his
hands. Luke Skywalker's dream induced body had begun to make her think
about things she had no business thinking about. Especially with him of all
people, and she felt irritated that her own body would so easily betray her.

He is my enemy, she told herself sternly. He killed thousands of
innocent lives and would have killed the Emperor if Vader hadn't taken over
that part. He has to die! And yet her palm still burned from the fire
that had seemed to radiate from his body, from the very intimate part where
she had touched the Jedi.

Shrugging these thoughts away, she shed her tunic and started to wash. Mara
revelled in the coolness of the water as she stoutly splashed her face and
neck with it, shuddering momentarily as the cold hit her nerve endings.

Perhaps I should dowse Skywalker in the water, she mused to herself
and had to grin. Would serve him right, after all no one dreams of me
and lives an easy life.

She heard soft stirrings behind her back and while she remained squatting
at the edge of the lake, she slowly retrieved her hold out blaster from its
holster and removed the safety. Even without the Force to guide her, she
could sense Skywalker walking up behind though she was not sure about his
intentions.

"Good morning," Skywalker said cheerfully as he squatted beside her and
took a deep swallow from the water he cupped in his hands. Mara watched him
from narrowed eyes, then slowly she sent the safety shut on her blaster
with the tip of her finger.

"What is so good of this morning while we are still stuck on this
Sithforsaken planet?" she growled, picking up her tunic while she stood up
in one swift motion.

"Every morning is a good morning where I won't wake up with a knife stuck
between my ribs or a blaster held against my head," Luke retorted and
groaned when his head was painfully yanked backwards.

Mara had grabbed him by his hair and yanked him on his back, the blaster
only inches away from his face. "Well then, let's even out the odds that
this is NOT a good morning!" she growled.

Skywalker swallowed audibly as he stared down the nuzzle of her little hold
out blaster. The cold fire that sparkled and twisted in her green eyes made
sure that he kept as still as he could. He didn't doubt for one minute that
Mara Jade was capable of pulling the trigger.

Kill him!! Kill him, my Hand! the voice of the late Emperor boomed
in her head and for a moment she felt dizzy. Steadying her hand, Mara
squeezed her eyes shut but to no avail. The voice started to become louder
and louder.

KILL HIM!!! HE MURDERED ME; HE MURDERED THOUSANDS!!!!

Mara flinched, and tried to focus on the man in front of her but the pain
inside her head grew stronger and with a suppressed yelp, she released
Skywalker and fell back. Clutching her head, she gritted her teeth.

Luke stared at her for a moment, before his shaken limbs moved into action.
Squatting down beside her, he captured her hands and drew her into his lap.
With a frown he watched her not sure, what to make of it. Without the Force
he was as helpless as any normal human being faced with a seizure.

"Ssssshhhhh," Luke said while he caressed her temples in long strokes.
"Mara, tell me what is wrong?"

The young woman in his arms shook her head with effort, before groaning out
again, clutching her head.

"Can't!" she bit out, squeezing her eyes shut.

KILL HIM!!! KILL HIM!!! KILL HIM!!! the sound of the late Emperor's
voice still boomed inside her head and she tried desperately to grope for
the blaster that had fallen to the ground earlier.

"I need to finish my mission, I need to ... need to..." Mara whispered on
and on.

Luke bent further down, straining his hearing while he tried to calm her
down with more caresses on her face. Brushing stray strands off her
forehead, he caught her gaze with his eyes.

"What do you need to finish, Mara?" he asked softly. "What is your mission?"

"Killing Luke Skywalker ..."

Luke swallowed hard and for a moment he just stared at her.

"Mara ...." he whispered but the woman was unconscious and Luke picked her
up into his arms. He wondered briefly how small and delicate she felt in
his arms as he carried her back to their small camp. Settling her on his
own bed roll, he stretched her out, then covered her with his jacket.

Caressing her pale cheek softly, he watched the woman. "What did the
Emperor do to you that you still suffer?" he asked softly before he stood
up and walked over where her hold out blaster lay forgotten in the grass.
+++++
The explosion ripped the barge in two and Mara fell down into the sand
that was hot to the touch. A skiff fled above her, shedding a momentarily
shadow. Then the scene changed and Mara Jade, Emperor's Hand found herself
in the Emperor's throne room, on her knees, two dark figures towering over her.

"My Master," the young girl whispered not daring to look up. Staring at the
intricate marble floor of the throne room, she could see the Emperor coming
to a halt in front of her and for a moment she felt a wave of anger washing
over her, sickening her to the deepest roots of her existence.

"You failed me, Mara Jade," the voice was hard and wheezing. "You failed me
where I thought you would not!"

"I'm sorry, Master but Jabba ..." Mara's voice was cut off as the Emperor
raised a hand and her breathing became laboured. Struggling frantically at
her throat, the woman's body was whipped upward by invisible hands and her
feet kicked the air desperately.

*Master ..* she sent him but the bond between Palpatine and her was
cut off. Struggling to get as much air into her starving lungs as possible,
she looked pleadingly at her Master and the Dark Sith Lord that was
standing silently beside him, but to no avail.

With a flick of his hand the invisible hands slammed Mara into a nearby
marble column, the impact so fierce that Mara heard the sickening snap of
breaking bones before a wave of pain blinded her consciousness.

Mara's eyes snapped open and she bent over to clutch her throat while
gasping whole mouthfuls of air and forcing them down into her lungs.
Unconsciously her hand went to her left side where once three of her ribs
had been broken. Groaning, she calmed herself until a voice broke the
silence of the forest surrounding her.

"Do you feel better?" Luke Skywalker's voice was clear and when Mara's eyes
snapped up, immediately locking onto the intense blue of his own eyes, she
made a grab for her wrist holster, but it was empty.

"I needed it to fend off the Vornskr," Luke commented and held up the small
hold out blaster.

Mara's face shuttered. 'Stupid', she thought and closed her eyes.
With a shudder, she felt someone shifting beside her and she prepared herself.
I've failed my master again, and now I have to pay the price.'
Silently expecting and accepting that Skywalker would kill her now, after
she had so conveniently gushed all her secrets to him.

Green eyes fluttered open in surprise when she felt cool dampness caressing
her forehead and cheek. Skywalker was squatting in front of her, his eyes
serious and never leaving her face while he wiped the sweat off her face
with a piece of cloth.

"What ... why?" Mara felt lost for words and she stared at the man in front
of her.

"Tell me how you got into the services of the Emperor," Luke demanded
softly, never leaving his eyes off her face, as she started to comprehend
his question.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked, her voice small and vulnerable. "Why
don't you kill me ... I'm your enemy ... I will kill you at the next chance
I get."

Luke was taken aback by her admonition and he rocked back onto his heels.
For a moment their eyes met and he could see the determination in her eyes.
Then he dropped the damp cloth and shoved the hold out blaster into her hands.

"All right," he breathed. "Then do it, finish your mission so you can once
and for all continue your life ..."

Mara stared at him disconcertingly, then at the blaster in her hand. Her
finger curled around the small weapon, her mind trying to grasp the
consequences Skywalker's decision had put upon her. Looking up she was met
by an inquisitive stare out of blue, intense eyes.

Jade was not able to tear her gaze from him, it hit her to her deepest
roots as this man she had hated so long, stared at her openly but
passively, waiting for her to reach her decision.

I cannot do it, Mara thought, even though she still could feel the
lingering reverberations of the Emperor's last command inside her mind,
every fiber knew that she had to execute the command but she could not.
Something broke inside her, something that had kept her in thrall for a
long time, perhaps since the first day of her existence. Staring into the
blue eyes of her nemesis she knew she would never be able to kill this
human being.
+++++
The trek back to Hyllyard City took them an additional three days. Mara
Jade kept her distance, trying to ignore the presence of the Jedi and his
droid. During the last past days, she had several seizures, and her
nightmares were haunting her stronger than ever before.

Luke had eyed her closely, watching her every move and somehow their
positions had been reversed. He had taken watch during the night while Mara
Jade was sleeping fitfully.

He stumbled to a halt when Mara stopped all of a sudden and with a groan,
he slumped to the ground, rubbing his neck tiredly. Artoo was whistling
dejectively and he patted the little domed droid on the travois.

"It's okay, Artoo, just getting a rest," Luke breathed and looked up when a
flask of water was thrown into his lap.

"Thanks, Jade," he said but didn't get a reply from the redhead. Staring
ahead, she ignored the man sitting at her feet.

After a long swig from the bottle, Skywalker shook his head and got lithely
to his feet, handing the bottle back to the woman.

"You know, if you want to kill me by ignoring me, you are quite
succeeding," he snapped impatiently, the last two days getting the better
of him.

Jade rose an eyebrow but still did not respond, and Luke had enough.
Grabbing her by her shoulder, he whirled her around to face him.

"Mara, what is wrong?" he asked, catching her gaze with his own.

"Let go of me, Jedi," Mara snarled and tried to shrug off his hands
that had clamped down on her shoulders.

"Not until you have answered some of my questions, Jade," Luke snapped
back, increasing his hold on her. "Why did you rescue me? If you had such
an urge to kill me you had been better off keeping me in limbo in deep space."

Mara Jade stared at him, then shrugged his hands off her shoulders and
stepped further away from him. "I don't think that is any of your
business, Jedi," she snapped angrily. "What is it to you? It isn't as if we
are going to be best friends ever. As soon as we get off this planet, I'll
send you on your way and that's that!"

