Author: Michele

Author's E-mail: michelesky29@hotmail.com

Spoilers: Original movie trilogy; A Journey of Discovery - Book One: Pendulum

Rating: PG-13

Summary: Luke and Mara continue their up-and-down relationship in this sequel to A Journey of Discovery – Book One: Pendulum.

Disclaimer: All these wonderful characters belong to George Lucas. He's just allowing the likes of Zahn, Stackpole, Tyers, and me to play in his galaxy. No Imperial or Republic credits are being made off this story.

Author's Note: Many thanks to all my wonderful, 'anonymous,' betas (you know who you are) for their words of encouragement and invaluable suggestions

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Inside the Lucky Red Bone Pub, anxious citizens were shoving tables and chairs into optimum viewing positions. All movement ceased, however, as Hiley ushered the suspected sorcerers into the room. Luke could feel Mara stiffen beside him as the animosity in the air threatened to overwhelm their senses. Resolutely ignoring the pointed glares and whispered accusations, the pair sat at the small table shown to them.

"Hiley, what's to happen next?" Luke asked.

"The village council will decide what to do 'bout the two of ye," the toolcrafter replied.

Mara narrowed her eyes questioningly. "Do about us?"

"Aye," Hiley acknowledged. "Folks fear ye might cast a spell on 'em, like ye did Thal."

"You know we would never hurt anyone." Luke looked his friend in the eye. "Don't you?"

The older man gave a half-smile. "I believe ye, lad. But the way ye leaped up onto the rafters back at the Hall, then floated back down with the young'uns ..." Hiley shook his head. "That just ain't natural."

Luke sighed. No, it wasn't natural. He wondered how he and Mara were going to explain themselves without frightening these good people any more than they already were.

"Hiley," Mara spoke up. "Has there never before been anyone who has displayed unexplained powers?"

At Luke's raised eyebrow, Mara added silently to him, *Beings with a talent for the Force have been known to pop up throughout the galaxy. Why not here?*

Luke nodded, and turned to hear Hiley's reply.

The wiry man rubbed in chin in thought. "Me granddad told tales of a witch in the village o' Rispfel, when I was just a lad. They say she could turn folks into addy-goats."

Mara had to fight the impulse to roll her eyes. "What happened to her?"

"Why, they hanged her, o' course."

"How reassuring," the redhead replied, slumping back in her chair. While she had no fear of her or Luke being hanged, or any similar sentence, she hoped they wouldn't have to fight their way to freedom.

Luke watched as the owner of the pub took a seat at the front of the room.

"Who's on the village council?" the Jedi asked the metalcrafter.

"Efam there, and the vicar." Hiley gestured as the clergyman sat down next to the pub owner. "And Healer Jobilis. He's still tendin' to folks at the Fellowship Hall, I 'spect."

"I didn't sense ... didn't notice that anyone was injured," Luke said, concern filling him that he had overlooked wounded villagers.

"Just a smatterin' o' light burns on folks when they was puttin' out the fire," Hiley replied. "Nothin' that a bit o' liniment won't heal up right quick."

It was only moments later that Sila Jobilis, Zembuhl's medical figure, strode into the pub. The silver-haired man gave an ambiguous nod to Luke and Mara before taking his own seat.

"He looks familiar," Mara commented, trying to remember where she'd met the last council member.

"I believe you were dancing with him last night," Luke reminded her.

"I hope that works in my favor," she quipped back.

"It would for me." Luke gave her a wistful smile. "You didn't step on his toes, did you?"

Mara favored her husband with a smirk. "I never step on anyone's toes. Except, of course, for farmboys who can't keep them out of the way."

"I'm doing better," Luke protested. "I think they're getting ready to start." He nodded toward the front of the room.

After a brief consultation with his associates, Efam stood and rapped his wooden cudgel on the table, effectively calling the meeting to order. Luke had already established in his mind that the robust business owner was as close to a prefect as Zembuhl had.

"Now then," Efam began. "First we want to be hearin' from Alfa Jueldent and Theda Nondes. Ladies, tell us what ye saw when ye entered the school."

Theda Nondes, a short dour-faced woman, rose from her seat near the front. She glared menacingly at Mara before speaking.

"Alfa and me, we went over to the school buildin', to see how the girl was doin' with our children. I told folks we shouldn't be leavin' the young'uns with this stranger fer a second mornin', 'specially after all them gold petals showed up last night, but some bodies," Theda gave a condescending look over her shoulder at Merta, "think they know better than me. As soon as we went up the steps, I knew somethin' was wrong. All I could hear was Thal Ulhas, hollerin' at the top o' his lungs."

Theda paused in her oration, and Mara swore the woman was savoring every drop of rapt attention she was receiving.

"And then I caught sight o' poor Thal, flapping his arms and legs like a bird caught in a fence. Only there weren't no fence – he was danglin' in the air with nothin' but empty space 'neath him. And she ..." Theda pointed one stubby finger directly at Mara. "She was holdin' him there with her dark magic, pointin' at the boy just like I be pointin' at her right now."

A low murmur echoed through the crowd, and the newlyweds had no trouble detecting the sense of consternation in the room.

"She be a witch, and she put a hex on the boy, sure as I be standin' here," Theda continued, the loathing she felt for Mara evident in her biting voice. "It made me blood run cold, it did, seein' what she was doin'."

At Theda's last words, an uproar of condemnation of the newcomers erupted from the villagers.

"They be possessed!" a thickly accented voice proclaimed from the rear of the room.

"Aye, just like Odus Pruden said," added another villager.

Supportive mutterings rose again, lessened only by the insistent banging of Efam's club.

Mara scrutinized the assemblage. "Speaking of Pru—"

"There were two of them outside the school building," Luke cut her off. "I haven't seen any of them since."

"I'm surprised they're not here, readying the nooses."

"Don't go looking for more trouble. We have plenty already." The Jedi directed his attention back to the front of the room, where Efam was attempting to restore a semblance of order.

"We only want to hear what ye saw, Theda, not what ye are supposin'."

"Humph." The pudgy woman planted her fists on her hips. "I saw her callin' on the black arts, that be what I saw."

"What happened then?" asked Vicar Serole in an effort to keep the proceedings as orderly as possible. "Did the lad keep hangin' in the air?"

"She lowered him," Theda admitted. "After she saw she was caught red-handed."

"And the other children?" Healer Jobilis questioned. "Was anythin' happenin' to them?"

Theda shot Mara another bitter glare. "They were froze in place. She conjured up spells on them, too."

Mara sprang up in protest. "I did nothing of the sort. She's making things up."

Efam rapped his cudgel loudly at her outcry. "We'll be listenin' to yer side soon enough, Mara," he advised the new bride.

Mara reluctantly settled back into her seat, shaking off Luke's hand, which had been tugging on her elbow. "And she's calling ME a witch," she mumbled under her breath. *Tell me why we're putting up with this ... this ... witch trial,* the former assassin sent silently to her husband. *And why are they only denouncing me? You were the one leaping all over Hall and using your lightsaber.*

*I'm sure my turn is coming,* Luke returned. *Mara, we can't just wave our hands, Force-whammy everyone, and sneak out of town.*

Mara hid her smirk behind one hand. *I don't know why not.* She watched as Efam next asked Alfa Jueldent for her version of that morning's events. A suspicious frown suddenly crossed Mara's face. *You did get the stabilizer rod, didn't you? You aren't going along with this farce 'cause we're going to have to stay several more days, are you?*

*It's finished.* Luke tore his attention away from the proceedings long enough to give his wife a quick grin. *As I recall, it was YOUR assignment to get a replacement for the rod.*

*I would have, if it wasn't that 'womenfolk' aren't supposed to be seen in a toolcrafting shop.*

*Good thing you've got me.* Luke stretched one arm out to lay casually across the back of Mara's chair, his fingertips tracing circles on her shoulder.

Mara tried to come up with some kind of witty retort, but the only thought swirling in her mind was that she was glad she had him. He was her rock, her anchor in the middle of a tempest, her oasis in the stifling heat of adversity. But that didn't mean she always agreed with his actions ...

Alfa Jueldent was a tall willowy woman in her early thirties, plain-looking and unmarried. As Efam called her to stand before the assembly, Alfa's nervous habit of biting her fingernails was temporary replaced by a compulsion to twist her pocket handkerchief into tiny tourniquets around her callused fingers. Her skittish eyes gave Mara a frightened glance before returning to focus on Theda Nondes, who was leaning forward in her seat, imparting uncompromising instructions to her submissive protégé.

Mara could feel Luke sending the timorous woman a soothing balm of reassurance that she need not fear his wife.

*Why are you doing that?* Mara bit out silently.

*She's nervous.*

*Good. Let her be nervous.* The former Emperor's Hand adopted the maligned expression that had once been her standard, broadcasting to everyone around her that Mara Jade was not someone to be trifled with. It was demeaning enough to be fingered by an old maid and an old biddy.

*Mara ...*

*I want her more frightened of me than of Theda. She's less likely to exaggerate that way.*

Luke fell silent, and Mara could feel him remove his influence from Alfa. Let him chew on that awhile, she thought. She could almost hear the wheels turning in his head, trying to decide if her psychology sounded logical or not.

Regardless, Alfa seemed to pull herself together. Her thin lips barely moved as she gave a succinct and accurate testimony to what she'd witnessed, concluding with her mad dash to the Fellowship Hall for assistance.

"Did ye stay at the Hall then, or return to the school?" questioned Healer Jobilis.

"I went back to the school, and stayed with the children."

"So ye did'na see what took place at the Hall, then?" Efam glanced at Luke as he spoke.

Alfa shook her head. "Nay, I only heard tales o' the wondrous things that happened there."

"Wondrous?" Theda's voice reverberated with disapproval at her companion's choice of words. "More like dreadful." She spitted Luke with a withering glare that would have made anyone else's flesh creep. "That man scared the livin' daylights out o' those poor trapped children, not to mention frightenin' their parents out o' their wits. He be a demon, too, just like his wife."

"He saved the children!" Aerie spoke for the first time. "He saved me sister and the others. I'll not be listenin' to ye talk ill o' him or Mara."

Efam once more resorted to banging his club on the table to quiet the rising tide of opinions being shouted out.

"Did either of ye actually see what went on inside the Hall?" the pub owner impatiently addressed both Theda and Aerie. When both women admitted that they had not, he continued in his gruff voice. "Then I be askin' fer any person who did to step forward."

Only about a half dozen men and women stood, even though nearly everyone in the room had helped battle the fire. Those that remained sitting displayed an air of nervousness, evident by the furtive glances they stole at the Jedi.

The three members of the council surveyed those beings brave enough, or irate enough, to face the possibly vindictive wrath of two apparent sorcerers. They finally decided to call on Jaco Modesa and Predi Wiseus, the latter being the father of Tenna, one of the girls rescued by Luke.

"Jaco Modesa be a friend o' the witches," Theda objected immediately. "It would'na be fittin' to have him speak."

"And Predi Wiseus has been denouncin' Luke fer darin' to touch his precious daughter ever since her feet touched the ground," countered Aerie, her eyes blazing in reproach at Theda. "I don't hear ye carpin' 'bout his selection."

"Ladies, please!" This time it was Vicar Serole who called for order. "Since Jaco and Predi both be kin of the lasses rescued, they woulda been watchin' Luke's actions as close as any of ye. And I trust them both to give a fair report of what they seen."

"Hah!" Theda retorted. "This be no fair trial anyways. Efam there's been hobnobbin' with ... him ..." she waved an accusatory hand in Luke's direction, "since he set foot in Zembuhl. And no disrespect to ye, Vicar, but ye committed sacrilege fer sure, lettin' 'em in our place o' worship, and bondin' 'em there, to boot."

"Aye." A tall gangly man with a drooping black moustache added his assent. "I'd bet me last deka our crops this year won't even be worth keepin'. Marryin' a pair of sorcerers in the church can bring naught but a curse on us all."

Mara could feel Luke stiffen at the blame leveled at the town's venerable clergyman. *We'll get our chance to refute what they're saying,* she reminded him silently.

"It's not been decided that they are sorcerers," the vicar stated in his defense. "I'm askin' ye all to sit down, so's we can get on with the 'vestigation."

After the crowd quieted down once more, Jaco gave his testimony – simple, straightforward, and honest. Understandably he had no comprehension of how Luke accomplished the feats that he did. But the young shopkeeper let neither his friendship with Luke, nor his amazement of Luke's actions, influence his recitation.

Next to rise and speak was Predi Wiseus, a heavy-set farmer whose long bushy sideburns seemed to compensate for his receding hairline. Though his tone of voice left no doubt of his distrust of the newcomers, his description of the events at the fire closely paralleled Jaco's. Surprisingly, there were no interruptions by Theda or anyone else in the room during either of the accountings.

"Mara, we be ready to hear yer words now." Efam focused his attention on the young libelee.

The fiery-haired bride's head jerked up at her name, and she glanced back quickly at her husband. *I was hoping you'd go before me.*

*Ladies first.* Luke scooted his chair over to give her room to stand. *You'll do fine,* he added, smiling encouragingly.

"Thank you, Efam." Mara scanned the assemblage's mixture of expressions – some accusatory, some suspicious; a few fearful, a few supportive. All were expectant, eager to hear the defendant's explanation. "First, I want to apologize for the fright I've given everyone. I really have no plausible excuse for what I did, and I don't deny that I should have handled the situation differently."

Mara took a steadying breath before continuing, allowing herself to bask in Luke's supportive warmth. She noticed for the first time that none of the supposedly traumatized youngsters were present in the pub. "Please believe me when I say that I would never harm a child," she intoned. "I had no experience being around young children before coming here, and I found myself a bit ... overwhelmed ... by their exuberance. Which, trust me, is a hard thing for me to admit to." Mara ignored the grumbles of derision that she would dare ask for trust in any way, shape, or form. "So, when Thal and his friend continued to taunt Rasa, despite my admonitions, I lost my composure and reacted without thinking."

