Okay

Okay, go ahead and shoot me. I was in an incredibly sentimental mood
tonight and then Alan Jackson...oh well, you'll understand when you
read this silly little thing.

Disclaimers: Everybody belongs to George Lucas or Timothy Zahn.
I'm not doing this for profit in anyway.

Time: A year after Union.

Rating: PG-13

Blame this whole thing on Napster and Alan Jackson. Credit to Alan
Jackson's beautiful song, "I'll Go On Loving You"
which I think may be the most perfect Luke and Mara song ever written. I have taken
some small liberties with the words to Mr. Jackson's song.
However, the original song is listed at the end.

I'll Go On Loving You

by JadesHand

It was twilight on Yavin 4, and Luke Skywalker, Jedi Master, sat on
the roof of the Great Temple, watching the sky as it changed into the
cool, soft colors of the evening. His eyes wandered along the
horizon far in the distance, searching for something, but then he
sighed and leaned back against the small wall that surrounded the
roof. Whatever he was looking for wasn't there.

He had been on Yavin 4 for over six standard weeks, attending to the
enrollment and first stages of training of a new crop of students at
the Jedi Academy. And he was tired, a little grumpy, and so
lonely...lonely for one person. His eyes searched the horizon, but
once again, they were disappointed.

He hadn't realized that he could miss someone so much. That he
could be in a crowd of people, all clamoring for his attention and fawning
over him, and yet still be stricken by the haunting ache of sheer
loneliness. For the last few weeks, he had felt such isolation, such
emptiness, even though everyone around him was a close and dear
friend. It amazed him that he had come to the point in his life
where so much depended on one individual, that he wasn't really
happy unless that person was with him.

A whisper bird called loudly in the jungle below and he smiled
slightly. I know what you are going through, bird, he thought. I
want to call out too, I want to yell out how I feel, so that everyone
will know what that...that person...means to me.

He took a small datapad out of his pocket and stared at it for a
moment. Maybe if he just wrote it all down, let his feelings pour
out onto a datacard that could be slipped unnoticed into a delicate,
lovely hand to be read later in private. Yes, he decided, that's
what he would do.

He pulled up a knee and rested the datapad against it. He thought
for a moment and then began.

When I look into your soft green eyes
And when I see your delicate body
Revealed to me as you slip off your dress
I'm reminded that what I feel for you
Will remain strong and true
Long after the pleasures of the flesh

Luke looked up. Night had fallen, the only light coming from the
small screen on his datapad. A few stars were beginning to twinkle
in the sky, but the great gas giant, Yavin, had not risen over the
horizon yet. The horizon...his eyes searched again, but then he
sighed and leaned his head back against the wall. Finally his
fingers began to move over the datapad again.

And?

I'll go on loving you
I'll go on loving you
I'll go on loving you

A drop of moisture hit his cheek and he glanced up, noticing for the
first time the small rain cloud drifting over the Temple. A few more
drops hit him and then it seems as if the cloud had lost its will,
floating off towards the jungle. Luke looked down again, wiped a
tiny drop from the viewscreen and continued.

And be it the wind or the rain
Or the planet up in the sky,
The spin of this moon
Or the change in the tides,
I don't know what brought us together,
What strange Force of nature
Conspired to construct the present from the past

But?

I'll go on loving you
I'll go on loving you
I'll go on loving you

*Luke?*

The voice, soft as a whisper, interrupted his thoughts and he looked
up quickly, his eyes running across the length of the horizon.

*I'm here,* he sent, his heart swelling at the sight of the
tiny, glowing dot on the horizon, growing larger by the second. The
Sabre...it was the Jade Sabre.

*I'll be there soon, my love,* the voice said in his head and he
got to his feet quickly, watching the light on the horizon take shape
into a glowing ship.

*Hurry,* he told her. *I've missed you so much.*

His only answer was a soft chuckle.

He started across the roof, and then paused, glancing down once again
at the datapad in his hands.

He smiled slightly and he pushed the save mechanism on the datapad,
hearing the tiny whirl as it crafted the words onto a datacard.

He moved to the stairway, glancing one more at the now much larger
light on the horizon. He started running down the stairs, leaping
them two at a time, the final words on the datapad echoing in his
mind.

And?

I'll go on loving you
I'll go on loving you
I'll go on loving you

The End.

Thanks to Mr. Alan Jackson and his song, I'll Go On Loving You.

I'll go on loving you
I'll go on loving you
I'll go on loving you

And be it the wind or the rain
Or the moon up in the sky
The spin of the earth
Or the change in the tides
I don't know what brought us together
What strange forces of nature
Conspired to construct the present from the past
But...

I'll go on loving you
I'll go on loving you
I'll go on loving you

(Repeat the first verse)
(Repeat the chorus)