At that time both didn't know that this was not what would happen. The long
story of Mara Jade and Luke Skywalker had only just begun.
+++++
Two years later - Coruscant - former Imperial Garden - several days after
the events on Wayland

Han Solo watched the couple who sat at some distance from the small band of
ex-smugglers and NR generals that had seated on the soft grass of the
Imperial garden. He felt good, calm even after the events on Myrkr and it
seemed that all had come out unscathed. A few dips in the bacta tank for
himself and Jade, as well as Talon and they had all be as good as new.

He had been surprised when the mysterious Mara Jade had stated to join
them. Ever since Luke had turned up with Talon Karrde and Mara Jade a
couple of years back, telling him they had rescued him, he had wondered how
the young Jedi had tried to befriend the young woman who most clearly
showed an open hostility towards him.

Shaking his head, Solo turned back to Karrde who had followed his gaze.

"She dropped us right out of hyperspace to get to him," Talon commented,
recalling the events two years prior, and stroked his beard thoughtfully.
"I would have thought she would have killed him, she must have some good
opportunities to dispose of him on Myrkr but when she turned up with him, I
was more than surprised."

"Do you think she still has the urge to kill him?" Solo asked. "I mean a
genuine urge, we both know that normally people want to throttle Luke often."

Both men chuckled at that and turned their gaze towards the young couple
again. It was a tranquil sight. Luke was sitting beside Mara, apparently
one hand around her back and their heads were close. They conversed softly,
or Luke was talking to her while Mara nodded once in a while. Both had
their right arms outstretched and a small stone, not bigger than a man's
fist was levitated in front of them.

"Well, she doesn't have it now," Talon commented softly, his eyes brimming
with laughter. "In fact if I didn't know she was Mara Jade, my second in
command, I'd say she is pretty comfortable in Skywalker's presence."

Han nodded to that. Watching the two in front of him, he had to admit those
two looked good together. The ex-smuggler grinned at that.

Yeah they looked damn well together, he told himself silently and
shot Talon another amused look. Both men watched the couple who was
obviously arguing - again.

Luke was telling Mara something and the young woman frowned, the stone in
front of them wavered before gravity took hold of it and it crashed to the
ground.

"Oh come on, Mara," Luke's voice could be heard. "I know you can hold on
longer than this."

Mara flashed him an annoyed glance out of green depth. "Skywalker, why
don't you go and get yourself killed?"

"What so I'd deprive you of that pleasure?" Luke asked in mock shock, and
fell back onto his back, when Mara nudged him none to gently into his ribs.
Standing up she glared down at the chuckling Jedi.

"I really should kill you, then at least I don't have any nagging voices
inside my head anymore!"

"Awww, Mara, you wound me," Luke replied and took her proffered hand gladly
as she helped to pull him up.

"As if, Farmboy," Mara said and they shared a grin. In the last two years
they had come a long way, ever since she had reached the decision that she
could not kill Luke Skywalker, they had become like two planets caught in
each other's gravity, pulling close but never colliding. She still felt
uncomfortable with the fact that in order to get rid of the last command
she had to kill the clone, but then again, she knew that Luuke Skywalker
would have killed them all, given the chance.

"The offer still stands, Mara Jade," Luke replied ominously and both looked
at each other and knew what he was referring at. Mara nodded slightly
before she turned towards the rest of their friends, while Luke watched her
stiff back.
With a sigh, he rubbed his neck and slumped back to the ground, Indian fashion.

Watching Mara Jade, his mind was transported back to their trek through the
forests on Myrkr. That he had been surprised that she did not raise the
blaster and shot him on the spot was the understatement of the year. He had
thought she would do it, but to both their surprises she had not. Something
had changed then, and although they had never been close friends they had
been propelling closer and closer and when he had ask her to accompany him
to Wayland, he knew she would consent.

For a moment he closed his eyes shut, before opening and immediately
latching them onto Jade again. He still didn't know what to make of her.

I just wish she would open up more, he thought, closely shielding
his thoughts from her as the bond that had come to pass when they had left
Wayland was becoming stronger and stronger.

Even on Myrkr without the Force he had known they were connected but in the
last two years it had felt as if they had grown closer and closer, the
tendrils of the Force binding them together. Not that he minded. In fact,
he thrived on this bond, he had come to depend on it. Perhaps more than he
wanted to admit and he knew that he wanted to show Mara that he accepted
and cherished the bond, even though she thought of it as an annoyance.

Ever since the throne room on Mt Tantiss, when C'Baoth had challenged him
and Mara to destroy him, a thought had continuously nagged in the back of
his mind. Mara was powerful in the Force, perhaps equal to him and after
Wayland she would be more readily accepting of becoming one.

Well Skywalker, there is only one way to find out, he thought and
slipped away from his friends at the gathered picnic.
+++++
He had felt her standing on the roof so his steps brought him up there.
Hefting the cylinder in his hand he approached her slowly, marveling at the
beauty of her hair as it was set ablaze by the fiery sunset.

She had sensed him, he could tell from the way she shifted minutely from
one foot to the other. Her battle stance as he had come to call it.
Chuckling silently, he stood beside her, looking like her out onto the vast
cityscape.

"I thought you were back at the picnic, stuffing your already empty stomach
with more delicacies," Mara commented without turning towards him.

"Naw, Mara, I had enough," Luke chuckled and turned his head to watch her
profile. Somewhere deep in his soul he felt a twinge as he watched her. The
nose strong yet delicate, perting slightly upwards at its tip, full lush
lips that could wound with words as much as they could bring happiness with
a smile. Long eyelashes that guarded green depth that only sometimes showed
her soul.

"Stop gawking, Skywalker," Mara commented softly and Luke blushed.

"Sorry," he shrugged and tore his gaze away from her profile and back to
the tall buildings and towers that lay beneath them.

The silence between them stretched and Mara felt as if Luke was perusing
her even without looking at her. Whipping around, she leant against the
railing, facing him.

"So, Skywalker, what do you want?" she challenged him and noticed the small
blush that flushed the Jedi's face.
She watched him silently when he started to fidget around, noticing for the
first time the silver handle in his hand. A shiver ran through her when she
recognized Anakin Skywalker's lightsaber, the very weapon that had cut off
Luke's hand and from which C'Baoth had made Luke's clone.

"Mara..." Luke started and stepped closer to her. "I would like to give you
something ... something that means much to me ..."

"Skywalker, don't do this," Mara whispered. "It is your father's saber ..."

"I know, that is why you should carry it ..." he replied and held it up
with two hands, presenting it to her. "Mara, you have come a long way, both
as the former Emperor's Hand as well as on your path to becoming a Jedi.
Please accept this saber until you will built your own when you have become
a Jedi Knight yourself."

Mara stared at Skywalker, then at the saber. "I can't ... this is not
right," she whispered, then turned her face away.

Luke was certain he could detect a glittering in her eyes that looked
suspiciously like tears.

"Mara, it is right. It is the most right thing I have ever done. Please
Mara, take it. It is yours," the young Jedi said.

Drawing in a shaky breath, Mara reached out her hand, hesitating to touch
the handle. Taking it, she weighed it in her hand, then stepping back, she
ignited the blade towards the darkening sky. Luke watched her, grinning to
himself when he saw that the blue blade cast her face in an eerie light,
making her features even more beautiful than they already were.

"I shouldn't, Luke," Mara said and killed the blade. "I am not a Jedi, nor
do I have plans on ever becoming one. It's not right to keep it." She held
out the saber towards him but Luke shook his head.

For a short moment, Skywalker felt a pang in his heart. Her words 'I
am not a Jedi' tore at him. Trying to get a grip on his emotions, he
shook his head and forced a smile on his face.

"I thought you'd never pass up a good weapon, Jade," he forced out between
numb lips. Mara looked up and curved her lips into a small smile.

"You know me too well, Jedi," she replied, then nodded. "I thank you, Luke,
I feel honoured to accept this gift."

Luke grinned and made a move forward as if to hug her and she held out a hand.

"Now don't get all mushy on me, Farmboy," Mara demanded with a grin and
together they turned towards the cityscape and its glowing lights.
+++++

Una
Disclaimer: The characters and situations of 'Star Wars' depicted in this
story are legal property of George Lucas, Lucasfilm Ltd. and Timothy Zahn,
and have been used without permission. No copyright infringement intended.

Summary: Luke is with Callista and Mara comes to Yavin to celebrate the
birthday of the twins.

Special thanks to Sherry for beta reading and Andy who cheered me up while
fluffing it up. This and the following chapters were already written back
in 2001 so I hope I can update more often now.

Negative, positive or indifferent comments are welcome and appreciated.

BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE
+++++

Chapter Three - Body Snatcher

Yavin orbit - three and a half years after Mount Tantiss

Luke grinned when he saw the repulsors of the Jade's Fire preparing to land
and as soon as the sleek craft had settled on the landing pad, he left
Callista's side and rushed forward.

He felt excited. It had been far too long that he had seen Mara, since the
events on the Eye. He had been badly beaten up and when he had come
out of the healing trance, he had learned that Mara had already left. It
had hurt at that time, not too sure why he had felt so strongly about Mara
when he had met and taken Callista from the Eye.

But he genuinely looked forward to seeing her. He had missed their little
banter, especially their mind ribbing and their bond ....
Ah, their bond, he thought. It still did not sit well with him that
he had no such bond with the woman he loved, but he was glad that even for
a little time he could thrive on the bond with Mara.

Mara Jade walked down the ramp and squinted in the glaring sun. She had
spotted the body snatcher and Skywalker and for a moment a wave of regret
washed over her.

"Mara," Luke waved and came up to her. "Glad you could make it."