"Reacted how, Mara?" questioned Vicar Serole.

"I lifted him up in the air and ... and told him I was going to hold him there until he agreed to behave."

"Ye held him with yer hands?" Healer Jobilis asked.

"No, I didn't touch him."

Rumblings of denunciation quickly echoed through the room, but the medical practitioner held up a hand to forestall the comments. "And the rest o' the children?"

"I did nothing to them, I assure you, except perhaps startle them. I didn't sense that they were frightened of me."

"And what happened next, Mara?" the healer continued, his slate gray eyes studying Mara's profile with clinical objectivity.

"Madame Nondes and Mistress Jueldent appeared in the doorway and began screaming. I immediately lowered Thal to the ground. I backed away, and very shortly other villagers arrived."

"Ye offered no resistance to them?" Efam interjected.

"No."

"Mara ..." The vicar folded his hands together in a calming gesture. "Can ye tell us how ye were able to raise up Thal? Or at the Hall, how ye swept the snow onto the flames?"

Biting her bottom lip, Mara paused a moment in thought. "For that explanation, I will defer to my husband."

"Me?!" Luke squeaked, sitting up suddenly. He stared wide-eyed at Mara as she settled next to him, motioning for him to keep his voice down. "I was going to follow your lead on explaining our powers," he whispered.

*You know this society believes the man is head of the family,* she sent, her smug tone evident even through her projected thoughts. *Besides, I figured you would welcome the chance to hone your negotiation skills before reaching Lorrd.* She nudged him out of his chair. *Now go negotiate our way out of a lynching.*

The council evidently had no objection to Luke's speaking on his wife's behalf, inviting him to take the floor.

"Luke," Efam began, "ye've heard the tellins' o' Jaco Modesa and Predi Wiseus o' what ye did at the Fellowship Hall. Do ye take issue with any part o' their tales?"

"No, sir. They gave accurate accounts."

"Have ye anythin' to add?"

Luke let himself relax, drawing on the tranquility he'd learned from Master Yoda's example. "I believed that I was best able to retrieve the children from the rafters. If a similar situation arose again, I would not hesitate to act in the same manner."

The council members nodded in understanding, impressed by the young man's forthright nature.

It was the vicar who voiced the inquiry that everyone in the room was awaiting an answer to. "Will ye now see fit to shed light on what manner o' magic the both of ye used to carry out these peculiar acts?"

Luke glanced briefly at Mara before turning his attention to their examiners. "We don't really use the word 'magic.' But yes, you do deserve an explanation." Luke drew a steadying breath. Contrary to what he'd just said to Mara, he'd been contemplating ever since leaving the Fellowship Hall of how much they'd now be compelled to reveal about the Force, and how much truth to impart about the galaxy in general.

"Where we come from," the Jedi finally began, "there are a few individuals, like Mara and me, who have ... powers ... that allow them to move objects with their minds."

"So there's more witches in yer Corey-sant?" a voice in the crowd called out.

"We are not witches," Mara bit out, rising to her feet in indignation before Luke laid a hand on her shoulder. She bristled at his reprimand, but sat back down in sullen silence.

"Mara and I are ..." Luke hesitated; he was a Jedi, but Mara ... "We are Force-users. The power we have is known as the Force. How this power works and why we are endowed with it would be hard to explain; I don't understand much of the concept myself. The only reason we came to your village was to seek help in repairing our craft, and we are very sorry for the confusion and panic that our special abilities have caused. We meant no harm to anyone, I assure you. We are grateful for the friendships we have forged here, and hope those friendships haven't been tarnished too badly now." Pausing in his oration, Luke let his gaze fall upon the faces of Jaco and Aerie, Merta, Hiley, and others. Their attentive expressions were guarded, with curiosity lighting their eyes instead of accusations of deception and betrayal. The Jedi Knight breathed a silent sigh of relief; his greatest dread had been that those he and Mara had befriended would now view them with fear and revulsion.

The Jedi sent a cautious glance at the village's clergyman before continuing. "Mara and I are grateful for the opportunity we were given to be married here in Zembuhl. I beg everyone not to ostracize your good vicar for bonding us yesterday. While we cannot predict the outcome of your crops this year, know that we would never do anything to bring disrespect to your church or your beliefs."

Luke turned his attention to the numerous men and women in the pub whose auras continued to emanate animosity and denunciation. These were the ones he needed to appease, he thought, though battling a lifetime of superstition could be beyond the capabilities of even a seasoned Jedi Master. "I know that some of you are frightened and feel that we should be punished. While we concede that we should in some way be held accountable for not disclosing our abilities, you should know that we will defend ourselves if necessary."

Efam nodded at Luke's proclamation, and conferred briefly with his companions. "Before we make a decision, we have a wee bit o' questions fer ye."

"Of course," Luke agreed.

"Have ye used yer ... special powers ... at any other time since ye came here?"

"No, sir," the younger man replied hastily. And just as hastily, he began filtering though his memories for exceptions to his answer. He compressed his lips worriedly as a repudiative shout came from the back of the room.

"He musta!" a grizzled villager decried. "Nobody coulda made o'er a hunnard bulls-eyes in a row without usin' magic." The man gestured at the board hanging nearby.

"I did not use any magic when throwing tackdarts," Luke returned. "I just have good aim."

"Then why could ye not hit a single animal when huntin'?"

"I ... well ... the truth is ..." As Luke hesitated, Mara's silent voice sent welcome counsel.

*Go on, tell them. You have nothing to be ashamed of.*

The Jedi favored his wife with a grateful smile, then turned to his accuser. "I didn't kill any animals because I didn't want to. I don't like harming any living creature, and I won't kill, unless it is absolutely necessary. I know you were hunting for food, not sport, but there seemed to be enough game being brought in that I didn't have to contribute."

"We canno' fault the lad fer bein' too soft," Hiley defended. "And I ne'er heard tell of a sorcerer that did'na delight in torturin' helpless animals."

Even Luke and Mara's most vocal indicters couldn't disagree with the toolcrafter's words.

"I did, though, use my powers a little the night of the tackdart contest." Luke's apologetic voice breached the crowd's murmurs, causing Mara frown at him sharply. "To make myself feel better after drinking too much ale."

An uproar of laughter ensued, which took as much pounding of Efam's makeshift gavel to quell as did the earlier outbursts of dissent.

Efam's wife, who had been silently watching the proceedings up to this point, stood slowly. "Luke has answered yer query, but we've not heard from Mara." Filia stared at the younger woman with a look of morbid curiosity. "Mara, have ye used yer magic before today?"

The new bride groaned inwardly; she'd been hoping everyone would be satisfied with Luke's story and not think to ask about her. "Yes, I did. Once." She felt Luke's eyes on her, but didn't acknowledge him. She had failed to mention this tidbit to him. "When I was ice-gliding with Aerie, she collided with a child. I held her up so she wouldn't fall."

"I did'na think ye ... oh ..." Aerie's voice trailed off as she recalled the sensation she'd felt that night, of being held by invisible arms.

"Ye used yer magic on me wife?" Jaco stood, protectively slipping an arm around his wife's slim shoulders.

"I didn't want her to be hurt," Mara said evenly, "especially in her condition."

Though the gaze of the former assassin appeared fixated on the Modesas, her thoughts were nearly a standard year in the past. She had been sent undercover to a seedy tapcafe on Rantal V, following the trail of a suspected Imperial traitor. Her prey had just risen from his collaborative meeting with a Rebel go-between when a commotion erupted between Mara's seat and the defector's escape route. Two drunken patrons had been harassing their waitress all evening, and had chosen that moment to push the poor girl in the Emperor's Hand's direction. Seeing the conspirator disappearing out the tavern's side door, Mara had reached out to shove the waitress out of her way, but halted as she caught sight of the girl clutching her stomach protectively. The wench was pregnant! Going against all the instincts ingrained in her, Mara paused to cushion the girl's fall with the Force, then whirled and cleanly disposed of the inebriated customers with her hold-out blaster. It had taken her an extra day to once more track down the traitorous officer, a lapse which allowed the man to divulge yet more Imperial secrets to the enemy. A lapse which the Emperor did not let go unpunished.

"Thank you," Jaco said softly, shaking Mara from her reverie.

Mara had regretted taking the precious moments to help the waitress that day. Now, she regretted every single day of her servitude to Palpatine. Watching Aerie and Jaco clutching each other, and feeling her own husband's hand squeezing her shoulder, Mara knew she would never regret even a moment of her future.

"Does anyone else have any questions fer the Skywalkers?" Efam inquired, looking out over the suprisingly subdued assembly. "If not, then I have one." The burly man pointed with his cudgel at the cylinder hanging openly from Luke's belt. "Jaco and Predi both described what ye did with that contraption. Can ye tell us what it be?"

The young Jedi fingered the cool metal of his lightsaber. Even this antiquated instrument would be impossible to explain in a technology-devoid society.

"It's a tool," Luke began guardedly, "for cutting. Like ..." Like what? A laser, a blowtorch, a Dithorian firebeam? These people wouldn't comprehend any of those comparisons. "It cuts through objects like a flame burns through wood. It ... uh ..."

*Stop while you're ahead, farmboy* was Mara's silent advice. *Just tell them it's magic and be done with it.*

Luke grimaced over his shoulder at his wife. *You're a lot of help.*

"Can ye kindle it fer us?" Hiley asked. "I'd like to see it close up fer meself."

Reluctantly Luke detached his weapon and held it out in front of him. Mentally kicking himself for not keeping it hidden and thinking of a different way to disperse the smoke at the Hall, he thumbed the activation switch on. Gasps of astonishment filled the pub as the weapon's viridescent blade appeared in thin air, its steady hum reverberating lowly.

Hiley reached out cautiously toward the spellbinding light. "Be it hot?"

Luke jerked his outstretched arm back, simultaneously disengaging the dangerous shaft. "Yes!" he cried. "You can't touch it; it would burn your finger."

The toolcrafter laughed. "Lad, I been singed more times than ye can count."

"Sorry," Luke muttered, clipping the hilt back to his belt. "I guess I overreacted."

Efam stood and banged his club on the wooden table. "If no one has more to say, we'll be makin' our decision then." He gestured to his companions, and the trio adjourned to a rear room of the pub.

Luke slumped back into his seat, tuning out the mixture of conversations that soon filled the room. He closed his eyes wearily, but any hoped-for meditation proved elusive. Keeping his eyes shut, he smiled as he felt Mara's head nestle against his shoulder, her hand slipping comfortably into his.

*Luke, I'm sor—*

*Don't.* The tow-headed bridegroom shifted just enough to brush his bride's forehead with his lips. *Don't apologize, love. Our personalities, and our powers, define us. It's unreasonable for us to expect each other, or ourselves, to always act prudently. Force knows I make plenty of mistakes.* Opening his eyes, he raised Mara's chin with a finger. *Marrying you is not one of them.*

Mara raised one hand and stroked her life mate's cheek. *I love you, Luke,* she sent. *I love you with every breath I take.* As Luke lowered his head for a soft kiss, Mara drank in his masculine scent, now tinged with the smoky essence of the fire. They reluctantly pulled apart at the sound of a throat being cleared.

"The council be comin' back," Hiley announced without preamble.

The newlyweds straightened in their chairs, hands still clasped tightly, and awaited their decreed fate.

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Efam banged his cudgel once more, restoring order to the crowded barroom. "Vicar Serole, Healer Jobilis and me gave this matter a heap o' thought." He faced the small table where the Skywalkers sat in silence. "Luke an' Mara, we don'na believe ye did anythin' to hurt us. Thal Ulhas was checked out by the healer here before this meetin' started, and the lad be as fit and feisty as he e'er was. Neither o' ye contributed to the startin' o' the fire, and ye did more than most in puttin' it out, and savin' the lasses and lad what was trapped."

The newlyweds' optimistic sighs of relief were cut short as Efam continued, a look of distress filling his features.

"But, we have a responsibility to all the folks o' Zembuhl, and a good deal of 'em have in their heads that ye have witchery in yer blood and can't be trusted. So's to make people not fear leavin' the safety of their homes, we be askin' ye to leave Zembuhl this very day, and to promise ne'er to set foot in our village again."

The pub owner gave one last rap on his table, then wearily dropped back into his straight-backed chair.

Luke stood uncertainly, not sure whether he and Mara were supposed to answer or not. Finally, he simply nodded in acknowledgement to the three council members, all of them wearing countenances of sadness and regret.

Hiley was the first to approach the sentenced defendants. "Aye, 'tis a sad day fer Zembuhl, fer sure. I don'na know what gets into folks, condemnin' ye just fer bein' different." He gave Luke a pat on the back in sympathy. "I'll go git that bar we fashioned fer ye, lad."

"I appreciate it, Hiley," Luke replied, before turning around to receive a handshake from Jaco.

"I'm sorry 'bout how things turned out," the dark-haired young man apologized. "I'd come to think o' ye as a chum, and I'll continue to hold ye in that regard."

"That means a lot, my friend," Luke replied with a wistful smile.

Aerie Modesa wasn't nearly as reserved as her husband in bidding her newfound friend farewell. "Oh, Mara, I'm gonna miss ye dreadfully."

Clearly ill at ease, Mara awkwardly returned the flaxen-haired girl's earnest hug. "I'll miss you too, Aerie. But you knew we were already planning to leave today."

