Courscant Table Rules
By: Patrice

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars.
Rating: G

Luke had asked her to dine at his apartment that
evening. It had seemed a simple, romantic proposal at
the time. After all it would be their first official
'date'. He'd put to use all those 'charm lessons' from
Han and Lando over the years and told her he wanted to
stay in and enjoy her company in the comfort of home
rather than the loud interior of a restaurant. She had
obviously agreed, why would she have volunteered to go
out in public and potentially become tabloid fodder.
And so it came to pass that in the second month of
Courscant's 49,498th recorded year, they spent their
first formal dinner together....

"Luke, everything smells wonderful. And the apartment
looks lovely," Mara told him. She looked around and
admired the little touches he had added since the last
time she had been in here. In two days he had added
slipcovers to the mismatched furniture. For that alone
she was eternally grateful. Ever the bachelor Luke had
two sofas and two comfy chairs that were all different
sizes and colors. One sofa had suspicious looking
stains on it. (She didn't ask.) The Yoda-aged
reclining chair was green and grey striped, which was
helpful since it helped camouflage the engine tape
holding it together. The other chair had pink floral
upholstery which told Mara Luke had rescued it from
the side of the street. The final sofa was very nice
actually and seemed to be one of the gifts Leia had
given him over the years.

'You know,' she thought to herself, 'The idea that
Jedi shouldn't be concerned about their environment is
all well and good, but human decency and good taste
should come in somewhere.'

In addition to that Luke had vacuumed, dusted, picked
up all the dirty socks, and washed the windows. Oh,
yeah, he had put out some candles and flowers too. And
cooked dinner.

"Dinner is ready love." Luke called from the kitchen.
He came out and admired her unabashedly. They had both
gone to a lot of trouble to dress just right for
tonight. Nothing formal exactly, but rather
comfortable and romantic. Mara had on an ankle length,
light brown skirt that was soft and swished against
her as she moved. This was accompanied by a white
shirt that almost fell off her shoulders with it's
wide neckline. Her outfit was topped off by flat
sandals and a wide belt.

Luke had on black pants, low black boots, and a white
linen shirt. He wasn't dressed too differently that he
normally did, but the look of love that he gave her
made all the difference in Mara's eyes.
He pulled out her chair for her and sat down himself.
The table was set and the food ready to be eaten. Luke
had already scooped out portions for the two of them
while in the kitchen and Mara couldn't wait to dig in.
After umpteen years as a bachelor one obviously
learned to cook really good meals. Everything looked
scrumptious.

Luke held up his glass of wine, "To us, to love, to
the future."

Mara couldn't agree more. "Sante." The glasses
chinked together.

"Sante," Luke returned with a smile. They then broke
bread and dinner began.....

It was during the soup course near the beginning of
the meal that Mara heard the airy birds. Airy birds
traveled in pairs and called to one another with a
distinctive pattern during their searches for food or
shelter. They were often portrayed as a symbol for
lovers on gimmicky holidays since they mated for live
and were totally devoted to their mates. Mara had
never fallen for the sentimental symbolism before, but
tonight it all made sense. The glow of the
candlelight, the color of the flowers, the sweet smell
of Luke's cologne mixing with the spicy smell of the
food, the overwhelming emotions......

Wanting to remember this moment forever Mara sat back
to listen to the two small birds.

'Twoooo Twoooooo Tweeeee.' One called.

'Tweeeee Twooooo Twooooo.' The mate called back.

Thought it was impossible, Mara thought she
understood what they were saying to each other. "I
Love You." In the simplest ways nature allowed love to
be shown. Smiling and feeling even better Mara
listened again. 'Tell him you love him, pretty bird.
Tell him how much you love him. As much as I love my
Luke.

'Twooo Twoooo Tweeeee.'

'That's it. So pretty. As pretty as you are.' She now
turned her thoughts to the mate. 'Do you love your
mate? You do? Then tell her, tell her, tell her...'

SSSSSSLLLLUUUUURRRRRRPPPPPP!!!!!!!!

The simple, beautiful scene was destroyed around her.

What on Courscant......?

SSSSSSSLLLLLLLUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRPPPPPP!!!!!!

"SKYWALKER!!!!"

He looked up at her, wondering why she interrupted
his eating. "What?" he asked innocently.

"What?" she nearly growled. "Is that all you can
say?"

He thought about it for a moment. "No?" Afterall, how
was he supposed to know what she wanted. They had been
sitting in silence for quite some time.

"Unbelievable," she muttered under her breath. Louder
she said, "You don't know what you did?"

"You were just sitting there really quiet one minute
and then the next minute you're yelling at me. How am
I supposed to know what I did wrong? I'm just eating
for Force's sake." 'Women.'

She glared at him some more just to make him sweat.
"You are such a man sometimes." A blank face was her
reward. 'Men.'

Exasperated, she heaved a great sigh, "Didn't Leia
ever teach you Courscant Table Rules?"

He shook his head.

Looking closer at him she noticed that not only did
he hold his spoon the wrong way, he held it in the
wrong hand. 'She should have her head examined then.'
Out loud she said, "Rule 24: Never slurp you soup or
any other liquid." She paused, "Especially when it's
your first dinner with you fianc?nd airy birds are
cooing outside the window!!!!"

"Well, gosh, Mara. I'm sorry."

She hung her head in defeat. 'Sorry. He ruined what
was probably the single most romantic moments in my
life and he's sorry.' Bringing her head up she looked
into his eyes. She could tell he still didn't fully
get it, but he was genuinely sorry and concerned that
she was upset. There was no way she could stay mad at
him.

"Oh, Farmboy." She reached across the table and took
his hand. He squeezed hers. "You really are so sweet.
How did you stay that way?" she asked herself more
than him. "I forgive you." Smiling, she kissed his
palm. She was treated to a return smile. Putting down
his hand, she reached for her spoon to finish her bowl
of soup.

"Just as a warning..." she waited until she had Luke's
full attention again. "Don't ever, ever, break Rule
52."

End.

(of this part anyway. I might add some thing else
later as a type of sequel. I don't know yet. Would you
like that? Cooing is now my favorite word. HeHe Cooing
HeHe)