The woman smirked at the evident excitement and joy that was reverberating
from the Jedi through the Force.

"Yeah, well, the twins contacted me three times in the last forty eight
standard hours to remind me. You cannot resist Force strong children."

"Yes, Jaina and Jacen asked about their Aunt Mara twice today," Luke
ribbed her and smiled when he felt Mara's mental groan at the title.

"They are waiting. Come on," Luke urged her and looked around for her
trademark black carryall. All he could spot where three nicely wrapped up
presents, obviously for the twins and Anakin.
"Where is your gear?"

"It's still on the Fire, I'll get it later." Mara replied and
shrugged. They walked side by side towards the woman waiting for them. Mara
watched Callista and even though the woman in front of her could not touch
the Force, Mara was certain to feel her emotions as they were tinged with
jealousy, fear of loss.

Or are they my own? Mara queried herself silently. Perhaps she
herself felt jealous though she did not know where that should be coming from.

"Welcome to Yavin, Master Trader Jade," Callista greeted Mara and extended
her hand. Jade, not too comfortable with touching even her closest friends
at the best of times, ignored the hand of greeting and nodded.

"Callista," Jade said and shot the woman in front of her a scrutinizing
look. She had known Cray Mingla only for a short time but to see her now,
gave her a start. Outwardly, she looked like Mingla but there was something
about the woman - the essence of what had been Cray was missing, and Mara
wasn't too sure she liked what she felt.

Luke felt the troubled emotions coming from Mara and he frowned slightly.
There was a mixture of suspicion and care about her but without probing
deeper, he could not discern which.

They walked towards the temple, an icy silence between his lover and his
best friend and for the first time since he had embraced the idea of
celebrating the twins' birthdays with all of his family and friends, he was
not too sure if this idea was so brilliant.

I have to watch Mara, I don't want to unleash whatever is bugging her on
Callista, the Jedi reminded himself as they proceeded into the quarters
of the fledgling Jedi Academy.
+++++
Mara looked around the small guest room that Callista had shown her to,
after Skywalker had been called away.

Small but it will suffice, Mara thought to herself as she dropped
the presents onto the small bunk bed. More comfortable than the Fire.

"I guess you are used to more lavish and comfortable quarters, Captain
Jade," Callista's melodious voice came clearly from the open door. "But the
Jedi Master works hard to make the Academy a success."

Mara flinched at how reverent she spoke of Skywalker.

"The Jedi Master?" Mara asked and turned towards the woman. "I thought you
and Farmboy were close. Isn't it strange that you refer to him as the
Jedi Master instead of something more intimate like Luke?"

Callista twisted her hands into the soft folds of her dress under the
scrutinizing look of Mara Jade.

"Well, yes, of course I call him Luke when we are alone, but he is also the
Jedi Master, and he should be met with respect," the blonde woman's voice
trailed away when she heard the snort coming from the red head.

"The only respect, Skywalker is likely to get from me is when he goes out
on some fool-hardy mission and comes back unscathed ... then ... and only
then he will gain my respect," Mara said and watched as the woman
opposite her regained some of her composure.

"Why are you here?" Callista blurted out and Mara was sure, if Callista
could have touched the Force, she would have felt her rising agitation. "I
mean you don't even seem to like Luke, why do you visit here?"

"Jacen and Jaina's birthday, remember?" Mara asked and unbuttoned her
jacket, without bothering to take it off completely.

"Oh," Callista watched the woman while biting her lips.

"Is there anything else? I really would like to meet the Solo terrors now,"
Mara said but Callista did not budge and was effectively blocking the doorway.

"So you do not refute to not liking the Jedi Master?"

Mara stopped dead in her tracks. What kind of a question is that ?
Mara asked herself.

"I don't understand what you are saying, Callista..."

"I mean you claimed to kill the Jedi Master for a long time ... and you do
not seem to have any good wishes for him, so I wonder how those rumours
about you and my Jedi Master would come about? It is said that you and my
... the Jedi Master were thought to be an item..."

Jade tried to suppress the sudden rush of anger that surged through her.
Is that what people see when they talk about me and Skywalker? An item?

"I don't know what you are talking about, Callista, and what you and
your Jedi Master are up to is none of my business. If you want to
know if Skywalker and I had ever had any intimate relationship then ask
straight out ... if you can face the truth!"

"So it is true then?" Callista gasped, her grey eyes huge in her small
round face. "You love the Jedi Master ..."

"What?" Mara had expected anything but this. "Listen Callista, I don't know
where you got this idea from but I can assure you that Farmboy and I had
never any nor will there be any romantic entanglement. If it were, then be
rest assured you wouldn't be standing here and we wouldn't have this
conversation. Just thinking about it ..." Mara paused and shook her head.
"...that's ridiculous. And now if you'll excuse me, I want to see Jaina and
Jacen ..." Mara brushed past Callista.

The woman slumped against the doorjamb and closed her eyes briefly. She had
expected this conversation to turn out worse. Especially since she had
thought that Mara Jade might be leaving if she just had asked one too many
questions. For the last three days since Luke had learned about Mara's
coming it had been Mara this and Mara that.

Callista had been curious and for the last day or two she had grown
suspicious of the red head she remembered to have met only briefly after
the Eye. With the coming of Han Solo and his family, her doubts had
increased. Solo had shown openly how much he respected Mara, perhaps even
admired her in more than an innocent sense.

The Ex-Jedi had to admit that Mara Jade's looks suggested some open
sensuality, the way she wore all that glorious hair carelessly in a braid,
red-gold hair that set off perfect skin and green eyes, as deep and
brilliant as some of the most precious gems from Coruscant, she certainly
was a beauty.

Callista sighed and returned to where she suspected Luke Skywalker to be.
She was determined to make Skywalker into the best Jedi Master in history,
so she was adamant to remove Mara Jade and some of his dubious friends.
+++++
"Aunt Mara!" Anakin Solo yelled the moment Mara Jade entered the big family
room where the Solos were waiting for Skywalker.

Mara smirked at the title but nevertheless bent her head and graced the
small child who was about four standard years now with a small but genuine
smile.

"Hello Anakin," she said and grinned when Jacen and Jaina had come up.
"Jacen, Jaina."

"Captain Jade, it is so great you could come," Jacen said and stood in a
little military stance in front of Jade. His twin sister didn't have such
qualms, and threw her arms around Mara's waist.

"Mommy said that if it is okay with you, you might take me on a spin in the
Fire. Please say it is okay, I won't touch anything, promise."

Mara patted the child's head awkwardly. "Sure, if your mother said it was
okay, it's okay with me," Mara said and met Han's laughing eyes over the
head of his daughter.

"She got you there, Jade," he said and came over. "Glad you could make it."

"It is good to see those Jedi kids of yours, Solo," Mara grinned and nodded
towards Leia who had joined her husband and children. "Senator."

"Jade," Leia hid her smile while she bent down to pick up Anakin. Senator
Organa-Solo had been wary of the ex-smuggler but she had grown to like the
bristly woman, especially since she had seen how gentle she was around her
children, and her twins and Anakin adored her.

"Auntie Mara," Anakin yelled and held up his arms out to Mara. Leia, who
thought it was hilarious when she saw Mara's sour expression, dumped her
youngest son into the arms of the unsuspecting woman.

Snuggling into the arms of Jade, Anakin rested his forehead against Mara's
temple. "It is good you feel normal," Anakin whispered and heaved a big
sigh for one so little.

"What do you mean, Anakin?" Mara asked and met the blue eyes of the child.

"That yellow haired woman ... she ... I can't feel her at all. It frightens
me," Anakin whispered and slung his chubby arms around Mara's neck. "Jacen
and Jaina too though they won't admit it."

Mara could feel the inexperienced probe coming from the child and for once
she did not raise her barriers against a Skywalker, but sent reassuring
thoughts towards the little boy.

"Some people cannot use the Force like you and your brother and sister do,
Anakin," Mara said gently, her voice husky as it was not accustomed to the
soft tones. "Your dad is not a Force user, remember?"

"But I can feel him, with this yellow haired woman ..." the little boy
shrugged and hid his face in the crook of her neck. She answered the soft
probe with a mental caress of her own, making the young boy smile and
eliciting a new hug from him. Mara was too shell-shocked as to show her
usual bristly demeanor and hugged the child back.

"Her name's Callista," Mara chided softly and Anakin nodded.

"Callista is just not there ... and it is dark and cold ... nothing. Dad is
warm and safe. Just like mom. You are safe, even if I can't feel much ..
but then again I can't feel much from Uncle Luke as well. Is it because you
are Jedi and have to reign in your Force sense?"

"Anakin, I'm not a Jedi," Mara said, despite the familiar feeling of the
lightsaber handle that was dangling from her belt and pressing against her
side.

Green eyes met blue and for a moment Mara was reminded of a younger version
of Luke Skywalker.

"You are Jedi," Anakin whispered and chuckled. "I can feel it."

Mara stared at the young boy in her arms and the fear of old crept back to
the surface of her consciousness, which she tried to suppress.

"I'm not Jedi, Anakin," she whispered softly but bright blue eyes looked
seriously at her.

"Uncle Luke is right, you are too stubborn for your own good," the little
boy chuckled and hid his face behind chubby hands. "But don't tell Uncle
Luke I said that. I don't think he knows I can sometimes read his thoughts."

"You do what?" Mara inquired mock sternly and had to hide her grin.

Anakin had the grace to look down at his hands, a few unruly bangs falling
into his eyes, it seemed he was almost the spitting image of his uncle.