"But I was hopin' ye'd be able to come visit sometime, 'specially after me baby is born." Aerie paused, brushing a hand against her slightly swollen abdomen and glancing at Luke. "Or ... babies. Luke," she caught the Jedi's attention, "did ye mean what ye said, 'bout me havin' twins? Did ye use yer magic to tell?"

"Well, Aerie, I think you will," he hedged. "I can't guarantee it, but, uh, yes, that's what my ... magic ... tells me."

"And they'll both be girls?"

"No, I don't know about that." Luke gave her a warm smile. "But we wish you all the best of luck, whether you have sons or daughters."

"And we're sorry we won't be able to come back to see you again," Mara added. "You can't imagine how much your friendship has meant to me." Especially since you're my first real friend, she thought to herself. Besides Luke, that is.

For the next half hour, Luke and Mara continued their farewells with the friends they had made during their short-lived sojourn. Efam and Vicar Serole apologized profusely for the decision they'd felt forced to make, Filia insisted she didn't consider the pair to be demons of the black arts, while Merta forced back tears as she hurried away to pack some provisions for the 'poor dears.' As the two Force-users made their way out of the pub, Mara continually tugged on Luke's arm to curtail his stopping to try to appease all the villagers still imbued with superstitious fear.

Outside the Lucky Red Bone, the ostracized visitors received an entirely different type of greeting.

"Mara, Mara!"

The former assassin's forward progress was halted when a tiny pair of arms locked around her legs.

"Are ye okay, Mara?" cried Rasa, switching her death grip to Mara's neck when the redhead picked her up.

"I'm fine, sweetheart."

Kavan stepped forward to speak on behalf of the group of children huddled just around the corner of the building. "We wanted to know what was goin' on, but they wouldna' let us inside." On the lookout for any adults who would force them to disperse, the boy cast a furtive glance at the pub's entryway. "We was worried 'bout ye."

"We're all right." Luke knelt down on one knee and gave the three children he'd rescued a reassuring hug. "But we have to leave the village this afternoon."

"We want ye to stay," whined Tenna, her large brown eyes brimming with moisture.

"Aye, we don'na want ye to leave 'cause o' us."

Mara looked over Rasa's head to stare at the source of the young masculine voice.

"'Specially cause o' me," continued a penitent-looking Thal Ulhas. "I'm sorry fer gettin' ye riled at the school."

"I think Rasa is the one you should be apologizing to, Thal." Mara arched an eyebrow expectantly.

"He did already," the little girl in Mara's arms said. "Thal promised to ne'er pick on me again."

"Or anyone else," the older boy vowed, before Mara had a chance to voice the obvious question. "Hmm ... Madam Skywalker, ye know how ye raised me up?"

"Yes," Mara said slowly, not sure where the question was leading.

"Do ye think ye could do it again?"

Luke fought hard to keep from laughing aloud, and didn't dare to look his wife's direction.

"I don't think your parents would appreciate that, Thal."

"They wouldna' find out." Thal's face was a vision of solemn sincerity. "Ye could do it real quick, back here in the alley."

"Raise me up, too," Rasa squeaked. "I wanna float in the air." She pointed a chubby finger at the three children still hanging onto Luke's coattails. "They gotta float at the Hall. We been good. No fair that we didna' get to float."

"Aye, lift me, too," another voice chimed in.

"And me."

"I wanna too."

"Please."

"Can ye lift all of us at once?"

*By the Force, Skywalker, we've created an army of whining monsters.* Mara's silent voice had a hint of amusement in it.

Luke straightened up, shaking his head at the pleading horde. "Children, your parents would have our hides if we did that again."

"But we wouldna' tell them," a young freckled-faced boy protested.

Luke pursed his lips in thought and raised his eyes to meet Mara's. "How about you return to the inn with us?" he said, directing his attention once more to the children. "And perhaps, if all of you are good ..."

"We'll be good," the youngsters promised in unison, heads nodding in excited anticipation.

Mara gave her husband an incredulous look. "Surely you're not considering—"

"C'mon, kids." The Jedi pointedly ignored his wife. "Everyone stay close and keep quiet."

*Luke Skywalker, you're crazy!* The redhead reached out to grab at his arm, but Luke was too quick.

*I've been called crazy before; several times by you, in fact,* he replied to her mental admonition. *Mara, the way I see it, there's a chance that by the time these children are adults, someone else from the outside galaxy may stumble upon this planet.* He paused in his silent oration, a pleading look for understanding in his gaze to her. *Shouldn't we encourage their willingness to accept beings that are different?*

*Feeding them a discourse on acceptance is lightyears different than practicing your witchcraft on them.* Mara stretched out with the Force, checking for any hostile parents ahead. *Sneaking them back to our room is going to cause fireworks enough.* She shook her head to herself in reluctant resignation. *I can't believe the things I let you talk me into.*

*Don't worry. Everything will be fine.* Luke smiled in assurance while simultaneously flicking a stone in the opposite direction to distract an approaching passerby. *Consider this a practice session of your skills of stealth.*

*I don't need practice. I need a husband with common sense.*

Luke winked at her over his shoulder. *Too bad you're stuck with me.*

Mara's only answer was a frustrated glare at the back of his head.

The little procession covertly wound its way through the snow-covered back streets, the entire group ducking in unison when a suspicious villager glanced their way. A chorus of hushes rose as the back gate behind the inn creaked loudly on its hinges.

As soon as Luke led the way into the kitchen, he was met by a very startled landlady.

"Land's sakes, Luke!" Merta paused in the middle of filling a large burlap sack, her hand poised in midair clutching a loaf of bread. "Where ye be takin' these young'uns?"

"They wanted to see our room before we left," Luke murmured, pushing the inner door open a crack and peering into the dining room. "Is anyone else here?"

"Rosella and Gerd be in their room, packin'." Merta's head swiveled back to where Thal brought up the rear of the queue of children, followed by a tiptoeing Mara still carrying Rasa.

"Ye're not thinkin' o' kidnappin' these children, are ye?" The plump innkeeper's hesitant voice seemed to be only half joking.

"They begged us to show them something," Mara whispered, "and Luke is a big pushover. I shudder to think how spoiled our own children will be."

"Aye, he is a softie," Merta conceded. She grinned as the last of the troupe disappeared into the dining room. "Sure and 'tis gonna be quiet round here when those two leave," she muttered to herself.

The furtive little parade soon filed into the modest attic chamber.

"Everybody on the bed," Luke instructed, and the dozen youngsters scrambled into place, the older ones holding their younger peers on their laps.

"Are ye gonna lift the whole bed?" Kavan asked Luke eagerly.

"Don't tempt him," Mara interjected dryly.

A little girl with a high-pitched voice spoke up. "Now can we float?"

"Can I be first?" another child asked.

"No, me!" another countered.

A dozen hands shot into the air, all vying for the privilege of being the first recipient of the hoped-for magical ride.

"I never actually said anyone was going floating," Luke teased, a twinkle in his eye.

A dozen crestfallen faces stared back at him.

"But, I guess, as long as we're here ..."

Loud yelps of joy echoed in the room, accompanied by waving hands raised once more.

"Shhhh!" Luke and Mara cautioned simultaneously.

"No one will be doing anything if you don't stay quiet," Luke added. "Now, then ..." The Jedi paced back and forth, seemingly deep in thought. "I think the first should be ... Rasa."

With his last words, Luke raised his hands and the little girl rose from her seat and glided toward his outstretched arms.

"Yip—" Rasa began to squeal.

"Shhhh!" everyone else rebuked her.

Soon the thoroughly thrilled children were each taking a turn gliding through the air. Mara joined in the clandestine merriment, her attempts at feigning disapproval quickly crumbling under the avalanche of exuberance.

"I've married a lunatic," Mara commented with a snort, just loud enough that Luke could hear. She sent Almie drifting back to the bed on a current of air. "We are going to be in so much trouble."

"We're already in trouble." Luke beckoned Tenna toward him effortlessly. "What are they gonna do, banish us twice?" He spared a sideways glance at his wife. "Lighten up, Mara. Didn't you ever dream of flying as a child?"

"Flying my own ship, maybe," she admitted grudgingly. *First you let us blast asteroids, and now this,* Mara continued silently. *What's next, Skywalker? Buzzing Mon Mothma's office in X-wings?*

*You must be a bad influence on me,* Luke returned with a grin.

She gave him an assuming glance. "You got in trouble a lot as a boy, didn't you, pulling daredevil stunts?"

Luke shrugged. "Constantly." He turned his attention back to his audience. "All right, children. Everyone's had their turn, and all of you look like you enjoyed yourselves."

Every young head in the room, whether topped by ribbons, curls, or contrary cowlicks, nodded vigorously in agreement.

"And none of you were scared, right?"

"I weren't scared," Rasa declared from her perch on Mara's lap.

"Me neither," another youngster avowed.

"None of us were scared," Kavan spoke for the rest of the group.

"Good. Now, before you leave, I'd like to talk to you for just a few minutes, about something important." As all the children settled down on the big bed, Luke straddled the back of a chair and addressed the group. "Mara and I are glad that you children aren't afraid of us. Someday, maybe not until you grow up or maybe sooner, other strangers like us might come to your village. There could even be visitors that look a lot different than us."

"Look different how?" Thal asked.

"Well ..." Luke shot a glance at Mara, but she didn't feel inclined to help him out.

*This is your show, farmboy.*

"Well, they could have different color skin, or they could have four arms, or three eyes, or ..." Luke was interrupted by a burst of laughter.

"Aww, that's silly."

"Nobody kin have three eyes."

"You're pullin' our leg."

Luke smiled at the evidence of their naïve, sheltered life. "I don't know what kind of visitors might come, and you should always be careful of new people. There could even be people from Zembuhl or one of the other villages who can do things that seem like sorcery. But I want you to remember that just because a person looks different, or talks different, or can do strange things, doesn't mean he or she is a bad person."

"We know that," Tenna spoke up. "You do peculiar stuff, and you're not bad."

"Thanks, Tenna," Luke said with a grin. "We hope all of you will teach your own children, and your children's children, to feel the same way."

"We will," the youngsters promised in unison.

A low rap sounded at the door, and Luke held up a hand for quiet. "Yes?" He glanced at Mara, who set Rasa on the bed and crossed to the door.

"Luke? Mara?" Merta's low voice drifted through the bedchamber door, and her anxious face peered into the room when Mara opened the door. "There be a passel o' nervous parents searchin' fer their young'uns. Some of them be headin' toward the inn."

"We can go out the back door," Kavan volunteered, scrambling off the bed. "We'll run fast, 'fore they get here."

Mara looked at Luke over the boy's head. *I knew this was too risky,* she grumbled silently.

Luke shook his head in disagreement, then motioned for the children. "Time to say goodbye, everyone."

The youngsters crowded close, each one giving the Force-users an enthusiastic hug.

"This was the bestest day of me life," Rasa squeaked, her arms around Mara's neck.

"Mine, too," Thal admitted, standing behind the little girl. "Madam Skywalker, I really am sorry fer the trouble ye got into. I wish ye wasn't leavin'."

Merta's eyes were wide as saucers as Thal went on to gave Mara a tearful goodbye hug. "Ye've used yer magic to replace the lad with a changeling," she muttered, staring as the normally headstrong child hurriedly followed his companions down the narrow staircase.

Mara started to refute, then paused in thought. "I guess, in a way, we did." She gave her landlady a rare smile. "Some things can't be explained any other way."

"I'll go see that they be gettin' out unnoticed, and head off any parents." Merta shook her head as she turn to leave. "Sure and I don't wanna know what ye were doin' with those children."

"Thanks, Merta," Luke said. "We'll be down in a few minutes."

When they were finally alone in their room, the newlyweds wasted little time packing the last of their possessions and donning their familiar orange flightsuits. Picking up his Alliance-issued backpack, Luke took one last look around the cozy bedchamber.

"I'm going to miss this place," he murmured wistfully. "Our lives were changed here."

"Yes, but this room, this village, this planet – they're not our future," Mara reminded him. "Our future is out there, among the stars." She smiled as she nodded toward the bright blue sky outside the window. "And the future is waiting for us to catch up. C'mon, flyboy." Mara took her husband's arm as they withdrew through the doorway. "We have a rendezvous with destiny."

"There be a bag o' food fer ye." Merta pointed to a bulging rucksack as the newlyweds entered her kitchen. "Are ye sure ye don't want more warm clothes? Or at least the coats ye been usin'?"

"No, we'll be fine, Merta," Luke assured her. "You've been too generous as it is."

"But ye shouldna' given me all yer credits. Ye worked off yer keep more than enough."

"Merta, we could never begin to repay all you've done for us." Mara set her pack down and gave the older woman a heartfelt hug. "We'll never forget you."

"Aye, and I'll never forget the two o' ye." Merta swiped at her tear-filled eyes as she received Luke's embrace also. "And fer sure no one will ever forget this year's Winter Festival."

"That we can believe," he returned. "Not exactly the lasting impression we wanted to leave, though."

"Folks got their feathers ruffled, but they'll get over it. 'Specially if there be a decent harvest."

"We can't promise that," Mara noted, turning as the sound of the back door creaking broke into the conversation.

Hiley wiped the snow from his worn boots, then handed Luke a long metal object. "Here be yer rod, Luke. Thought I'd save ye the trouble o' comin' over to get it." He looked the travelers over in amusement after receiving Luke's thanks. "This must be the get-up I heard 'bout that ye had on when ye came. That so's ye can spot each other if ye get lost in the snow?"

"I couldna' talk 'em into keepin' the coats I give 'em," Merta interjected.

"We've got plenty to carry already," Luke said, glancing at the assortment of baggage that surrounded them. "We are taking you up on the gloves and caps and extra blankets. We'll be plenty warm."

"I told ye we'd be glad to lend ye a pair o' drobbins," Hiley reminded him.

