Sara Challenge FIC BP

Okay folks,
This is my fic. Now keep in mind that this is the
first thing that I've ever written.
Characters are property of George Lucas and Tim Zahn.

Sarah

Lingering Issues

by Sarah Bracke

rated PG

Mara and Luke took up their usual positions on
the bed. Mara propped herself against the headboard
with a pillow, her legs sprawled out in front of
her.Luke curled up next to her with his head and hand
delicately laid upon Mara's rounded belly. As she ran
her fingers through Luke's feathery hair, he reached
out with the force and probed his son's force
presence.

Luke stretched out and touched the pulsing
beacon that he recognized as his son's force
signature. He was amazed when his son sent out a force
tendril to investigate the intrusion.

Luke sent a tender caress to calm him and soon after, the small child's presence settled. After waiting a few moments, Luke carefully
scanned the small form for abnormalities. There was no way to tell whether Mara was completely healed of the devastating disease the
Yuuzhan Vong Nom Anor had infected her with.

Consequently, it was vital that the child be scanned
for signs of infection. The sooner problems were
discovered, the sooner they could be dealt with. Mara
scanned herself constantly, but insisted that Luke
double check.

"Anything?"

"Nope," Luke replied. He propped himself on an
elbow and stared up at his wife.

Mara let out a sigh and let her head fall
against the headboard. She clenched her eyes shut and
grabbed her belly protectively. Luke placed a hand on
top of hers and sent a feeling of reassurance in her
direction.

No matter how much Luke reassured her,
however, she was deathly afraid that the disease would
return and infect their child. Mara didn't want to
have to face whatever would come out of her if the
disease did put in an appearance.

"Mara, it's been almost a year now. I'm still
not getting any bad vibes from this. We only have
another month before he's here."

"That doesn't mean anything, Skywalker," she
snapped, looking down at the bed spread. "You don't
know how hard it is to deal with this. To know you
that you could be responsible for this child being a
freak for the rest of his life."

"It's not..."

Mara pushed herself up and glared at Luke."Yes
it is, dammit! I'm the one responsible for keeping the
disease at bay. Sith, Skywalker, I'm the one who
decided to go to Monor II in the first place.
What if something does happen to him and a few
years down the line he hates us...hates me for
allowing this to happen to him?!" She looked away from
him.

"Mara!" Luke said, putting his hands on either
side of her face and forcing her to look at him. "You
know that whatever happens to this child, he will be
loved. He has parents that love him, and an aunt and
uncle, cousins, Talon, Corran, Lando, Wedge...He will
have no reason to resent you, unless you live out the
rest of your life feeling guilty about something
that's not your fault."

The baby kicked, sensing his mother's
agitation. She looked down at her belly. Mara was
suddenly thrust out of her reverie. She suddenly
realized that this child, her son, was almost
complete. He was almost fully human. She realized her
worst fears would not come true. Her son would not
turn out as a thing. She realized that perhaps she
should just shut up and listen to Luke for a once.
Mara reached up and stroked Luke's cheek.
"You're right Luke," she said with a soft sigh. "I
need to stop focusing on what could be and start
concentrating on what is. We've come this far...."

This wasn't to say that she would stop the
hourly inspections of her son's condition. She would
just focus more of her energy on loving him instead of
worrying about him. Something that she had denied
herself for so long.

Luke picked up her hand and placed a kiss on
her knuckles. "I love you Mara, no matter what
happens."

Mara had spent far too much time hating this
man and denying her feelings for him. For years, she
had wanted to kill Luke. And for more years still, she
hid the fact that she loved him. After they were
together, it became all too painfully clear how much
she had loved him all along. It infuriated her to
realize how much time had been wasted, all of the
children they could have had without fear of death and
deformity.

Luke smiled, happy that a major obstacle had
been overcome. It had been the first triumph for them
since Mara had willingly withdrawn herself from the
front lines of battle. She'd convinced Karrde to give
her some small projects to take her mind off worrying
about the little Skycrawler.

" I just can't seem to let go."

"I know, I know..." he murmured.
Luke rearranged himself behind Mara and
wrapped his arms around her expanded stomach. They sat
like that for a long moment, reveling in each other's
presence.

"So, we haven't thought of a name yet," Luke
said, breaking the long silence.

"No, but you have," she looked back at
him."Ben is fine with me, Luke," she reassured. "I
know how important he was to you, as important as your son."

"Thank you, Mara," Luke replied, relieved to
hear her approval. Luke had waited so long for the
opportunityto name a child. To be able to name his son
Ben was beyond words.

Luke leaned down and kissed Mara's rosy lips.
The love they shared across their bond had only gotten
stronger in their seven and a half years of marriage.
Now a child only seemed to fill some previously
unperceived gap in their lives.

After a few more minutes of cuddling, it was
time for bed. Luke crawled out from behind Mara. He
lifted up the bottom of her shirt over her stomach and
pressed a kiss to the bulge he found there.

"Goodnight, Ben."

The child's force presence flared up towards
his father. Mara smirked.

"He likes you."

"I certainly hope so," Luke replied with a
smile. He pressed a kiss to Mara's lips and pulled the
sheets up over them. The light went out.

Fin