"Sometimes I can feel what people think," he admitted in a low voice. "But
I don't want to ... It is only with people I like and am close to."

Just like his uncle, Mara thought, carefully hiding her thoughts.

"Well it is very rude to listen in on other people's thought, Anakin,
remember that," Mara chided softly and was rewarded with a brilliant smile
of the youngest Solo, displaying the charm he had inherited from his father.

Leia had watched the exchange of her youngest child with the Trader and she
was amazed that Anakin had taken such a close bond to the woman. The child
was usually quite reserved but he had taken a liking to Mara immediately.
Thinking back, she remembered a scene from four years back, when she had
been on Wayland and the mad clone of C'baoth had threatened her and her
unborn child. Mara had saved her and Anakin's life, perhaps the child knew
that.

"What are you thinking about, my love?" Han Solo slung an arm around his
wife's slender waist and watched their children fawning over Mara.

"I just thought how much attuned Mara and Anakin seem to be. It is as if
Anakin knows he has Mara to thank for being alive ..." Leia's whispered
voice trailed away and she closed her eyes against the unexpected pain that
washed over her.

"Shhhhhh," Han made and hugged her close. "We have a lot to be thankful for."

"Yes, we have," Leia replied.

It was at this moment that Luke entered, his brown Jedi robe swirling
around him as he got down on his knees to embrace Jacen and Jaina.

"Hey, guys," he said after standing up and keeping both twins safe in his
arms. He grinned when he saw Mara having Anakin in her arms.

"Why Mara, never knew you can look so maternal," he teased her and chuckled
when he heard her snort.

"Skywalker, watch it, I don't want to maim you in front of the kids," Mara
growled. Anakin hugged her closer, almost choking her, then turned to the
Jedi Master.

"Auntie Mara will have children one day, Uncle Luke, and they will be
related to us," he said sternly and both adults gaped at him. Jacen and
Jaina chuckled then teased their little brother.

"So Anakin when is the marriage due?"

"Kids stop it," Han barged in and took Anakin away from Mara as well as
hooked Jacen beneath his arm. Both boys squealed, the revelation and
teasing quite forgotten when their father tickled them both.

"Kids," Han grinned good-naturedly and winked.

Mara was still shaken and Luke, who had put Jaina down on the ground so she
could join the fun of her two brothers and their father, stepped closer to
Mara.

"You know children just babble, Mara ... and the future ..."

"Is always in motion, yeah Skywalker, I know that," Mara cut him off.
Unconsciously, she wiped her hands at her thighs, trying to get rid of the
sweat that had gathered there. "Well Skywalker, if what Anakin said is
true, we might be related some day ... so will that make me your Niece Mara
one day?"

Luke flashed her a grin, shaking his head, and he opened his mouth for a
retort when a slender arm encircled his waist and drew him away from Mara.

"What is my Jedi Master up to?" Callista asked, pressing herself full
length at the side of Skywalker.

Mara smirked when she heard the title and quirked an eyebrow at Luke.

"Callista," Skywalker swallowed and tried to disentangle himself from the
woman but did not quite succeed. An irrational surge of annoyance swept
through him that Callista had disturbed the comfortable banter between
himself and Mara Jade.

*My Jedi Master?* Mara inquired and sent Luke a mental ribbing.
*I now know why I will never come here to train, because you'll never be
hearing that from me.*

*Mara ...* Skywalker sent her warningly, but Mara just laughed out
loud.

"Forget it, Farmboy," she said off-handedly and walked over to where Leia
and Han were witnessing the whole scene.
+++++
Dinner was a strange affair and all but Luke and Callista seemed to think
so. The former Jedi was fawning all over Skywalker while she was endlessly
chatting about the changes they wanted to make on Yavin.

Mara listened to all of this with a raised eyebrow because some concepts
where definitely not to Luke's liking, so much she picked up through their
bond. When she tried to inquire silently, Luke almost rebuked her, his
barriers so tightly up that she gasped, drawing blank stares from the
other's around the table.

Excusing herself after the dinner, Mara made her way out of the temple
slowly. Behind her lay a tiring trade run and she needed to get away from
the glowering looks the former Jedi shot her way now and then. She had
settled herself on one of the huge terraced sidewalls of the temple when
she felt three inquisitive Force senses seeking her out.

"Aunt Mara?" Jaina Solo's voice was loud in the dusk of the Yavin day and
Mara uncloaked her presence enough for the three Solo children to look up
and after spotting her, scrambling up the few meters onto the wall.

"Can we take a ride in the Fire?" Jaina asked breathlessly, after
she had seated herself on the step beneath Mara's.

"Have you asked your mother?" Mara shot back, knowing that Leia had her
objections.

"She said it was okay, she knows you won't let anything happen to us,"
Jacen piped in, his brown eyes huge in his small face.

"Well, tomorrow then, we will take the Fire for a short spin."

The children whooped in pleasure, but their cheers died soon, giving way to
a sentiment of gloom.

"I don't like her," Anakin said and ducked his head under Mara's arm and
hugged her close.

"Don't say that, Anakin," Mara chided softly, trying to get over her
momentary panic. She shifted uncomfortably, but then squeezed the young
boy's shoulder quickly.

"But Ani is right, she gives me the creeps," Jacen piped in. "I don't know
why but she is like a huge void, nothing. I don't know what Uncle Luke sees
in her ..."

For a moment Mara stared at the young boy then shook her head.

"You should give her a chance, Jacen, after all she will be your real Aunt
soon..." Mara said and was surprised to feel a twinge of sadness welling up
inside.

Falling silent again, they stared into the falling dusk until someone came
up the steps. Mara was surprised to see Leia, as she sat down and pulled
Jaina into her lap.

"Your daddy is looking all over the place," she said to no one in
particular but it was clear she wanted the children inside. With a sigh and
some softly spoken requests to stay up a bit longer, she sent her children
firmly to bed, promising them that tomorrow they could all go on a ride
with the Fire, if they would behave.

Both women were silent after the children had said good night to Mara, and
the trader was starting to get restless.

"You know, I never told you this, but I want to thank you for what you did
back on Wayland," Leia said softly, so Mara had to strain her ears.

"You needed help, I was there," Mara shrugged her shoulders and stretched
out her legs while she propped herself up on her elbows on the step behind her.

Leia fumbled with the hem of her sleeves, but she should have known that
thanking Mara Jade was not an easy feat.

"Well yes, but you took the full blow of that Force lightning..." Leia
commented, shuddering at the thought.

"If I hadn't we wouldn't be having this conversation, Leia," Mara replied
harshly but stopped and sat up. "I know what Force lightning can do to your
body, I didn't want you to get hurt, okay?"

"Okay," Leia admonished and turned to watch the woman beside her. "Thank
you, Mara."

Mara shrugged and grinned. "Another good deed to redeem myself for the
NRI." With that she got up and sauntering down the terraced stones, she
left a confused Princess behind.
+++++

Negative, positive or indifferent comments are welcome and appreciated.

Next update in a couple of days

Una

Summary: Mara visits Yavin to celebrate the birthday of the Solo twins but
gets into conflict with Callista who sees her as a potential rival to the
Jedi Master's affection

Comments are welcome and appreciated.

BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE

+++++

Chapter Four - Nightmares and Dreams Shattered

Pain.

That was all there was. Pain. Endless. Searing. All encompassing.

The cold heat of the red-bladed lightsaber had cauterized the wound and
only a minuscule amount of blood dropped into the seemingly endless air shaft.

Pain. Physical. Emotional.

'I'm your father'.

Pain. Joy. Only minutely before the pain engulfed him again.

'No!'

Falling. Endless. Hurting.

Mara woke up with a start and panted heavily. The dream had been so vivid
and cruel, she could still feel her heart racing. Sitting up in bed, she
raked her hair back and cradled her head.

"Luke!" she whispered, then shook considerably as she felt a wave of
despair coming from him. Not minding her state of undress, Mara scrambled
out of bed and rushed to the door. She could feel the faint throbbing of
Dark Force induced dreaming when she approached Luke's room, almost
menacingly pushing against her barriers.

Mara didn't hesitate when she opened the door to Skywalker meagre quarters
and it took her only a few steps till she had reached his bed. For a moment
she was stumped, she had prepared herself for quite a different image. Like
her best friend and his love in bed together, but finding the Jedi Master
tangled in his sheets, alone, threw her off for a minute. When Luke writhed
as if in pain and Mara did not hesitate and overcame her surprise.

*Luke!* she called forth within the Force, careful not to touch him.
She lowered her barriers, slowly opening to their shared bond. *Luke,
you are having a nightmare!*

The writhing stilled momentarily and with a loud gasp, Luke opened his eyes
and sat up in bed.

*Mara!* no shout tore from his lips, as Skywalker screamed within
the Force, his unseeing eyes staring into the darkness. Luke felt as if he
had just finished a whole day of cross-jungle racing and every bone and
muscle in his body ached.

"Ssssh, I'm here," Mara whispered and sent comforting thoughts over their
bond. She showed him where she was standing through the Force and Luke,
without thinking, grabbed her outstretched hand and drew her close. She
slumped down beside him on the bed, letting herself being enveloped into
his embrace.

"It's alright, Luke, everything is okay," she whispered, her hands rubbing
in circular fashion over his shoulders and back in the age old and
universal show of comfort while Luke hid his face in the crook of her neck.

To anyone it would have seemed like a lover's embrace, as the Jedi Master
and the Trader lay there, in each other's arms. Mara tried to push away the
last remnants of the dream and yet with the Force flowing so freely around
them, she could still feel the pain Luke had experienced. She still felt
the sharp clean cut through his wrist as Vader's lightsaber had decapitated
his right hand from his arm as if it were her own. Sending him more
reassuring thoughts, she hugged him close until after a while, Skywalker
stirred in her arms.