"But we'd not have a way to get them back to you," Mara pointed out.

"Some of us could ride along with ye," the metalcrafter responded. "I'd like to see that boat o' yers, and find out where that contraption goes on it." He gestured toward the shaft that Luke was carefully stowing in his gear.

"Oh, huh, we really can walk," Mara stammered, grasping for a plausible excuse.

"We are still on our honeymoon, you know," Luke elaborated with a wink, eliciting a round of laughter from their friends.

"These young folks don't need the likes o' ye taggin' along, Hiley Lenzel," Merta bantered.

"Aye, that's true enough." Hiley pulled Luke out of earshot as Merta began describing to Mara what delectable foods she was sending with them. "From what happened today, looks like ye need a few more stabs at gettin' that advice we gave ye at the gamin' booths to take hold," the older man whispered conspiratorially.

"Hmmm." Luke glanced at the fiery redhead, smiling as he remembered the men's good-natured recommendation on how to tame a strong-willed woman. "I don't know if that tip would ever work in our case, but I sure am enjoying making the effort."

"Thatta boy!" Hiley slapped his young friend on the back with a hearty chuckle. "Ye can ne'er go wrong takin' that path, lad." He helped Luke hoist his bulky survival pack onto his back. "Take care, son. I wish ye both good fortune and a long life together."

"Thanks, Hiley, and you too, Merta," Luke acknowledged both of the congenial villagers. He slung the heavy rucksack of food over his shoulder as Mara adjusted the weight of her own bundle. "I don't know what we would have done without the both of you."

"I be thinkin' you woulda managed somehow," Hiley returned. "I'll walk ye to the edge of the village."

"That's not necessary," Mara said, but the toolcrafter brushed off her objections. Merta also insisted on seeing her guests off, and the quartet headed for the outskirts of Zembuhl.

"Uh, lad?" Hiley caught Luke's attention as the orange-clad younger man turned in an easterly direction. "The Nagox Sea be that way." He gestured to the north. "Ain't that where yer boat be?"

"Oh, right." He stole a glance at Mara. "Got turned around for a moment."

"Ye sure ye don'na want me to come with ye, at least fer a piece?" Hiley raised a gray-streaked eyebrow questioningly.

"No, we'll be fine, really." Luke reached out and took his bride's hand. "But we do need to get moving, to get as far as we can before dark."

After one last round of farewells, including waves to the scattered people in the distance, the two Force-users made their way into surrounding woods.

"And so the saviors of Zembuhl have been officially run out of town," Luke pronounced solemnly, his flight boots sloshing along through the melting snow.

"Can't be a hero everyday, Jedi," Mara returned dryly as she picked her way along the rutted path. "You do realize this is not the way back to the ship."

"We'll just circle around as soon as we're completely out of sight," Luke replied. "No use making anyone even more suspicious of us."

"I don't think we can possibly act more suspicious than we already have. And if you were so worried about that, you wouldn't have been doing circus tricks with half the children of the village. You know they're going to eventually babble about that."

"I'm sure they will," Luke said, calmly ignoring her chiding. "And the adults will see that the kids are perfectly healthy, with no ill effects from having contact with us witches. Mara, we had a moral obligation to at least make an attempt to erase these people's superstitious fear of the unknown." He gave her an amused grin as he stepped over a fallen log. "Besides, I wasn't the one who first presented the school lesson 'How to Levitate a Child.'

"Humph. If they'd behaved half as well this morning as they did in our room ... Well, you weren't there. You don't know how insubordinate some of them were getting."

"Insubordinate? Mara, they're children. You have to learn how to entertain them."

"You should know, since you still act like one," she groused defensively. "Solo knows what he's talking about, calling you 'kid.'"

Luke shot her a pained look. "I've already admitted I made mistakes here. I'll probably always make mistakes. I feel like I'm groping my way blind along the path a Jedi should follow. I don't have the discipline that you do." He squeezed her hand briefly, but kept his eyes focused on the rugged terrain they were traversing. "I keep hoping, as I get older and more experienced, that ..." Luke gave a weary sigh as his words trailed off. "I can just picture Master Yoda shaking his head in disappointment. I'll never be as wise or dignified as him."

Mara stopped suddenly, jerking Luke to a halt also. "Didn't you tell me Yoda pretended to be someone else when you first met him?"

A little chuckle escaped Luke as he thought back to his first landing on Dagobah. "Yeah, he rummaged through all my gear, and he and Artoo had a tugging match over a lamp."

"That doesn't sound like dignified behavior to me."

"Well ... I guess he did have kind of a strange sense of humor at that."

"Like someone else I know." Mara gave her husband a soft peck on the cheek. "Luke, you're going to make a wonderful Jedi Master someday. Gaining more knowledge and experience in the ways of the Force is an admirable goal, but don't ever change your personality. I love you just the way you are."

"Same here, about you." Luke returned her kiss, in a more intimate manner, then looked ahead at the forested hillside. "As much as I'd like to take a break right here," he gave her a wistful little wink, "I think we'd better cover as much ground as we can before dark."

"Hmm, too bad. But maybe we can find some big cozy tree to bed down under for the night." She gave an embarrassed laugh as her stomach unexpectedly growled. "And perhaps we can lighten that pack of food a bit before too long."

"Yeah, we did miss lunch, didn't we?" Luke shifted his heavy load slightly and surveyed the slushy pathway they were taking. "All right, let's walk until we find a suitable dining location, then check out what kind of feast Merta packed for us."

Less than an hour later, the newlyweds were finishing their late lunch, or early dinner, as Mara was sure it would be. Luke had been setting a steady pace, and the prospects of halting for another meal seemed slim. The bright afternoon sun had melted most of the surrounding snow, leaving only drifts of white in the sheltered shadows of the larger trees.

Sitting on a fallen trunk and brushing crumbs from her hands, Mara's head jerked up sharply as a strange howling sound pierced the stillness. She stood and took a few steps forward, her fingers trailing against the reassuring weight of her lightsaber.

"Mara?" Even as he spoke, Luke was also reaching out with the Force.

Another low growl caught Mara's attention, and she shifted her stance in readiness. "Wild animals?" she queried aloud.

"Maybe, but there's people too. At least two, maybe three, spread out."

"Do you think some of the villagers followed us?" She was sweeping her gaze around the area, but it was impossible to see more than a few dozen meters through the dense thicket of trees.

"I doubt it," Luke murmured from his squatting position as he stuffed their supplies into their packs. "Just hunters, I'd say. I recognize the baying of their sharrets."

"Sharrets?"

"Tracking animals. Sort of like wor'hounds, except they have dense fur and long snouts with broad nostrils. We used them for trailing the scent of rishhares yesterday."

"Surely they can see we're not game, with these glowing orange flightsuits you insisted we wear." Mara surveyed beyond the perimeter of their campsite as best she could, her unlit lightsaber now held firmly in her grasp.

"Told you they'd be practical," Luke replied behind her, not looking up as he shoved the last package of food into the rucksack. "Nevertheless, you keep an eye out. I'm almost finished— Aarghh!"

=================================================================

Luke had felt the danger only moments before hearing the deadly whistle. His lightening-fast reflexes sent him jerking upright, but he wasn't quick enough to completely avoid the arrow that flew his way.

"Luke!" Mara cried in alarm, sensing him stagger in pain behind her. She spun around to see him clutching his leg, his lightsaber already ignited with his free hand.

"Get down!" he shouted, waving his blade slowly as he scanned their surroundings.

"Speak for yourself," Mara bit out, moving to defend her injured husband, her own azure blade poised to fend off further attacks.

Another arrow whistled out from the trees, and Mara easily batted it aside.

"Who's there?" she growled loudly, knowing this was no hunting accident. "Show yourselves!"

Luke stood back to back with Mara, doing his best to ignore the burning pain in his thigh. "What do you want?" He put as much force into his voice as he could, directing his shout toward the direction the last arrow had come from.

A nasty laugh echoed from the trees. "We want yer woman," a coarse voice snarled. "Move aside, whelp, so we don'na hafta hurt her too."

"Hate to disappoint you, Pruden," Luke returned, instantly recognizing the voice, "but you can't have her. I thought we made that ...," he paused as only a slight movement sent a jolt of agony through his leg, "... made that clear at the pub."

"Come out into the open, cowards!" Mara called, her eyes narrowing in anger. "Quit hiding behind the trees."

"So ye can swipe at us with yer magic sticks?" A loud guffaw of contempt came from the trees opposite to where Mara was facing, prompting her to swing around in readiness. "Do ye think we be fools?"

"Stand still, Mara," Luke ground out in a hoarse whisper. "I've got this direction."

"You're barely able to stay upright," Mara bit back. "Get down and let me handle this."

"They've got us surrounded," he argued. "You can't cover ... all sides at once." He easily intercepted a third arrow, this one aimed directly at his chest.

"So what do we do? Stand here till you collapse?"

"You keep 'em talking, while I think of a way ... out of this," he panted. "If they're talking, they'll be less likely ... to be shooting."

"What?!" Her previously sarcastic tone turned to indignation. "You think I'm incapable of solving this dilemma?"

"Mara, please ..." Luke didn't have the time or energy to soothe her wounded ego.

Mara muttered a word of acquiescence, her concern for Luke overriding her natural tendency to refuse to take orders from anyone, including him. Swiveling around in a huff, she called out in a loud voice toward the probable location of the group's leader. "How can you possibly think you can have me, Odus Pruden? I'm married."

"And ye'll soon be widowed," came the scornful snicker.

"But I'm a witch," Mara choked out the distasteful moniker. "Aren't you afraid I'll ... I'll turn you all into rishhares or bog-toads?"

Pruden's answer came in the form of a fist-sized rock landing just shy of Mara's feet. "Let's see ye turn that into a bog-toad."

With a flicker of the Force, Mara sent the stone flying back toward its sender. "How 'bout a hawk-bat instead?"

Half listening to the poor excuse for a parley behind him, Luke studied their surroundings. "There's a ridge ... just ahead," he murmured over his shoulder. "We can climb ... up there, and be in a better ... position ... to defend ourselves."

Mara spared a glance at the small hillock he had spied. "You think you can make it that far?"

Luke took a deep breath to steady his voice. "Of course I can. I'll go first and watch our sides; you follow right behind me ... and cover the rear."

Snatching up his survival pack, Luke slowly edged his way forward. His lightsaber hummed as he waved it back and forth, slicing off the feathered end of the arrow protruding from his leg in the process. He hastened his steps as he both felt and heard Mara reach around to swat down another pair of projectiles, both on a course solely toward him.

Drawing on the Force for renewed strength, Luke scrambled up the sloped hillside as quickly as he could. He grunted in suppressed anguish as he put weight on his injured leg, the remaining shaft of the arrow still sticking out at a slanted angle. Mara was right on his heels, scurrying up nearly backwards as she continued her vigilance.

Once at the top, Luke sat down heavily, his labored breath betraying his distress. Mara knelt cautiously beside him, scanning the trees for any sign of their attackers. She could sense the presence of the three men, but they were staying hidden and didn't seem to be moving any closer.

"You okay?" Mara asked, not taking her eyes off the surrounding woods.

"I'll be all right," he returned, though his low voice did little to assure her. "I just need ... to get this arrow out."

"Are you bleeding?" she questioned, turning her head just enough to catch a glimpse of him.

"I don't think so. Maybe the wound ... has sealed ... around the shaft." He refused to acknowledge the sensation that his pants leg hidden under the flightsuit was soaked with blood.

"Then leave it in for right now. Can you stay conscious until I get back?"

"Of course I— Get back from where?" He eyed the determined stance of his wife. "Mara, what are you planning?"

"I'll sneak down the back of this ridge, go around and take care of these louts one by one, then come back and help you."

"What do you mean ... take care of them?" He sat up a little straighter, careful not to jar his leg.

"Eliminate them. What do you think I mean?" she growled.

He reached forward and gripped her arm. "Mara ... we're not going ... to kill them."

She turned around long enough for him to glimpse the dissenting glower on her face. "Luke, they tried to kill us." She glared pointedly at his wounded thigh. "That arrow was on a trajectory straight for your heart, and you know it. If you hadn't stood up fast enough ..." Mara shook her head and looked back out into the forest, not wanting to think of the possible consequences.

"They weren't trying to kill you," Luke countered quietly.

"No. They just want to capture me and keep me for their pet."

"Mara ..." He willed his voice to remain even. "We are the ones who swept into Zembuhl, encroaching on these people's lives. We humiliated the Prudens at the pub, and the only surprise here is that they waited this long to retaliate. But defending ourselves need not include killing anyone. We can't ... can't appoint ourselves judge, jury, and executioner, no matter what." Luke let go of her arm and leaned back with a wince. "If we'd been more alert ... A Jedi should never be caught off guard."

Mara did not bother to remind him that she was not a Jedi. Instead, she found herself thinking that for an Imperial assassin to be ambushed by a sneak attack was unpardonable. "Happy now?" she bit out, after grudgingly pulling out her blaster and switching it to 'stun.' Her tone softened as she saw the hurt look on Luke's face. "I'll be back in a few minutes," she murmured, reaching out to squeeze his hand. His strong returning grip reassured her that he'd be safe until her return. It wasn't until she was halfway down the slope that she realized she hadn't been thinking in past tense when labeling herself as an assassin.

Not so much as a twig snapped as Mara stole from tree to tree. From the direction of the voices earlier she knew the approximate location of which attacker she wanted to zero in on first, and she wasted no time heading that way. Direct, no nonsense, no wasted movements. Mara was in her element, and she felt exhilarated. Even the gaudily conspicuous flightsuit couldn't dampen her spirits. A slight smile came to her lips as she recalled once hunting down a renegade moff while dressed in a U'rasdi-original ballgown.

Mara was almost upon her target when a yapping ball of fur launched itself at her. She dropped the annoying animal with one shot, then stared up into the startled, pock-marked face of its owner – Odus Pruden. Before the man could get one word out, Mara leveled her blaster and triggered the blue rings of temporary slumber. Effective, efficient, professional. Wouldn't Luke be impressed?

Mara pulled up short, taking a deep breath. Sith, no, Luke wouldn't be impressed. He'd be dismayed. She was stalking a trio of uncouth woodsmen with the mindset of the Emperor's Hand. The same callous mindset she used when her blaster was always set to 'kill.' As Mara approached the next Pruden, she sent a tendril of the Force in Luke's direction. He felt safe, alert, and distracted by whatever he was doing as he sent back a terse 'I'm fine.' To her relief, he didn't seem to be following her thoughts or actions. With steely resolve, Mara Skywalker did her best to adopt a mental attitude befitting the wife of a Jedi. Patient, tolerant, lenient. Eli and Tors Pruden would hit the ground a little more gently ...

When she sprinted back up the hillside a short time later, Mara's breath caught in her throat at the sight of her husband. Luke had unfastened the front of his flightsuit, lifting the heavy fabric away from the truncated arrow shaft, and was gingerly ripping open his blood-soaked trouser leg. His lightsaber and an open medkit lay ready at his side.

"Luke!" Mara hurried forward, kneeling next to him on the soggy ground. "You told me you weren't bleeding."

The Jedi shrugged noncommittally. "It's not so bad." He grimaced as he examined the wound closely, swiping at a fresh spurt of blood with a piece of the discarded pants hem.

"Let me see." Mara peered closer, cautiously fingering the wooden shaft. A slight hiss escaped Luke's lips, and she looked up at his noticeably pale face.

"You can't just yank it out," he rasped. "The arrowhead has sharp barbs, and I think it's embedded in the bone."

"Give me some credit," she groused lightly. "I don't want your leg ripped apart any more than you do." Mara bit her lower lip in contemplation. "But we need to hurry. You can't afford to lose any more blood."

"Yeah." Luke leaned back on his elbows, his breathing low and steady. "I thought ... it would be better for you to remove the arrow, rather than me operating on myself."

Mara nodded in agreement. She propped his leg up on one of their packs that she'd retrieved, then reached for the medkit. After spraying the laceration with disinfectant, she carefully probed the flesh around the arrow with a surgical lancet. She could feel Luke shunting away the pain, and winced in sympathy. "I could use a hypo-spray to numb your leg," she offered, digging through the meager first aid supplies provided.

"No." Luke shook his head emphatically. "I'll need to be able to walk as soon as you're finished. The stun blasts will be wearing off before long."

Mara bit her tongue before blurting out that if she'd done things her way, they wouldn't have to worry about waking Prudens. She had to quit thinking along that path. Instead she turned her attention back to her amateur surgery. "You know, this is the first time I've ever done anything like this."

"I guess this is the first time I've been injured since I met you ... ow!" Luke squeezed his eyes shut briefly, then craned his neck to observe Mara's handiwork.

"Sorry," she murmured, taking a deep breath before continuing to dig at the buried arrowhead. "I don't mean just you," she went on. "I've never practiced first aid on anyone except myself."

"Never?" Luke recognized and appreciated Mara's effort to distract him.

"I had training on how to treat my own injuries, but as to others ..." She paused as she gauged whether she'd cut a large enough slit to withdraw the projectile without further damage to Luke's leg. "I didn't work with partners as a rule, and on the rare occasion that I did ... Well, if they were so incompetent as to get hurt, I figured that was their problem." She didn't look up from her work, not wanting to see the frown on her Jedi husband's face at her flippant remarks. "As to my targets, I made sure all injuries were fatal, of course."

"Hmmm ..." Luke gritted his teeth, forcing himself to hold steady. "Maybe ... maybe I should tend to my leg ... myself ... Keepuna, Mara! Aren't you done yet?"

Mara smiled to herself at Luke's use of the mild Huttese oath. "I could be if you weren't bleeding so much. It's hard to see what I'm doing."

"Guess you could ... cauterize it with a lightsaber." The young Jedi concentrated on slowing his heart rate, and hopefully the blood pumping through his arteries.

"Do you want to lose another limb?" Mara grumbled in frustration as her hands continued to be covered in bright red liquid. She glanced toward the pack of clothes they'd brought. "I need to tear up some cloth for a tourniquet and to soak up this blood."

"Cut ... cut off my other pants leg."

Mara looked up at Luke's still features, grateful that he had finally settled into his Jedi calming mode. Working quickly, she slipped the outer flightsuit off his right leg and clipped the remaining leg off the already-ruined trousers. "Pulling your clothes off last night was more fun," she quipped, berating herself for not thinking of this on her own.

"Maybe it could be ... a nightly ritual," he answered quietly.

At last Mara was able to extricate the intrusive fragment, grinning as Luke waved off her offer of saving it as a souvenir. After administering another dose of antiseptic, she carefully covered the wound with a bacta patch, wrapping several layers of bandages around his thigh. "There, all done. Now you should go into a healing trance for a few hours."

"No time," Luke countered, awkwardly pushing himself to his feet with an audible grunt. He took a few tentative steps, limping noticeably.

"Hold on." Mara disappeared into the forest, then returned quickly. She held out a long stick, one end sheared off where it had split into two branches. "Returning the favor," she said, remembering the cane he'd fashioned for her.

Luke took the makeshift crutch, slipping the v-shaped end under his arm. "Perfect fit," he pronounced, smiling gratefully.

"I know your measurements," she returned with a shrug.

"Thanks, sweetheart. Thanks for the assist."

"You're welcome." She gave him a friendly wink, reaching out for both his survival pack and the rucksack of food. "But let's not make this a habit."

"I can carry my own load, Mara," Luke objected, pulling the gear out of her grasp. "You already have two bundles."

"Nonsense. You're injured."

"I'm not an invalid." As he swung the packs onto his back, he looked around quickly, as if something important had just occurred to him. "Did you stun the sharrets?" he asked, frowning.

"Of course." Mara felt confused as to why she was suddenly sensing anxiety from him over something so trivial. "I didn't want those mongrels following us."

Vexation flooded out of Luke in tandem with a sigh of exasperation. "Stang it!"

"What? You wanted them tagging after us?" Mara bristled with annoyance at his inexplicable mood shift.

"You think it's better for them to sleep until their owners wake up? How do you think the Prudens found us so easily? Sharrets are excellent trackers, even through snow, and we left plenty of things behind at the inn for them to obtain our scent." Luke began making his way down the sloped embankment. "I think I can pretty well erase any tracks we might make in spots where the snow hasn't melted. But eradicating our scent is a whole other matter."

"Fine, I'll just go back and kill the beasts."

Even before Luke's hand once more grasped her arm, she knew by the scowl on his face that her solution did not meet with his approval.

"What do you want me to do?" she snapped. She could only take so much. Humiliation was mixing with a brewing anger, both at herself for not reasoning out the animals' significance, and at Luke, for his hardheaded attitude toward killing.

"Nothing," he muttered, releasing her arm as he continued down the hillside. "It'll be all right. We just have to get a move on, to stay ahead—" He jerked to a halt and swung around to face Mara again. "They didn't have mounts, did they?"

"Huh?"

"Drobbins. Were the Prudens riding drobbins?"

"Why? 'Fraid I would've stunned them too?" Mara rejoined with a glare. "If there were any, don't you think I'd have enough sense to bring them for us to ride?"

Luke drew a long, exasperated breath. "I just meant if they're on foot also, we shouldn't have much trouble outpacing them."

"You're not going to be outpacing anyone with that leg. In fact, I'd feel better if we went back and let Healer Jobilis look at it. People whose main weapons are arrows should be experienced at treating wounds from them."

"We're not going back. We're banished, remember?" Luke turned away, regretting his sharp tone. "You did just fine getting the arrow out. I can heal my leg myself."

"While you're outpacing three angry men?"

"I'll go into a healing trance in the ship, on the way to Lorrd." He resumed his brisk pace. "Don't worry, I can keep up with you."

Mara quickened her steps behind him. "You are a stubborn bantha, you know that?"

"Takes one to know one," he shot over his shoulder.

"Takes one to love one," Mara muttered under her breath.

Luke paused, leaning on his makeshift crutch. "I'm sorry, Mara." Regret filled his face. "I don't like arguing with you. Not like this."

"I know you don't, Luke," the red-head replied softly. She reached out and took his free hand, and the only sound for the next hour was the sloshing of their black flight boots through the slushy patches of snow.

As Mara pushed a wet branch aside, she reflected on the last words Luke had spoken. Deep in her heart, she felt certain that Luke was only being polite when he'd told her a few days ago that he enjoyed their 'differences of opinion.' The two of them were as contrary as Tatooine and Hoth. But too different to make a marriage work? No, Mara told herself. She firmly believed they could overcome the disparities in their personalities. And Luke felt the same way. Didn't he? She glanced sideways at his profile, but he didn't turn her way. Well, Mara had never shied away from being blunt.

"Do you think we made a mistake, Luke? Getting married so quickly?"

Luke gave her a quick, blank stare, then looked ahead once more. "I think we should just concentrate on getting off this planet."

He couldn't have wounded her more if he had plunged his lightsaber into her heart. He's sorry he married me. He's sorry ... The thought reverberated in Mara's mind like a vibroblade, piercing her soul over and over. If you weren't prepared to hear the answer, you shouldn't have asked the question. Hadn't Luke said that very same sentiment to her just before they started on this mission? But he hadn't really given her an answer, had he? He had dodged the question, which for Luke meant only one thing – he knew an honest answer would only hurt her.

Mara could feel Luke's hand still loosely clasping hers, as if symbolizing the tentative hold they had on their happiness. How had she expected him to answer? With his usual conciliatory assurance that everything was perfect? Was his optimism rubbing off on her that much? Mara tried to put things into a rational perspective. Luke was constantly being put in a position to overlook her faults, to push aside his morals when they conflicted with her lack thereof. Let's face it, Mara thought. I represent everything he's been taught to abhor.

It was all Luke could do to keep one foot limping along in front of the other. He welcomed the throbbing pain in his leg; it almost distracted him from the dull ache in his heart. She was sorry they'd married? What thoughts had been running through her mind to induce her to even ask him such a question? Had he really snapped at her that harshly? They'd argued numerous times before, why was this time ...? Luke concentrated on the feel of Mara's soft gloveless hand in his. Because this was their first fight since they'd been married. Their relationship was supposed to be different now, somehow magically changed, improved. But they were still the same people. He was still a Jedi; she was still a former assassin. Deep down, did she resent all his righteous preaching?

So engrossed were the newlyweds in their mutual despondency that darkness had already claimed the forested countryside before either of them noticed.

"Guess we can stop for the night," Mara mumbled, though she was reluctant to let go of his hand even to shrug off her packs.

"We can take a break," Luke countered, "but I think we should keep going through the night."

"You need to rest your leg." Mara took care not to raise her voice. "Even if the Prudens are awake by now, surely they'll wait until morning to continue after us. Or maybe they'll give up and go home."

"We can't take that chance." Finding a fairly dry patch of ground to drop his gear, Luke finally looked Mara squarely in the eye. "Mara, we need to talk."

She nodded, her heart clenching tightly as he led her to a seat on a fallen log. He's going to say we're wrong for each other ... He wants an annulment ... He—

Luke rubbed his face with his hands momentarily, then began speaking in a rush, his azure gaze beseeching her for forgiveness. "I can change, Mara. Please don't leave me. I love you. I won't lecture you anymore. I won't nag you about becoming a Jedi. If you want, I'll even ... give up ... being a Jed—"

"Luke, Luke!" Barely daring to hope that her anxiety had been for naught, Mara shook his arm forcefully, putting a sudden halt to his babbling. "I don't want to leave you; I won't ever leave you. I love you, too. But I thought ... I thought you regretted marrying me."

"No! Why would you think that?"

"You didn't deny it, when I asked you."

"I thought you only asked because you were sorry we married." Luke's wide-eyed expression melted into one of relief. "Stang, Mara, don't scare me like that."

A glimmer of amusement tugged at the corners of Mara's mouth. "I didn't think a Jedi knew fear."

"This one did." Grinning foolishly, Luke pulled his wife close for a tender, comforting kiss. "How can two Force-strong people," he began with a chuckle after finally pulling back, "with such a strong bond, be so blockheaded as to what nonsense the other is imagining."

"Maybe this is what love does to a person – makes you addle-brained," Mara replied, laughing. "Or maybe we're both just too good at shielding. But never again," she continued, turning serious. "No secrets, no barriers, no conjuring up groundless speculations."

"Sounds like a plan." Luke flashed her his most disarming, unpretentious smile. "I love you, Mara Skywalker."

"And I love you, Luke Skywalker." She raised a finger, however, in a gesture of admonishment. "But I don't ever want to hear you so much as mention giving up being a Jedi, even for me." Mara took his hands in her own, gently caressing them. "Luke, you are brave, and kind, and honorable to a fault. These are just some of the things I love about you. These are the traits that make you a Jedi." She paused as she reflected on her own words. These are the traits that I want to embody. Yet I'm constantly denying that I want to be a Jedi. Maybe I'm the one that needs to shake off fear – a fear of commitment.

Mara took a deep breath, then held Luke's attention with her penetrating gaze. "Luke, teach me to be a Jedi. Teach me your skills; train me how to defend others, how to have compassion and mercy."

"Mara, sweetheart, there may be some Force techniques I can help you practice, but you already possess the qualities of a Jedi. You only need to push aside your reluctance to show them."