"Stars, Mara, it seemed so real," Luke said , drinking in the calm and
comfort his best friend sent him through the Force. Mara shifted slightly
and sat up, lying so near her best friend made her uncomfortable, but she
also knew he needed her.

"I know, Luke, I know," she soothed him, shuddering when she remembered the
disturbing images Luke had unconsciously sent her through the Force. With
another shudder, her hands came to rest on the side of his head, her
fingers softly massaging his temples brushing through his silky hair while
her forehead, rested against his.

"I'm sorry, Mara," Luke whispered and hugged her close, for the first time
noticing that his fingers touched naked skin. In his haste he had not
noticed that Mara's legs lay sprawled over his as they sat snuggled up
intimately against each other. He closed his eyes as his fingers slowly
drifted over her naked leg, down from her knee and up to where he
encountered the edge of her combat boxers she was so fond of wearing. He
revelled in the soft skin, calming his erratic breathing and drawing
comfort from her whole being.

"You alright?" He heard Mara's soft inquiry, her lips almost brushing over
his own and for a moment, he had this incredible urge to tilt his head
forward and kiss those luscious lips.

Closing his eyes he drew his barriers up a notch and stilled his hands, but
try as he might, his fingers itched for the soft texture of her skin and
his calloused palm continued to draw circles on her thigh.

"Luke?" Mara drew back, searching his face.

"I'm fine, Mara. Thank you," he replied softly, both his hands rubbing over
her legs. As if he had burned himself he let his hands fall to his sides.

Jade cupped his face in her hands, and searched his eyes. "What brought on
this nightmare? Did you experience others?"

"A few ... nothing this vivid ..." Luke mumbled and tried to escape her
grasp, but Mara did not release him.

"Answer me, Luke, did you have other Dark Force induced nightmares?" the
question came out as a growl.

"Yes!" Skywalker replied and caught her hands in his. "I had them ever
since the Eye ..."

Mara stared at him and for a moment, they both felt the slight disturbance
in the Force, felt the realization that both of them came to.

"Mara, it is not Callista ..." Luke offered lamely and shook his head, even
though a kernel of doubt was rooted deeply in his mind.

"Isn't it?" Mara asked incredulously. "You brought her with you from the
Eye and ever since these nightmares plague you, don't you think
these two things are connected?"

"Mara, Callista loves me, she would never ..." Luke began.

"And she cannot touch the Force, well not the light side, right?" Mara cut
in and shook her head. "When will you grow up, Skywalker?"

"I'm grown up, thank you very much," Luke growled and was somewhat grateful
that they quarrelled. Holding her in his arms, feeling her so near, within
kissing distance, he felt that he betrayed Callista.

An uncomfortable silence spread between them and Mara closed her eyes. She
still massaged his temples, trying to dissuade him from the residues of the
nightmare but her own mind was in a turmoil of warring emotions. He was so
near, so all encompassing her that she could not think straight. His
presence, his arms around her, made it only too clearly that she was not
supposed to be here with him. The realization that even although she was
his best friend, from now on it wasn't her place anymore to hold him like
this, to keep the nightmares away they were both prone to, hit her
unexpectedly hard.

"Uncle Luke?" the small voice brought both out of their reveries and Mara
sat up as if someone had whipped her.

"Anakin, what happened?" Mara asked as she came over to the little boy who
was rubbing his eyes sleepily. A soft halo of light shimmered in his hair
that stood on ends as if something had given the child a fright. Mara
suspected that the smallest of the Solo family also had been effected by
the nightmares.

Kneeling down in front of him, Mara touched his shoulders slightly and the
boy turned blue eyes on her.

"Did Grandfather really do that to Uncle Luke?" The voice was breathless,
just the tiniest whisper as if the boy was afraid he would conjure up the
nightmare again.

Mara nodded, afraid to use her voice. For a moment she saw herself, a
frightened child, sleepless, in a hostile environment and pained by Dark
Side dreams.

"It's alright, Anakin. I'm sorry I couldn't shield you sooner," Mara
answered slowly and almost gasped when the smallest Solo slipped his arms
around her neck and held on for what he was worth.

Raising and stepping back towards Skywalker's bed, she sat down on it
gingerly while the Jedi Master bent over and put a hand on Anakin's back.

"Hey, Anakin, everything is alright now," he soothed and Mara felt the boy
relaxing towards her. Slowly, she pried his arms off her neck and the
little one cuddled up to his uncle. When Mara made moves to stand, a chubby
hand shot out and two pairs of blue eyes looked up pleadingly at her.

"Auntie Mara, don't go, please," Anakin said and Mara heard the same demand
echoing in her mind, with a good amount of mirth.

*Yes, Auntie Mara, don't go,* Luke sent her.

*Oh for Sith' sake, Skywalker,* she snapped at him in an irritable
way while she smiled at Anakin.

"I'm not far away, Anakin, just in the other room, and I know your uncle
won't let you have nightmares again," she soothed the little boy but he
didn't want to hear about it.

"No, I want you be here," Anakin slurred and tried to climb into her lap.
Luke drew the child towards him and over the tousled head of his nephew, he
looked at Mara.

*Just for a few minutes, Jade, till he is asleep,* he pleaded with
her silently. Mara watched him as he gave her his best Farmboy's smile and
then patted the mattress beside him.

"Come on, Jade," he coaxed and watched with a smile when his friend
reluctantly stretched out beside him and Anakin.

With the little boy between them, Luke and Mara lay facing each other. Mara
felt fidgety and moved restlessly when Skywalker spread the bed sheet over
the three of them. Anakin was already half asleep and snuggled closer to
the adults, so that all three lay closely together, wrapped up in a small
cocoon of bed sheets and their warmth.

"Thank you, Jade," Luke's voice sounded eerie so near at her ear, and when
Mara turned her head she was almost nose to nose with her former nemesis.
"I don't know what I would do without you."

Mara swallowed and tried to break the intent gaze out of deep blue eyes.
She felt a small fluttering in her stomach when Skywalker moved his hand up
to her cheek, brushing a stray curl out of her face. For a moment his hand
lingered, revelling in the soft texture of her skin and Mara's breath
caught in her throat when his head moved closer, resting forehead against
forehead.

"You are welcome, Skywalker," Jade managed to choke out and she mustered up
enough courage to put her hand on his that still lay on her cheek and
squeezed it briefly.

Deep green eyes, bright like the forest of Yavin, stared into blue ones and
Luke swallowed. He had never thought that he could feel comfortable with
the one woman who had wanted to kill him, but here he was, sharing his bed
with her, albeit innocently, but his heart roared and a feeling washed over
him, that he could easily identify as happiness.

Mara on the other hand felt like the whole situation was slowly slipping
out of her control. The feeling that washed over her just by a simple touch
of the Jedi Master was not something she had expected.

Her heart started to drum more profoundly, anticipating something, anything
and a warmth unlike any other she had ever experienced flooded her being
from just the one spot where Skywalker rested his hand on her cheek. She
wanted so much to kiss him, kiss away the pain and memory of the days
during the rebellion and that made her giddy and angry at the same time.

I must be out of my mind, she told herself sternly, trying to come
up with a subject that would take her mind off those forbidden thoughts.
Within an inch of her sanity left, she spoke aloud the first thing that
came to mind.

"Why are we always fighting?" she asked all of a sudden and Luke sighed
softly, leaning his head against hers.

"I don't know, Mara, seems we always do," he replied softly.

Mara shrugged, her movement jarring all three on the bed, bringing them
nearer. "You need to sleep," she said and let go of his hand while she sat up.

Luke watched in surprise as she stood up, for the first time seeing that
she was just wearing boxers and a tank shirt, almost the same attire she
had worn when they had bathed in a lake on Myrkr. A rush of passion surged
through him which he quickly dampened.

I can't feel that for Mara, he admonished himself more harshly than
he really felt, knowing that was only partly true. I'm with Callista!

"You will sleep now, Jedi," Jade said as she tucked the sheets around the
slim forms of the man and the little boy.

"Mara..." Luke started then caught one of her hands and drew her close.
"Thank you."

Mara Jade fidgeted and swallowed upon the seriousness in his voice. Quickly
she squeezed his hand then retracted hers silently.

*Sleep now, Jedi,* she brushed his mind with her own then reached
out and brushed his hair out of his face, then that of Anakin.

"Yes Mom," Luke mumbled, winking at her mischievously and laughed genuinely
for the first time since Mara had arrived on Yavin when she swatted his cheek.

"You watch it, Farmboy," Mara growled softly, but a smile tucked at her
lips. Soft finger brushed over Luke's face and contently he closed his eyes.

*Thank you, Mara,* he sent and Mara nodded.

*You are welcome,* Mara sent back and smiled. *That's what
friends are for.*

+++++

After she had made sure that Luke and Anakin were sleeping, Mara stepped
quietly from the room. She couldn't believe she had almost kissed the Jedi
Master.

He is in love with Callista, she told herself firmly but in the back
of her mind, a nagging voice could be heard.

Then why did he caress you like this? He knew you weren't Callista and
yet he seemed reluctant to part with you or a fair amount of your touch.

Rubbing her temples furiously, Mara tried to shut up the voice in her mind.
Luke loves Callista! she almost recited it like a mantra, hurting
herself with it rather than succeeding in drowning out the voice in her head.