"All right." She sighed and rose from her bark-covered seat. "I'll try."

"Tsk, tsk, my dear." Luke shook his head. "Lesson number one – do or—"

"— do not," Mara finished. "Promise me you won't start talking backwards. I've heard enough 'Master Yoda' stories from you to fill the Great Library on Ossus."

"Yes, ma'am." Leaning heavily on his crutch, Luke stood and attempted a sweeping bow, but his flushed face was sufficient to startle Mara into action.

"Rest. Now. No arguments." Mara immediately began spreading one of their survival blankets atop a patch of evergreen branches.

Luke started to protest, but one look at his wife's determined expression changed his mind. "Wake me in a half hour," he told her as he sank down onto the cover.

"That's not long enough," she objected.

"A half hour," he repeated, closing his eyes. "Apprentices must obey their masters."

"You!" She would have kicked him if he hadn't been injured already. "I'd better see you entering a healing trance, right now!"

"For a half hour?" Luke muttered, his eyes still shut. "Wouldn't do much good."

"Sleep then, while I check your dressing."

The bridegroom opened one eye as he felt his wife unzipping his flightsuit and running her hands over his bandage. "Sleep? With you pawing my thigh? Sleep is not the state you're inducing me into."

"Mind out of the gutter, Jedi." Satisfied that he hadn't resumed bleeding, Mara carefully rewrapped the wound.

"Hey, I'm on my honeymoon." Luke relaxed back against the ground, one arm casually resting across his face.

"You'd better keep your day job of fighting darksiders and saving the downtrodden," Mara said with a snort. "I don't think you'd make it as a honeymoon coordinator." She settled down into a cross-legged position, cradling Luke's head in her lap. With her lightsaber clutched in one hand and her hold-out blaster, still set on stun, balanced on her knee, Mara gently stroked her husband's silky hair.

"Wake me when the bounty hunters and mawrats get here," he mumbled as he drifted toward slumber.

"Does bring back memories, doesn't it?" she answered softly, recalling the rest breaks they'd each secretly relished during their escape from the Empire. In the shadows of twilight Mara studied his already sleeping face – young, innocent, deceptively carefree. Faint wampa scars were the only tell-tale indication of the trials he'd been through.

Mara never imagined it could feel so wonderful to belong to – no, belong with – another being. Her emerald eyes flickered upward as a nocturnal bird screeched in the distance. "'Night, my love. Sweet dreams."

=================================================================

Luke shivered slightly, gripping the blanket tighter around his shoulders. It was several minutes before his sleepy mind wondered when he'd acquired the warm covering. Lifting his head and rubbing his eyes, his focus shifted to the shadowy figure a few meters away.

"Mara?"

"Ah, good. I was just about to wake you."

"That didn't feel like only a half hour nap." Luke eased to a sitting position, wincing as stiffness and a dull ache radiated out from his left leg.

"It's still the middle of the night," Mara said with a shrug, as if that fact negated his directive on how long to let him sleep.

"Mara ..."

"You needed the sleep," she said. "You'll be able to travel much faster now that you've had some rest."

Luke shook the leaves and dirt off the blankets and began folding them into compact squares. "I could have gone into a healing trance if I'd known you were going to ignore my request," he grumbled.

"If you'd known I was going to ignore you, you wouldn't have lain down at all," Mara rejoined. "Just admit I was justified and we can be on our way." With a slight quirk of her eyebrow, she held out his makeshift crutch.

"All right," Luke muttered reluctantly, positioning the support under his arm. "Maybe we can make better time now. But we still need to hurry." He looked back in the direction of the village. "No sign of the Prudens, huh?"

"Not a peep," she assured him as she hoisted her gear onto her back. "Good thing, too. We're like sitting mynocks in these blasted flightsuits."

"How was I to know that you'd have boyfriends after us?"

"Boyfr— Aughh!" Mara's indignation turned to amusement as she observed Luke's struggle to keep from laughing. "Very funny, farmboy."

"Just because they're out of range of our senses doesn't mean they've given up," he pointed out, making a valiant effort to take their pursuers seriously.

"I know, I know."

Her weapons once more in their proper places, Mara pulled on her heavy gloves. As welcome as the warm hand coverings were, she hadn't wanted to risk their cumbersomeness taking the edge off her efficiency if trouble had shown up while Luke was asleep. With both of them now alert and with the cold night air having a biting sting to it, Mara felt she could afford the risk. Frozen fingers wouldn't be very efficient either. She glanced to the side, where Luke's ungloved right hand rested lightly on his lightsaber, and smiled to herself in satisfaction. It was his turn to take point duty anyway, she decided.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Mara and Luke continued their trek into the next evening, pausing only for brief rest breaks. Luke was eventually able to shift his crutch's usage to that of a walking stick. True to his earlier assertion, he obliterated their tell-tale footprints in the snow behind them. But neither of them voiced aloud the verity that his actions were no guarantee of their eluding any followers.

As the weary pair passed a stone outcropping, Luke paused, looking back over his shoulder at the natural formation.

"Hmmm ..." He retraced his steps and bent to gaze beneath the overhang. "I thought so."

"What are you gawking at?" Mara mumbled, stifling a yawn.

Luke straightened up, a crooked grin lighting up his features. "You don't recognize the luxury suite I brought you to after your little ... uh, mishap?"

Mara pulled aside a clump of protruding branches and peered into the dark hole. "You could be right." She glanced up at him. "Break time?"

"Sure." Luke pulled out a glowrod and waved his wife inside. Shining the light around, he surveyed the bare cavity. True to their orderly natures, not a shred of evidence remained of their previous visit, but there was no doubt in either of their minds that this was the same small cave.

Mara wasted no time spreading a blanket out on the hard ground. "Smoked meat and narberry bread sound all right?" she asked, pulling cloth-wrapped packages out of the half-full rucksack of provisions.

"Uh-huh," Luke murmured as he endeavored to wedge his glowrod into a jagged fissure in one wall. Sinking down next to Mara, he gratefully accepted the small slabs of supper she held out. "I'll say one thing," he mumbled, chewing slowly on the heavily seasoned jerky. "The food on this planet sure beats anything in the mess hall." He bit off a corner of blue-tinted bread. "You gonna remember how to cook any of this?"

"Don't talk with your mouth full," Mara admonished, nudging his foot playfully. "And I doubt we'd find too many rishhares hopping through the streets of Coruscant, or narberries growing on roof-top gardens."

"Other things could be substituted," he returned, washing his portions down with a swig of cold spring water. "That's probably what the Prudens wanted you for – a cook and a housemaid."

"It would take more than those three ruffians to domesticate me," she growled, getting up to retrieve some makeshift napkins. "The entire Imperial and Rebel fleets put together couldn't make me do anything that I didn't want to."

"And here I thought I could handle you all by myself!" Luke instantly knew he had said the wrong thing as Mara loomed over him, arms crossed.

"'Handle' me?"

"Uhh ... take care of you?"

No better. Mara's foot began to tap impatiently.

"Adore you? Worship you? Grovel at your feet?"

Mara called on all her training to retain her dangerous expression as Luke continued to blink at her with his penitent blue gaze.

"Love you?" he whispered.

"Ahh, there is hope." She knelt back down, leaning over to give him a kiss. "Those worshiping and groveling ideas don't sound bad, either."

"I'll keep them in mind," he returned dryly, refilling her collapsible plasteel cup from their canteen. He helped himself to more of the cool, refreshing liquid, then raised his cup in a toast. "Here's to us. May our lives be ever filled with the joy of each other's love, the satisfaction of helping others in every way possible, and the knowledge and skill to restore the Jedi Order."

"Pretty eloquent for a moisture farmer," Mara complimented, clinking her cup against his. "Though I know you were dying to add 'adventure and excitement' to the list."

"A Jedi craves not those things," Luke replied with a wink.

"Right. Tell me another fable." Mara helped Luke rewrap their leftovers, then began to pick up the blanket they'd been sitting on. Luke's hand shot out to stay her motion, however.

"No, leave it."

"Shouldn't we be going?"

"I think we can afford a short nap." He softly stroked her cheek, then brushed a strand of stray hair behind her ear.

"I thought we were in a hurry," Mara protested weakly, even as she followed his lead in sinking back down to the blanket. "It took me over eighteen hours to get this far from the ship. Surely it took you nearly as long."

"No, not really." He gave an embarrassed little smile. "But I ran the whole way."

"Ran?"

Luke shrugged self-consciously. "You were hurt."

Mara stared at him in unabashed admiration. He never ceased to amaze her; he actually ran more than thirty kilometers because he thought she was in danger. "Well, I don't feel like running to that Sith-forsaken B-wing, so we'll go with my estimate. We would make it back by lunchtime tomorrow if we got going now."

"So we'll get there two hours after lunch." Luke scooted closer to his wife.

"I'll take first watch." Mara had the distinct feeling the only watching Luke'd be doing would be to watch her.

"I think it would be safe for us to sleep together." He gently tugged her to a reclining position. "Don't you?"

"Together? Uhh ..." There was no mistaking the desire burning in her husband's blue-eyed gaze. "Are you sure that's a good idea? The Prudens—"

"Will have to get their own girl," he finished. Lying on his side and facing Mara, Luke let his fingers trail across the front of her rough flightsuit, slowly pulling the front fastener open.

"Luke ..."

"Hmm?"

"It's the dead of winter, and we don't have any fuel for the heaters."

He paused and held one hand out above his head. A spare blanket lying atop one of the packs flew into his grasp. "We'll stay warm."

"You actually think we should ... right here, on the—"

Luke interrupted her with a quick kiss. "Mara, I ..."

"I know, I know. You're on your honeymoon." Mara leaned over and pushed Luke down by the shoulders onto his back, then crawled on top of him. "So am I, farmboy. So am I ..."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

When the cold chill of a blade against her throat woke Mara Skywalker, her first thought was of Luke. But she didn't have to consciously reach out to feel his warm presence next to her. Her subsequent thoughts were annoyance that they could be so careless, and relief that they had put their clothes back on. Squinting awake, Mara made out a burly form outlined against a ray of sunlight streaming in through the mouth of the small cave.

Hold on ... sunlight? Mara grimaced to herself. Blast it, they'd overslept, and it could very well be their downfall.

"Don't ye be movin'." The owner of the harsh voice next to Mara's ear crouched behind her, wielding the razor-sharp hunting knife.

Mara paid no heed to the man's gruff order; she twisted her head around enough to spear her attacker with a venomous glare. "Odus Pruden – what a surprise."

"You're all making a big mistake."

She shifted her attention to her husband as his tranquil voice filled the small cave. The third intruder, Odus' brother Eli, stood over Luke's prone body, an arrow in his drawn bow nudging the Jedi's chest.

Luke's warning was met with a round of contemptuous guffaws from the trio of attackers.

"The only mistake we made was not killin' ye dead two days ago," Eli Pruden retorted. He pulled his bowstring more taut, daring Luke to move. "I'll not be missin' this time."

Mara's eyes darted across the gloomy space. Now where ...?

"Lookin' fer this?" Tors Pruden tightly gripped Mara's blaster in his massive paw. "Ye'll not be castin' a sleepin' spell on us agin," he growled, awkwardly waving the weapon back and forth.

"We could cast a spell on her," Eli suggested. "Make it a heap easier to tote her back."

"You're not toting me anywhere," Mara returned in a low, controlled voice as she tried to remember if she'd left the blaster set on stun or kill. Her eyes continued sweeping around the cave. Lightsabers ... Where in blazes were their lightsabers? *Luke! Are you just going to lie there?*

*Patience, Mara.*

Mara ignored the infuriatingly calm voice echoing in her mind. Patience was what one employed when stalking a target or waiting for a restaurant droid to bring your order. Action was needed now, before one of them ended up dead.

*Reach out with the Force, Mara.*

*To strangle them?*

Luke's sigh of exasperation came across both mentally and vocally. *Extend your senses outside the cave, Mara,* he continued, not flinching a bit as the arrow poked harder against his flightsuit. *We'll soon have more company.*

"Git up, lass." Odus yanked on Mara's arm, jerking her to her feet roughly. He jabbed the knifepoint against her ribcage. "No witch tricks, or Eli there might be losin' his grip real quick."

"Thought that was already your plan," Mara said, her attention divided between trying to pinpoint what Luke was sensing, and trying to stall for time. She probably could disable her own assailant before he could plunge his blade into her side, Mara thought to herself. But before Eli's itchy fingers released the deadly arrow, or cousin Tors began experimenting with her blaster? Mara wasn't sure, especially when Luke seemed determined to play the passive victim. And uncertainty bred failure.

"Ye think we be heartless?" Tors rebuked. "Killin' a man in front o' his woman?"

"Didn't stop you from shooting at him earlier," Mara returned.

*Are you stalling them or encouraging them, sweetheart?*

Mara glanced down to meet Luke's upraised eyebrow. *You seem to have cornered the market on stalling.*

Luke decided he'd better give Mara a brief synopsis of his plan, such as it was, before she launched into her own brand of retaliation.

*Go outside with Odus and Tors. I'll put Eli out of commission, then join you.*

*And the purpose of this brainstorm is?*

*Less chance of anyone getting hurt if we're out in the open.*

Mara growled in annoyance as Tors Pruden tightly tied her outstretched wrists with a rough piece of cord. "Hey, take it easy!" She gave Luke a final scowl before the brazen ruffians began pushing her outside. *There are only two people in this cave whose health I'm concerned about. Your scheme had better work if you hope to be one of them.*

After Mara's forced exit, Luke looked up at his lone remaining adversary. Eli Pruden grinned lecherously above him in anticipation of an easy kill. The Jedi's carefully thought-out plan of putting the man into a sleeping trance was suddenly shattered as blood-thirsty, animalistic hunger assaulted his senses, chilling him to the core. The danger he felt was almost immediately accompanied by a cacophony of feral growls, snarls, and screams.