She was about to turn when she came face to face with Callista. The woman
was wearing a sleeping shift of some suggestion and Mara could sense that
the woman had taken especial care with her hair and added fragrance to it
which teased Mara's nostrils and almost made her wheeze.

"Callista," Mara greeted her calmly and deep inside her, the trader
couldn't help but smirk at the somewhat shocked expression the blonde woman
opposite her showed on her face.

"Ma..Mara ..." Callista mumbled and her eyes flew to the door from which
Mara had just emerged, then back to the trader herself.

Groaning inwardly, Mara cursed beneath her breath. Just what I need
right now, another holier than though Jedi breathing down my back Mara
was about to turn when a hand kept her back. Looking at the offending limb
like it was a fire fly straight out of the Ondoorun desert, Mara raised an
eyebrow when she directed her gaze towards Callista.

"How dare you telling me that there is nothing between yourself and my Jedi
Master, when you sniff at his door in the dead of night," Callista hissed.

"Sniffing at his door?" Mara asked, raising an eyebrow. "Last time I
checked I was shutting the door while someone else was sniffing at it,
Callista!"

The angry gasp from the other woman was loud in the otherwise still corridor.

"How dare you?" Callista snapped. "Luke would never allow anyone in his
private rooms..."

Mara gazed at the former Jedi cooly and crossed her arms over her chest.
"Well, I think you are mistaken here, I certainly am allowed."

"You bitch!" Callista shrieked. "First you played the Sith whore and now
you try to lure my Jedi Master into your dark clutches, I won't abide to it."

Mara Jade frowned and for a moment she thought about retaliating in kind,
but then she drew in a cleansing breath and shook her head.

"Callista, whatever you think of me is of no consequence, but I give you
one advice, never let Skywalker know how you feel. I told you before if I
wanted Skywalker in the way you seem so obsessed about, you won't be here,
in fact you'd be still a incorporeal ghost on the Eye," the young
woman said, then turned.

"I won't let you destroy him," Callista spit out. "I have waited for an
opportunity like this, I will get rid of you once and for all!"

Mara faced Callista, a frown on her face. "What do you mean? Get rid of me?"

"I will not let you destroy my Jedi Master. I will make him into the most
powerful there ever was or ever be and he doesn't need people like you and
those flyboy friends of his in his life!"

"On what kind of spice are you, Callista?" Mara inquired calmly, too
calmly. "Luke has managed quite well without your delusions of grandeur.
The Rogues are his friends. They go back a long way and I don't think Luke
is blind enough not too see what you are trying to do!"

"That doesn't need to concern you, I want you out of his life. I'm sick of
hearing him talking about you, always Mara this or Mara that. You are a
Sith whore and I won't let him fall from the grace of the New Republic
because of you. He will be the New Republic once I'm through with him!"

Mara was taken aback by the ferociousness the other woman spoke and for a
moment she felt her danger sense flare up.

"Callista, that is the dark side speaking. Skywalker never wanted riches
and power, he is a normal human being who wants to be treated like a normal
man!"

"He is the Jedi Master and with my help he will become the most powerful of
all!" Callista shrieked and stepped forward.

Jade felt the Force swirling around her and her arms already came up and
blocked the blow that was directed at her head. Whirling around, she pushed
Callista away from her.

"By the love of ... What got into you?" Luke's voice was loud in the
corridor and both women stared at him, a sleepy Anakin in his arms.

"Oh Luke, she wanted to kill me," Calista sobbed and threw herself into his
arms, almost shoving Anakin to the ground.

"Callista ..." Luke whispered and shot Mara a disbelieving glance. Anakin
looked at the woman beside him as if she was some evil creature from the
swamps of Dagobah.

"Auntie Mara," Anakin's voice was barely a whisper but it held a ring of
panic in it.

Taking the young boy out of Luke's arms, Mara avoided his gaze.

"Luke, you have to send her away, she wanted to kill me when I found her
sniffing outside your room," Callista whined again, this time hugging
Skywalker closely.

Mara rolled her eyes but the way Luke shot her another glance, she snorted.

"Sithspit, whatever!" she grumbled and hugged the still terrified young boy
close to her. With this she turned and almost ran with the little boy in
her arms towards the quarters of the Solo family.
+++++
"Oh Luke," Callista sobbed again and clung tighter to Skywalker. "You have
to send her away. She is not befit to be a friend of ours."

Luke shuddered, after the soft almost intimate scene with Mara, his whole
body was sensitized and he registered her half-clad body all too well, but
somehow, as it had been the case ever since she had taken Cray's body, it
put a damper on his emotions.

"Callista, Mara is my friend ..." he started but Callista shook her head
and cupping his face with her hands, she stared longingly into his eyes.

"She is not your friend, she can't stay away from you and wants to break us
up," Callista whispered, batting her eyelashes at him. "Please, Luke, she
gave me such a fright, please could you hold me in your arms?"

Luke nodded absentmindedly, he doubted that Mara had attacked Callista, but
the love of his life had never lied to him either. With a last look at
Mara's retreating from, he ushered Callista inside his quarters, moving
with her to the sofa, determined to get to the bottom of this.

--------------
tbc

Comments welcome and appreciated.

Una
Chapter Five - Sore Heartstrings
The Jedi Master had soothed Callista the whole night through and in the early hours he had been relieved that she had fallen asleep in his arms on the sofa. He had held his classes for this morning and was now looking forward to the lunch with his family.
The heat had grown uncomfortable and thunderclouds were gathering at the horizon as he turned towards the hall in the Massassasi temple. On his way there, he saw his niece and nephew exiting the Jade's Fire. Luke smiled when he felt the excitement of the two Jedi children and when he probed them he felt a familiar tendril of the Force.
Smiling, his footsteps lead him closer to his nephew and niece and the trader. He had almost reached them when Callista stepped to them and his danger sense flared up. Probing Mara, he felt her barriers shutting him out as he watched Calisa saying something and then Mara sending the children away.
His two nephews and his niece passed him by, all their Force senses in turmoil. He caught Anakin by his small shoulders.
"What is wrong, Anakin?" Luke asked and the little boy sniffled a sob.
"Mara is not a whore, right?" he asked and Luke frowned. "Callista said she is a whore... she just brought me to bed, and what is wrong with sleeping in a bed with her .."
"Shhhh, Anakin, Mara is not a whore and nothing is wrong with sleeping in a bed with Mara. I was there too, remember?"
The little one nodded then hid his face in his uncle's neck. "She said bad things about you too ... like you only want Mara for ... for ... proc..procasti..."
"Procastination?" Luke asked, trying to keep his anger in check. He kissed Anakin on the cheek when the boy nodded and put him down on his two feet. "Go on, find your mom, I'll talk to Callista and Mara."

Mara stared at the malten haired woman, barely containing her anger. "I think you have said enough already, Callista!"
"Oh I haven't even started, Jade," Callista spat back. "If I ever find you anywhere near Luke you'll regret it!"
Mara Jade couldn't suppress the smirk as she stepped closer, almost nose to nose with the other woman. "Then pray tell me how do you want me regret it? You and who else would want to take me on?"
"You'll see, WHORE!"
Mara snorted and back handed Callista across her face. "You better start changing your tune, Body Snatcher, or I forget that you are Skywalker's woman!"
"MARA!" Luke's voice cut in and both women turned in time to saw a frowning Jedi Master standing nearby.
"What Skywalker?" Mara snapped and put her hands on her hips. "Do you think I let this woman here call me names?"
Grabbing Mara's arm, he almost dragged the trader after him and into his study in the temple.
Mara just stared at the Jedi Master and snorted. The light coming through the windows had visibly darkened and she knew just like the gathering thunderstorm outside, she was about to snap as well.
Seeing that body snatcher Callista fawning all over her Jedi Master Skywalker, as Callista referred to Luke, had made her sick and when Callista had had that little girl's talk with her, Mara's patience had worn down to non-existent.
"Do you really, honestly, think she loves you?" Mara asked and when she saw Luke's face contorted with anger, she briefly considered stepping down ... but this was too important she had to make him see, make him understand what kind of a woman Callista really was.
"Have you never asked yourself how Cray's family feels about this? Have you turned a blind eye on the distress of that family? How would you feel if your daughter, sister or child would be alive but not really your kin? Callista did a very abominable thing, she snatched a body that is not rightfully her own ... and for what?"
"She loves me and I love her," Luke answered through clenched teeth.
"Callista doesn't love you, Farmboy. She doesn't know what love is otherwise she wouldn't have snatched that dead body of Cray's, hurting innumerous people by doing so," Mara growled. "Callista is in love with the image of the great almighty Jedi Master, she doesn't love you. If she really loves you, don't you think she would have let you go? But no, instead she snatched a body, that didn't belong to her and stays with you. She's old enough to be your mother for Sith' sake! Not even the Emperor was that ruthless!"
"MARA!" Skywalker hissed and stepped closer to her. "One more word and I promise you'll regret it."
"What? Are you threatening me, Jedi Master?" Mara snorted. "The truth hurts, Skywalker, and deep down inside yourself you know that I'm right. You know that it was wrong to take Cray's body and that Callista doesn't love you."
"What do you know about love, Mara? Isn't it ironic coming from you? You who doesn't know love?" he taunted and Mara flinched at his words.
Suppressing her anger, she stepped closer to him, their bodies almost touching each other.
"I might not know love, but I can see if people hurt others or not," Mara snarled and her face was only inches away from his. "Count yourself lucky, Skywalker, that I don't want to hurt you. I have easily killed for less!"
"And we both know how hard it is for you to kill me, right, Jade?!"
Afterwards, Luke didn't know what had hit him, though he had a pretty accurate guess that his face had met with Mara's elbow.
"Sith, Jade, you broke my nose!" he whined and watched Jade who was standing above him.
"Be grateful it is only your nose and not your neck, Jedi!" Mara opened the door only to be faced with Han and Leia. When Leia saw her bleeding brother she brushed past Mara and rushed up to Luke. Han's gaze wandered from Mara to Luke and back to Mara and with an raised eyebrow he crossed his arms over his chest.
"You don't want to know, Solo!" Mara replied to his unvoiced question.
Han first watched his wife as she fussed over her brother, then he looked over his shoulder at the silhouette advancing upon the exit of the building. With another look at Leia and Luke, he turned on his heels and dashed after Mara.
Jade heard the sudden footsteps behind her and pushing her barriers up a notch or two, she braced herself. Turning into the room she vacated, she hurriedly packed her carryall. She was totally unprepared though, when a strong hand spun her around and she was faced with a glaring Han Solo.
"What do you think you are doing, Jade?" Han growled and pointed a finger into her face, almost touching her nose. "I want an answer, and don't give me that load of Bantha crap about not wanting to know."
Jade was momentarily phazed, then she rose an eyebrow in scorn.
"Do you have a death wish, Solo, or do you want to have a bleeding nose like your brother in law?"
"Cut the crap, Jade, I'm not here to play one of your silly games!" Han spat back.
Mara suppressed the snort and put her hands to her hips while stepping back a bit, allowing her space in case she had to forcibly get out of the room.
"Though it isn't any of your business, Solo, but I told the almighty Jedi Master some home truths about that blonde hussy who is fawning all over him..." She stopped irritated when she saw Han barely hiding a chuckle. "What's so funny?"
Han sobered instantly at the tone of her voice. You can only push Mara Jade this far, and I guess I have just reached that point, he told himself and let his hand rest on his holster.
"I'm sorry, Jade ..." Han replied quickly, then shook his head. "You know, I really envy you for telling him that. Leia and I have the feeling that .. Callista ... only sees the Jedi Master in him and not the man ... but I guess... we never had the gusto to tell him."
"What, you and your feisty wife are afraid of farmboy?" Mara asked and her wonderment was genuine.
"Well as you said he is the almighty Jedi Master ..." Han answered sheepishly. Mara snorted at that.
"No wonder he always wants to save the galaxy single-handedly if no one cuts him down to size from time to time... what do you do when I'm not around?" Mara asked rhetorically but her head snapped up when Han answered her.
"We call Karrde and ask about your whereabouts, Jade."
Han laughed when he saw Mara's sour expression, then nudged her none too gently. "'Fess up, Jade, you love rescuing Luke ... and clobbering some sense into him."
Mara shook her head and for a moment she squeezed her eyes shut, her face full of uncertainty and evident pain. Han frowned, he was certain that Mara never really showed her real emotions or let others know just how tired or exasperated she was, and yet, here was one of those rare moments.
"Look, Solo, I'm not Skywalker's babysitter. I have my own problems and business to attend to for Karrde, your family really should look for someone else who keeps the Jedi out of trouble." She heaved a sigh and shook her head, some strands from her tight braid flying around her head.
"Mara, he needs you. If you are not around who will keep him grounded? As you said .. he thinks he can save the galaxy single-handedly and you and I are the only ones who see Luke as he is .. a normal human being with certain powers," Han said, beseeching her with his eyes not to turn her back on Luke. "Though I still don't believe in your Jedi mumbo-jumbo."
"It's not my Jedi mumbo-jumbo," Mara snapped, then realizing how shrewdish she sounded, she sighed. "I'm not a Jedi nor am I interested in ever becoming one, you should understand that, if Skywalker can't. From now on, you will just have to keep an eye on him... I won't be there..." She had finished packing and shouldered her pack. She turned towards the corridor but was kept back by Han's hand on her shoulder.
"Mara, please, don't do this."
"Solo, for a smuggler you are far too naive, must be Skywalker rubbing off on you. Even if I'd stay, I have way surpassed my welcome."
"You are always welcome, Jade. Luke needs you," Han replied.
The look with which Mara met Han's serious expression, bored deeply into him. For a moment his breath caught in his throat. The look out of green eyes was that of total dejection and he wondered if Mara Jade, despite all her hostility towards his brother in law on good days and a genuine death wish on others, was harboring deeper feelings for the Farmboy turned Jedi Master.
"Mara ..." he started but Jade shook her head no.
"Skywalker doesn't need me. He has Callista now and I hope she hasn't forgotten all of her Jedi training to keep him alive and out of trouble. I won't be there to haul his butt out of a tight situation."
"Mara, don't do this. You and Luke ... you have a genuine friendship ..." Han started again, increasing his hold on her shoulder. "He trusts you."
Mara Jade sighed and shook her head. "Solo!" she growled, her trademark hostility back in place. "Let it rest!" She caught a glimpse of Callista standing at the other end of the corridor and her facial expression turned sour.
"Give the twins and Anakin a hug from me, and please tell them I was called away on urgent business for Karrde. The twins' birthday presents are on the table there." She gestured towards three parcels on a nearby endtable. Without another word of farewell, Mara shrugged off Solo's hand and left the great Mananassi temple.
Han Solo stared at the door that had closed behind the small slender figure of the trader for a long time and when he heard the repulsors of a starting craft, he turned and made his way towards Luke's set of rooms.
His talk with Jade might have proven fruitful, he thought as he went back slowly. When he looked up, he saw Callista's stricken face as she stood hovering at the open door to Luke's rooms. It seemed to Han as if she was berating herself whether to enter or not and when their eyes met, Han was sure to see a faint blush of irritation on her face.
Blonde hussy ... Han thought and wagged his tongue mentally at himself. Jade, if I didn't know I could trust your perceptiveness I'd think you are way off base.

Callista was seething with anger. The moment she had seen Luke sitting on the floor, his head tilted back while his sister wiped away the blood from his nose and Han running after Jade, she had known that the trader was to blame. She could not hear what was being said between Solo and Jade but the way they stood together it seemed pretty intense and somehow intimate.
Hesitating to step over into Luke's room, she waited till Solo had reached her.
He nodded towards her as he passed her and went over to his wife and brother in law. "Jade's gone, kid," Han said and squatted down beside Leia, patting her shoulder.
Luke's body tensed for a moment, then relaxed and Leia could feel a stab of rejection and anger surging through her twin and she rose her head to face her husband.
"Did she tell you why?" she asked.
"Leia!" Luke's voice sounded sharp in the stillness of his room.
"Don't you Leia me, brother mine," Leia scolded and deftly wiped access blood of his face with so much force Luke flinched.
"Kid, you really have a way with women," Han commented, chuckling to himself and met both twins' glares with his trademark grin. "What have you said to her, Luke? I never have seen Mara so ... so ..."
"Angry?" Leia offered but Han shook his head.
"She looked more defeated to me," Han flashed Callista a glance who was still standing in the door way and which didn't escape his wife's attention. "She was genuinely pissed off."
Luke bit his lip, when he remembered what exactly he had told Jade. He had never lashed out at her like that. Using personal information that she had told him in confidence against her.
Great, just great! he thought. And she didn't tell me anything I already didn't know.
"I need to go after her. I was way out of line," Luke muttered and tried to raise to his feet. Han pushed him down and shook his head.
"She is already gone, Kid," Han replied and looked over at Leia. "And she won't be coming back."
Luke stared at Han then closed his eyes, stretching out to the Force. He did not see the stricken look on his sister's face or Han's Later as he mouthed it to his wife.
All Luke could feel of his friend was a faint flicker in the Force, her barriers so tightly up that he could barely recognize her Force signature. *Jade,* he called out but he already knew she would not answer him. If she was in this kind of mood, nothing would coerce her to come back.
Luke sighed and dropped his head to his chest, only to have it whipped back, the back of his head connecting almost painfully with the wall behind him.
"Sit still, Luke, otherwise the bleeding won't stop," Leia snapped and the twins exchanged a look.
"Leia," Luke began but his twin shook her head.
"I really don't know what got into you, but one thing I know. Jade has many flaws but she never was that angry to actually draw blood," the Princess sighed. "What a mess!"
Han took away the bloodied kerchief Leia was still holding and pulled her to her feet.
"Let's see to the kids, Mara left her presents in the room assigned to her."
With a last look towards Luke, Leia followed her husband outside. She was surprised when Luke followed her and shut the door in Callista's face. Both she and Han looked at each other.
"She is not allowed to go into his room," Leia stated when her brother's girlfriend was out of earshot.
"I figured as much. I wonder why? With Mara he never had such qualms," Han replied and shook his head as if to clear his head.
"Han? What did Mara tell you?" Leia inquired.
"Better ask me what she didn't tell me, hon. She seemed genuinely concerned for Luke and I believe her. But something tells me that her feelings for Luke run much deeper."
Leia stared at her husband. "You mean ...?"
Han shrugged his shoulders. "Only Mara is able to tell, Leia. But she seems genuinely concerned that Luke is going to get hurt." He hugged her close and put a kiss on her nose. "Let's go by Mara's room and get the presents. We have to tell the kids she was called away on urgent business for Karrde."