Wild animals! And Mara's hands were bound ...

Faster than the woodsman could blink, Eli's victim became his attacker.

Luke swept the bow and arrow aside with an effortless Force shove, the wooden weapons snapping as they struck the cave's rock wall. He leapt up, twisting his body midair and pinning Pruden to the ground in one fluid movement.

"Sorry, no time for finesse." Drawing back his arm, Luke slugged the struggling man across the temple, knocking him unconscious. Rushing to the cave entrance, he absorbed the grim scene before him in a blink of an eye.

The Prudens were struggling under attack from what must be feralines, Luke decided, recognizing the sleek-pelted creatures from descriptions he'd been told. He could barely make out Mara on the far side of the clearing, but her sense in the Force was strong and resolute. It was clear that the savage, powerfully built beasts had their human victims outnumbered nearly four to one. Sharrets were scattering into the forest, yelping in terror, while the high-pitched squeals of drobbins added to the horrific bedlam.

It was all Luke could do to restrain himself from jumping into the fray barehanded. If only he had his lightsaber ...

Luke blinked as Yoda's voice filtered through his head, and a sense of calm wormed its way into his anxious psyche. Reaching out with his hand and sweeping his mind across the surrounding bushes, he concentrated on that mystical connection. The nearby din drowned out the rustle of leaves as not one, but two, lightsabers flew toward the waiting Jedi. He hadn't expected Mara's saber to respond to his call, even though it had been in his possession longer than the one he'd built.

Grasping a lightsaber in each hand and whirling around, Luke was a blur of motion as he made his way to his wife's side. Mara had jerked her blaster from Tors Pruden's grip and was firing with pinpoint accuracy despite having her hands still tied. Catching her attention, Luke dipped a blade as she held her wrists out, slicing through the rope. He tossed her saber toward her hilt first, the blade stilled locked on.

Slashing, slicing, skewering, the two Jedi labored to keep ahead of the pack of beasts. Hearing a desperate cry behind her, Mara spun around to see Odus Pruden nearly hidden under the bulk of an enormous feraline. She drove her blade through the animal's tough hide, then kicked the dying carcass aside with her foot. Mara winced as she saw her kidnapper's vacant stare. Odus's throat had been ripped open by the feraline's powerful jaws, and blood gushed from the jagged wound.

Knowing that the man was beyond help, Mara directed her attention back to the ongoing battle. Fearless and tenacious predators, the feralines kept attacking in a vicious frenzy. Not yet noticing his cousin's plight, Tors was hacking wildly with his long hunting knife. Confident of Mara's ability to defend herself, Luke had made his way to a pair of frightened drobbins straining against their reins. A third mount lay dead on the ground, its flesh being hungrily devoured by two of the carnivorous beasts.

"Luke, watch out!" Mara shouted, spotting one of the creatures stalking her husband from behind. She regretted letting her blaster drop when she'd reacquired her lightsaber. Her anxiety was replaced by surprise as a volley of arrows shot out from the surrounding trees, dropping the animal in its tracks. Her eyes widened even further as Hiley and Efam appeared in the clearing, shooting arrows as fast as they could from the backs of their terrified steeds. Younger and nimbler, Jaco had already dismounted and was weaving a path of destruction, a short hatchet grasped in one hand and a wide-bladed knife in the other.

With the arrival of the newcomers, the tide of the battle quickly turned in the humans' favor. Within minutes the last of the ferocious animals lay dying on the ground.

"Not that I'm ungrateful in the least," Mara panted, "but what in blazes are you three doing here?"

Stroking his drobbin's shaggy neck soothingly, Hiley slid off his mount's back with a wide grin. "We thought ye might need a bit o' rescuin', but I'm a-thinkin' ye would'a managed fine without us." He eyed the glowing blades in Luke and Mara's hands, and surveyed the carnage spread about them.

"Aye, but we was expectin' only to meet up with these two-legged varmints," Efam added, warily approaching Tors Pruden. "Where be yer kin, Tors?"

The bearded woodsman gazed glassy-eyed around him, finally noticing that he alone of his family stood in the gore-strewn clearing. "What ... Odus!" Tors rushed to his cousin's lifeless form. "No!" He half-rose, searching desperately for the last member of his group. "Eli!" His wild gaze fell accusingly on Luke. "Ye killed Eli, din't ye?"

"No, no," Luke hurried to assure the distraught man. "He's safe; he's in the cave." At Tors' disbelieving grimace, he added, "He's unconscious, but he'll be fine."

Hiley ducked into the entrance to the small cave, emerging a moment later. "Aye, Eli's inside, out colder than a snuffed-out candle."

Efam turned to the two Jedi, who had by now hooked their lightsabers to the outsides of their blood-splattered flightsuits. "Are ye unharmed? We feared this bunch was goin' after ye when Jaco's cousin saw 'em loadin' up supplies and talkin' 'bout gettin' even."

"We was hopin' to catch 'em 'fore they could get the jump on ye," Jaco added. "But it looks like the feralines bushwhacked the lot o' ye." He grimaced in Luke's direction. "So what'd we miss?"

"Not much," Luke muttered, his attention riveted on Tors Pruden. "Excuse me." Limping slightly, he made his way over to the despondent man's side.

"They surprised us as we woke this morning," Mara took up the tale. "Tors and Odus dragged me outside, while Eli stayed behind in the cave with Luke to ... to kill him." She glanced briefly at her husband as he led Tors toward the cave. "That's when the feralines appeared out of nowhere."

"The Prudens aimed to kill ye?" Hiley asked in amazement. "We never figured they'd stoop to murder."

Mara nodded numbly, not bothering to answer.

Luke and Tors soon emerged from the cave, supporting a woozy Eli between them. Jaco took Luke's place as Eli staggered toward his fallen brother.

"We'll take Eli and Tors back to Zembuhl," Efam promised. "And we'll see that they pay fer what they did."

"Don't be too harsh on them," Luke objected. "They lost a brother and cousin; that should be punishment enough." Noticeably favoring his left leg, he gestured toward the transgressors. "We'll help bury Odus before we leave."

"Nay, we can do that." Efam studied the younger man with a worried expression. "The feralines take a swipe at yer leg, lad?"

"No." Luke straightened up, affecting an appearance of well-being. "It's nothing."

Mara's pointed glare was harder to avoid. "Did you open up that wound? And don't try to lie to me again."

Luke started to protest, then shifted his gaze to the ground. "Maybe," he finally mumbled through clenched teeth.

"Ye were wounded 'fore today?" Hiley asked, joining the conversation. "Let's take a look."

"The Prudens first ambushed us two days ago," Mara explained, as Luke slumped to the ground in resignation and unzipped his suit. "They got him in the leg with an arrow."

"Aye, lad, ye are leakin'," the toolcrafter said with a smile, attempting to lighten Luke's mood. He peered closer as Mara knelt and began unwrapping her husband's blood-stained bandages. "What be that sticky goo round the cut?"

"It's a kind of medicine," Mara replied, applying a new bacta patch. "It helps the injury to heal." She wound fresh dressings around Luke's thigh, then gave him a hand up.

"It was working until just now," Luke said.

"Ye should rest a spell," Efam remarked. He bent over to scratch behind the ears of one of his own sharrets he'd brought. "Let yer leg mend 'fore walkin' on it."

"Humph. Good luck talking him into that," Mara said with a snort. "He's as stubborn as they come."

"We really can't afford to wait," Luke protested. "We have an appointment to keep, and we're behind schedule as it is."

"Then ye should borrow a pair o' drobbins fer the rest o' yer journey." Efam loomed over the smaller man, his hands on his hips. "We insist."

"But ... but ..." Luke shook his head, grasping for an excuse.

"Jaco and me, we'll ride with ye, and bring the mounts back," Hiley spoke up.

"Aye, and I'll stay here and keep an eye on Tors and Eli," Efam added.

"What if more feralines show up?"

"They be territorial," Jaco said. "There'd not be another pack anywhere near these parts."

"Ye know it be the sensible thing to do, lad," Efam stated. "I'll have no trouble handlin' those two." He nodded toward the pair of grief-stricken cousins.

Luke shot a questioning look at Mara, but she only shrugged and mouthed back 'Your call.' He shut his eyes briefly and took a steadying breath. It was the sensible thing to do, as Efam said. Perhaps it was time he started being sensible.

"All right," he finally acquiesced. "We'll take you up on your offer." He glanced once more in Mara's direction. If she was surprised by his decision, she gave no indication, either outwardly or emotionally.

It didn't take long for Luke and Mara to gather their belongings and load them onto Efam's stout drobbin. As Luke tightly cinched the strap holding the last bundle, he stared across the animal's back at his wife.

"Do you think I made the right choice?"

"Do you think you did?" she returned, tucking under a loose end of rope.

"Are you going to force me to psychoanalyze myself now?" he complained.

Mara only raised one red-gold eyebrow, a slight smile playing about her lips.

Luke frowned at her and leaned against the swaying animal. "They're our friends, Mara. They rode all the way out here to help us. I don't think we should just brush them off."

"I'm not disagreeing." Mara reached across and took one of his hands. "But I don't think letting Hiley and Jaco see the ship is what you're beating yourself up over." She tugged on his hand. "Is it?"

"No." Luke shook his head tiredly. "I should have sensed those feralines long before they reached us. I was aware of our friends drawing near, so why not the danger of the wild animals?"

"Maybe because Hiley and the others are our friends. They were easier to recognize. Maybe the feralines weren't a threat until they caught the scent of the drobbins or sharrets. I don't know." Mara let Luke's hand drop. "Don't you think I've been asking myself why I didn't sense the feralines, or the Prudens, for that matter? I'm the one who's always bragging about my heightened sense of danger. I thought the foreboding I felt meant your 'don't get anyone hurt' plan was going to backfire."

"It was far from an unqualified success."

"Luke, Odus Pruden's death was not your fault, or my fault. Truth be told, it wasn't even his own fault. It was an accident of nature."

"That doesn't make it any easier to accept. I should have been able to prevent his death, but I didn't."

"You aren't responsible for the safety of every being in the galaxy." Mara came around the front of the drobbin and pulled Luke into a hug. "That doesn't necessarily mean I want you to change, though. I love you just the way you are."

"Lucky for me." Luke leaned down and accepted her tender kiss. "Now I guess we'd better get moving, so we can shock the socks off Hiley and Jaco."

"You've got it, Jedi." Mara smiled brightly. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm actually going to be glad to see that bucket of bolts."

"That makes two of us, my dear."

Less than an hour later, the travelers mounted up for the last leg of their journey. Efam assured the others that he and the two Prudens would take care of burying Odus, deeming that there would be less trouble with the surviving woodsmen during the undertaking if Luke and Mara were out of sight.

"Don't ye worry now," the pub owner called, waving a farewell. "Just take care to keep outa trouble yerselves."

"Will do," Hiley replied before turning to his comrades. "All set?" At everyone's assent, the group began trotting away.

"Hear that, Skywalker?" Mara commented wryly. "Stay out of trouble."

"I think he was talking to you," Luke rejoined, leaning forward to pat the ragged mane of the drobbin he'd 'borrowed' from the Prudens. He found this animal was much more enjoyable to ride than a tauntaun. "I'm not the one that's skittish about riding."

"I can ride any animal you put under me," she shot back. "I can't help it that this one is jittery."

"You be pullin' too tightly on the leads," Jaco advised, coming up alongside her. "Give 'im a bit o' slack."

As Mara grudgingly accepted Jaco's instructions, Hiley dropped back to ride next to Luke.

"Ye know, lad," the toolcrafter began, "it hadn't escaped our notice that the direction ye and the missus are headed ain't nowhere near any body o' water, leastways fer another week's ride."

"We didn't think you'd miss that," Luke conceded. "But it won't take us long to reach our destination. If we set a steady pace, we should be there by early evening."

Hiley shot him a curious look. "What does this boat o' yers float on?"

"Well, you'll have to see it to believe it." Luke gave a little chuckle. "Actually, you probably won't believe it even after you see it."

"That so?" Hiley grinned in anticipation of a phenomenal journey's end. "In that case, why we be moseyin' along this slow?" He spurred his mount to a sudden gallop. "Hee-yah!"

The quartet was approaching a small hill late in the afternoon when Luke reined his drobbin to a stop. He glanced over his shoulder at Mara, who nodded with a knowing smile.

"Just beyond this coming grove of trees there's a rocky plateau," Luke informed the two villagers. "That's our destination."

"Already?" Jaco trotted ahead, motioning to his longtime friend. "C'mon, Hiley, let's take us a look at this boat."

Mara hung back a moment, a smirk lighting up her wind-chapped face. "This should be interesting."

Luke grinned in agreement. "Right. And I for one don't want to miss their reaction." He dug his heels into the flanks of his mount. "Let's go!"

Luke and Mara had barely reached the crest of the hill when they overtook the stunned figures of their friends.

"Divine One, preserve us," Hiley breathed in astonishment, his eyes wide as saucers.

Jaco couldn't even spit out that much.

=================================================================

Lando Calrissian swept into the Gilded Star Nightclub with his usual debonair style. As his eyes adjusted to the dimly lit lounge, the first patron he was able to recognize was a rather large Wookiee hunched in a too-small chair at the end of an out-of-the-way booth.

"Han! Leia!" he greeted the other occupants of the booth, huddled together in the dim corner. "Hi-ya, Chewie," he added as he signaled his drink order to a passing droid waiter and slid onto the remaining empty bench. "Fancy meeting you three here."