One and a half years later
He had felt her presence ever since she had entered the Yavin system on the Fire. Now he could feel her, a mixture of gruff annoyance, grief and genuine care, approaching. The Jedi felt her taking two steps at a time while she moved up the stairs, determination making her step light-hearted and yet weary.
Swinging his legs over the edge of the roof, watching the tree tops that barely reached the roof top of the old Mananassi temple where he had established the Jedi Academy, he considered cloaking himself with the Force. If Mara Jade did not find him here, she would go away, and leave him alone.
*Don't even think about it, Farmboy!* He felt her voice in his mind and smirked. He had always wondered if their bond in the Force was two way, as he could always so easily pick up on her thoughts and emotions.
Guess she can just as easily read me as I can read her, Luke thought and rubbed his eyes tiredly. The last time he had seen Mara was when he had awakened in a med center, yet again, and it had been over a year ago. He did not know why she had come just now.
"You know it, Jedi," Her voice was coming right from behind him if not a bit from above. Skywalker suppressed the urge to turn towards her. Closing his eyes, he could conjure up her image, hands on her hips, her slender legs in tight combat trousers and boots firmly grounded on the slightly sloping roof, studded with heavy durasteel caps.
"What do you want, Jade?" he asked, snapping at her impatiently. "I don't seem to recall we are in need of any provisions or spare parts."
"I was in the vicinity," Mara retorted and lowered herself beside him, her legs, like his, dangling precariously over the edge of the roof. "And I thought I could scrounge off a meal or two, even if it is only that abominable stew you and your students are so fond of."
Luke finally lost his battle not looking at her and from the corner of his eyes he eyed her carefully. It seemed as if the twilight of dawn was drawn to her fiery locks that were haphazardly tied into a thick braid. Even in the semi-darkness it was brilliant, but when he looked at her face, he could see she was tired.
"Why are you here?" he asked softly and for the first time, Mara turned towards him and their eyes locked. Dark circles, almost the twins to his own, looked like smudges against her normally ivory skin.
"Any Force sensitive sentient would have felt your pain and desolation, Jedi. I have come here to make it stop!" Mara said with determination, tearing her gaze away from his and watched the far horizon where the small rim of the rising sun was just visible.
Luke snorted at that and followed her gaze. "And what will you do to stop it?" he asked, and his mind conjured up an uncomfortable image, two bodies, locked together in a tight embrace, man to woman, soul to body. He shook his head slightly to shake off the vision or just his sick, twisted imagination.
No, he thought and filed away the image into the far recesses of his mind. Not me and Mara ... she ... would laugh at me .. if she ever found out that I have any feelings for her. And yet she had come, she had followed his silent call of agony.
"Killing you is always an option, Skywalker, but that is only my last resort," Mara said, ignorant of the troubling thoughts the Jedi experienced. "I mean it, Skywalker, either you get a grip on your emotions or tighten up those barriers of yours, but I'm sick of feeling your distress and agony across the whole damn galaxy."
Luke gawked at her. Not even Leia had felt that he was in distress and here Mara sat beside him, telling him she had felt it. He still could not understand the bond they had through the Force. At first he had thought it might be a freak accident, resolving from stress rather than a genuine connection but it had always been there, even if they had not been on missions. He had felt it for the first time on Wayland and ever since then their bond in the Force had strengthened, not lessened. Even when he had been with Callista, his and Mara's link in the Force had flourished and strengthened, mocking his and Callista's fruitless efforts to regain the Ex-Jedi's Force sense.
It was as if the Force wanted to tell me something ... Luke thought.
"... I haven't slept for three months and if you don't snap out of it, Skywalker, I swear by the Emperor's black bones that you will pay dearly," Mara ended her little tirade and looked at Skywalker.
Luke blinked in surprise and swallowed under such close scrutiny.
"Have you listened to anything I said, Jedi?" Mara asked, raising a perfect eyebrow at him.
"Ye..es," Luke said cautiously. "You'll kill me if I don't stop!" But stop what? he asked himself.
"Exactly," Mara grimaced smugly and watched her legs as they dangled over the edge. "I don't know why we are connected, Skywalker. But with only the Emperor as my first and only experience, it leaves me wary. You have to understand that..."
"I know, Mara, and I'm sorry that I draw you into my own personal problems," he gave a genuine sigh. "I'd thought I had my barriers up but ..." he stopped and watched the gas giant rising over the horizon, hovering just on the brink to come fully into view.
"You have to move on, Luke," Mara's voice was just a whisper, soft, intimate and it sent a shudder down Luke's spine.
"I know, but sometimes ... Callista leaving me just drags me down ... it is as if in order to be the only living Jedi Master, I have to give up so much. It seems as if I'm cursed."
"I know," Mara replied softly and watched him. "But you are not alone in this feeling. We all feel that way, lonely and rejected. But we ignore it and move on. You should too ..." Their gazes locked and after a while of serious contemplation each other's faces, Luke grinned which spread into a laugh.
"I should keep you around more often, Mara. You always seem to know just the right things to say to me."
Mara gave off a little snort but she grinned mischievously. "Someone has to keep the almighty Jedi Master grounded."
"What would I do without you, Jade, huh?" He asked in jest and caught a sense of regret and pain coming from the beautiful trader just before she cloaked her feelings. "Jade?"
Mara shrugged her shoulders. "Nothing, Skywalker," she replied glibly, but the way she tightened her mental barriers against him, he knew something was wrong.
"Mara?" he asked and for a moment he could see her shoulders tensing. "Mara, there is more, right? You just didn't come here only to tell me to stop moping around?"
An uncomfortable silence spread between them slick and thick like durasteel. Luke was tempted to caress the cheek of the woman sitting beside him. Her complete figure was bathed in golden light, her hair catching the first rays of the sun setting her head on fire like a beautiful halo. Mara's eyes were half-closed and Luke wondered how many people had actually seen her like this, completely still and in repose.
"I haven't slept much the last three months, Skywalker, that's all." Mara shrugged her shoulders and her gaze met his. "I ... I never felt so much ... despair, Luke. I'm sorry what I said to you the last time I was here. I .. I feel as if it was a self-fullfilling prophecy ... that I might be the reason why ... "
Her soft words had not shaken him as much as her use of his birth name. Skywalker knew he had over doing it, in fact he had carefully shielded himself from Leia, forgetting that he had an even stronger link with the beautiful smuggler turned trader.
"You are not at fault here, if it is anyone's fault, it is mine ... and Callista's. I wanted too much, while she wanted ... something else," Luke said and looked up to meet her intent gaze. "I should have been more of a friend to you and heed your warning..."
"I'm sorry, Mara," he whispered and giving in to the urge to touch her, gently placed the fingers of his left hand against her cheek. "You know I'd never really hurt you ... ever. But this time I couldn't control myself, I shielded myself from Leia but not from you and I'm sorry."
Mara watched his face and his apologetic words sunk in.
"It's okay, you know. I deserved it in a way, when I told you not to depend on the Force so much ... But listen to me," Mara bent toward him and her face was only inches away from his face. "If it happens again, I might kill you just yet."
Luke was quite taken back at the ferocity she spoke those words, even when he tried to cloak his surprise.
"I thought you had overcome the urge to kill me, Jade," he choked out and gave her a crooked grin.
"Oh I have, Skywalker, but I like to keep you on your toes," Mara retorted. "You are the most annoying man alive this side of the universe, but the galaxy seems to be a saver place since you are there. I don't want to get on the bad side of the New Republic. Won't do me any good with my business."
"Oh thanks, Mara. Now all I am is a business asset?" Luke feigned annoyance, but Mara could pick up that his spirits had lifted considerably since she had arrived.
"Hmm... Skywalker, very bright. I make a business man out of you yet."
"Only if you come here to learn ..." Luke bit his tongue and sighed. The old argument and he had put the boot in his mouth right into it.
"One day ... one day, Skywalker, even you will understand that I'm not Jedi material," Mara replied without her usual briskness.
"Will I?" Luke asked, eyeing her from beneath a fringe of blonde hair. Mara nodded.
"But till then I guess I have to tell that Bantha brain of yours that I don't want to train repeatedly," Mara yawned and rubbed her eyes tiredly.
"Yeah, I guess," Luke replied and they both grinned. Their eyes met and they held their gazes for a long time, oblivious to the fact that the sun had finally risen over the horizon. Soft sunlight bathing the two, as they sat on their perch on the roof.
Mara's head drooped and Luke felt the tiredness that grew within her, so he pulled her away from the roof edge. When he had settled against the air vent station on top of the roof, Mara tiredly rose her head.
"What are you doing?" she asked sleepily while Luke pushed her head down on his lap.
"Sleep, Mara," he said and gently tucked at one of the strands of her hair that had escaped her braid. "I'll make sure you won't be disturbed this time."
Silently, Mara watched him,and the Jedi started fidgeting under her intent gaze.
"Don't shut me out, Luke," she demanded softly. "Whatever it is that is paining you, you know you can talk to me. I won't always agree to what that Bantha brain of yours will come up with, but I'm there!"
Skywalker nodded to that but deep down he knew that she would be raving mad, if she knew why he felt so alone.
"I will Mara, I promise," he answered her softly and that seemed to mollify the trader. Nodding her head, she closed her eyes. A calm coming over her that lulled her into a deep undisturbed sleep.
Luke watched her still face and he wondered how lucky he was. Every time he needed it, Mara was there to either set his head straight or haul him out of trouble. He couldn't be such a failure as a Jedi Master and human being if he had the friendship of this beautiful, skilled woman.
And she'll kill me if I ever tell her that I think she is beautiful, Luke chuckled silently to himself. Ah Mara, what a pair we are ...
He grimaced and caressed her cheek. "What a pair, huh?" he whispered and rested his head against the durasteel wall behind him. Soon, the Jedi Master and his companion were asleep.

The End