"Han has some bizarre notion that having a Synthian cocktail in this dive will calm my nerves." Leia shrank back further into the shadows in the hope that no one of importance would recognize her in such a seedy bar. "He and Chewie literally abducted me and Threepio as we were coming out of my office."

"Where is our favorite protocol droid?" Lando glanced around the smoky room. Colored lights strobed across the ceiling and walls in time with the blaring chords of a lusty tune.

"He's supposed to be guarding the speeder," Han said with a snort. "Though he's probably locked himself inside it, quaking in his metal boots."

"Ah." The former baron administrator reached across the table to stroke Leia's hand, ignoring Han's scowl of disapproval. "And what does a beautiful woman like you have to be nervous about?"

"Oh, it's just Luke." The princess pulled back her hands, settling them in her lap.

"When ISN'T it about Luke?" Han drawled, stretching his arms out along the back of the bench.

Leia gave him an exasperated frown before continuing. "It's nine days past his scheduled arrival date on Lorrd, and still no one has heard from him. How can I not worry?"

"I told you we should give him his ten-day window before chasing after him," Han reiterated.

"And I don't know how you can act so unconcerned when Luke is who-knows-where with that abrasive Mara Jade."

"Ah, the incomparable Miss Jade. True, she is one icy woman." Lando leaned back, smoothing his mustache with his thumb and forefinger. "How she can possibly resist my extraordinary charms is beyond me."

"She's one of a kind, all right," Han agreed.

"Still, I always get the feeling that I've seen her before. Under totally different circumstances, though." The dark-skinned gambler's brow furrowed in thought. "There's just something about her face, or maybe it's those eyes."

"She doesn't seem to have recognized you," Han pointed out. "Has she ever so much as given you the time of day?"

"Hmmm, not yet. But I am a man of eternal hope. If only I'd gotten to see her as a dancer." Lando closed his eyes in peaceful reflection. "I can just envision her in a skimpy little dancing costume." He peered across the table. "Maybe something like that snappy outfit Jabba found for you, Leia."

"Hey, now," the princess's paramour objected immediately.

"I'm not imagining Leia back in it, Han ol' buddy," Lando assured his friend. "I'm imagining Mara Jade – twirling, dipping, stretching ... I can just picture her ..." he trailed off wistfully.

Leia's face suddenly scrunched up in thought. "So can I," she whispered, causing Han's eyebrows to shoot up.

"You're ... you're imagining Mara ... in a dancing getup?" Han couldn't believe he was even voicing such an absurd suggestion.

Leia turned slowly toward him, eyes clouded in deep introspection and confusion. "I ... feel like I've seen her in such an outfit. She was different somehow ..."

Lando took up her trail of thought. "It's the hair. Her hair was different."

"Guys, her hair was different when we first met her, remember? Her and Luke were both brunettes."

"Believe me," the gambler replied, "I haven't forgotten that first meeting. But no, that's not the look I had in mind."

"Black!" Leia blurted out. "She had black hair."

Lando was nodding in agreement. "Yeah, that's it. Black hair, but those same brilliant eyes. Her skin tone was darker ..."

"And she had tattoos in ... various spots ..." Leia added self-consciously.

Chewie growled questioningly, and Han concurred. "Right." He looked at Lando and Leia. "Just what kind of spice are you two on?"

Leia swatted at him. "I know I've seen her, just like we described."

"Okay, okay, I believe you." Han slumped in resignation. "So, where did you see her?"

Leia and Lando looked at each other, then spoke simultaneously. "Jabba's."

Han started to open his mouth to reply, but Chewie beat him to it.

[You saw Mara Jade at Jabba's?]

"Yeah," Lando confirmed. "We did."

Leia looked quizzically at Han, not having mastered the Wookiee tongue yet, and he translated as Chewbacca continued.

[Are you sure it was her?]

"Didn't you see her, Chewie?" Leia asked their furry companion.

[I was taken immediately to the dungeons, remember?]

"And I couldn't see my hand in front of my face," Han put in.

"And Luke decided to play footsie with the rancor as soon as he got there," Lando added.

[There is someone else who could corroborate this assumption.]

"Goldenrod ..." Han murmured. He glanced at Leia, who was already thumbing on her comlink.

"Threepio? Come inside right away; we're in the back left corner."

"Yes, mistress," came the tinny response.

As soon as the protocol droid shuffled his way to their table, Han began the interrogation. "You know Luke's friend, Mara Jade, right?"

"Yes, of course, General Solo. Miss Jade is usually ... civil ... to me. At least when Master Luke is nearby."

"All right, Goldie," Lando said. "Access those wonderful memory banks you're always bragging about and think back to when you were in Jabba's palace."

"Jabba the Hutt's? Oh my, what a dreadful place that was. Just dreadful. A veritable den of debauchery."

"Yeah, yeah. Now, do you recall anyone at Jabba's that looked like Mara?"

See-Threepio cocked his head to one side, sifting through his data banks. "Yes, General Calrissian, there was a dancer who resembled Miss Jade. But her name was Miss Arica." His golden head swiveled to each of the sentient beings before him, then he addressed his mistress. "Am I to understand that you suspect Miss Arica was in fact Miss Jade?"

"That's exactly what we suspect, Threepio," Leia answered.

"So the question is, what would Mara Jade have been doing in a slime pit like Jabba's?" Han voiced the puzzle that was running through all their minds.

"She was a dancer," Lando spoke up. "Maybe she worked there, till Jabba's glorious demise, then moved up to the Imperial court."

Han and Leia exchanged glances, and the princess pursed her lips.

"No," Han answered for both of them, shaking his head. "The timing's off. By the time we got off Tatooine, Palpatine was reportedly on his way to the Death Star. I doubt he stopped on his way out to interview dancers."

"Besides," Leia added, "didn't she say she'd been at the palace for nearly two years?"

"So our question now is, what was she, really?"

[You have to ask?] Chewbacca interjected.

"No, we don't," Han drawled slowly, and Leia didn't need a translation this time. "A dancer with some self-defense training, my foot! She was an Imp spy!"

"She was following us." Leia scooted forward, resting her elbows on the rickety plasteel table.

"But why didn't she act? Even if she didn't recognize Lando, you and Chewie were there in plain sight and I was thawed out a half day before Luke came. Why wasn't the place crawling with stormtroopers to arrest us?"

"Before ... Luke ... came," Leia mouthed hesitantly, fearfully. "She didn't act because she was waiting for him to show up."

"If I may interject," a prissy voice interrupted.

"Quiet," Han ordered gruffly, but Leia stopped him with a glare.

"Go ahead, Threepio."

"Miss Arica ... er, Miss Jade ... did inquire about Master Luke."

The heads of Han, Leia, and Lando all snapped up instantaneously, and Chewbacca let out a threatening growl.

"You TALKED to her?" Han practically shouted.

"Why, yes." Threepio took a step backward. "She was rather friendly, actually. She asked about Master Luke's holomessage. I assured her that it had to be a mistake, that Master Luke would never abandon Artoo and me in that awful place. She then asked if I believed that Master Luke would in fact be coming to rescue me."

Han frustratedly wiped his face with one hand.

"She wanted to make sure Luke was coming," Leia murmured, almost to herself.

"The Emperor and Vader wanted Luke more than all the rest of us combined," Han agreed.

"And by the time Luke did appear, things moved so quickly that she didn't have a chance to bring in her backup," Lando reasoned.

[But what about her now?] Chewbacca asked no one in particular.

"Good question." Han looked at Leia as she touched his arm. "Chewie wants to know, if she was an Imperial spy then, what is she now?"

"She could have truly defected, after the Emperor died."

"That's awfully optimistic," he replied. "How often do we get that lucky?"

The diminutive woman bit her lip worriedly. "But consider the consequences of the other choice."

"She's ensconced herself into the heart of the Alliance," Han answered, slamming a closed fist down. "Hell, she didn't even have to convince anyone she was a dancer. She had Luke to do that for her."

"She's been stringing him along this whole time, playing him for a fool," Lando put in.

Han nodded. "Honing her Force skills with the galaxy's only Jedi Knight; prying who knows how many government secrets out of him." He looked at the others in frustration. "We all know how trusting Luke is. He meets a beautiful woman who pays some attention to him and helps him escape, and who shares that Force mumbo-jumbo with him ..."

"She biding her time until she can lure him right into the hands of what's left of the Empire," Lando commented.

"Or until she's trained enough to be able to overpower him," Han continued.

"And ... kill him." Leia's eyes grew wide. "Luke has no idea who she truly is. This whole Lorrd trip could be a trap, and he's flying right into it. The directive that only Force-strong individuals could come, the mysterious ship trouble ..." She gripped Han's arm tightly. "We have to go after him. Now, Han. There's not a moment to lose."

The former smuggler patted her hand in comfort. "We will. But it'll take awhile to prep the Falcon." He gave Leia an encouraging smile. "We'll leave as soon as we can."

"And I'm coming, too," Lando said. "No gorgeous female is going to pull the banthawool over Lando Calrissian's eyes and get away with it."

Chewie also rumbled his declaration of assistance.

"But what if—" Leia couldn't bring herself to say aloud the possibility that they could already be too late.

"He's not on Lorrd yet," Han tried to explain. "If she's gonna make a move against him, she either already has ..." He hurried on at the sight of Leia's choked expression. "Or she's waiting until they're established on Lorrd." He hugged his lover tightly. "Besides, when we first heard about his message, didn't you feel that he was all right? Do you still have the same feeling?"

Leia nodded slowly. "Yes, I think so. But he's so far away, I'm not really sure."

"We'll be there in two days tops," Han pledged. "Maybe even sooner. Remember, I've got the—"

"Fasted hunk of junk in the galaxy," three voices finished for him.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Hiley and Jaco stood transfixed, gaping in awe at the metal monstrosity sitting before them. Even their drobbins pawed the ground nervously and snorted, their nostrils flaring wide in fright.

Luke and Mara urged their own mounts forward, talking soothingly to the reluctant animals. Luke dismounted and, handing the reins to Mara, walked back to his stupefied friends.

"There's nothing to be frightened of, really," he assured them. "It's just a form of transportation for us."

"No way that be a boat. It'd sink like a rock, fer sure," Hiley muttered, his eyes narrowing as he studied the strange contrivance. "But there be no wheels or runners. How does it go?"

"Hmmm ..." Luke cast a glance at Jaco, who had yet to utter a word. "Why don't we take a closer look, and I'll explain as much as I can." He stepped back a pace, waiting while the two villagers slid off their drobbins and tied the animals to nearby trees.

Mara was already hauling their belongings toward the B-wing's storage hold when the others approached. One hand resting lightly on her hip, she held out the coveted stabilizer rod to Luke. "You gonna do the honors, or do you want me to give it a shot?"

Luke took the metal piece from her without hesitation. "I'll put it in. Just give me a moment." Once more faced with how much to reveal, he turned to his friends. "You're right, Hiley. This isn't a boat or a wagon or a sleigh. We call it a ship, but it doesn't travel on water."

"If it ...," Jaco began, finding his tongue, "if it travels by neither sea nor land, then ... how ...?"

"We journey by air," Luke said simply, not feeling it necessary to explain about the vacuum of space.

"Like a bird?" Hiley asked. Both his and Jaco's gazes went from the ship to the sky and back again to the ship.

"In a way, yes."

"That be impossible." Jaco's skeptical frown emphasized his words.

Luke extended his hand and the stabilizer rod rose into the air, floating of its own accord. "This is impossible, and yet it is happening."

Hiley squinted, trying to unravel the mystery. "So ye float yer ... ship ... in the air with yer magic?"

Luke bit his lip, ignoring Mara's amused chuckle in the background. "Bad example, I guess. No, not with magic. Not my kind of magic, at any rate." His hand closed back around the rod. "The ship has an engine to power it." He smiled at the quizzical looks he received. "Come," he said, motioning them forward.

His natural curiosity toward anything mechanical overcoming any fear of the unknown, Hiley quickly followed Luke toward the baffling vehicle. He glanced back at his reluctant companion. "Come along, Jaco, me friend. It won't bite ye." He looked back at Luke. "Will it?"

Luke laughed and shook his head. "No."

Mara watched with detached interest as Luke proceeded to explain, in the simplest layman's terms he could think of, the workings of the immense Quadex Kyromaster engine. The villagers were listening with the same rapt attention that Mara had witnessed numerous times in Rogue Squadron's maintenance bay. Men and their machines, she thought to herself. Some things never change, no matter where one lands in the galaxy.

Moving to an access hatch in the cockpit section of the fighter, Luke began to install the new stabilizer component. Hiley and Jaco were quick to lend a hand, following Luke's directions with enthusiasm and diligence.

Mara, meanwhile, busied herself with digging through the luggage they had left behind in the ship. She wasn't about to travel the rest of the way to Lorrd in the same clothes she'd been wearing for over two days, and Force knew Luke needed new attire. She paused, though, as she pulled his satchel forward and popped it open. These were his personal belongings – his carefully folded black Jedi uniform, his underclothes, his toiletries. Luke was her husband now; there was no reason to feel evasive about rummaging through his possessions. So why did she?

Quickly selecting a thin one-piece jumpsuit and appropriate undergarments, Mara snapped the case shut. She smiled, wondering briefly if they would be packing their clothes together for their next trip. Just one of the things that would be changing in their lives, things that she and Luke would both have to get used to – going home to the same apartment, sharing the same bedchamber, traveling in the same ship to the same places, finding a decent-sized ship that they could afford. Sure, they'd had a taste of some of these experiences while in Zembuhl. But knowing that she and Luke would be together forever brought a sense of peace to Mara's heart. She was a wife now. Someday she would be a Jedi Knight. Mara fixed her gaze on Luke as he closed the hatch to the gyro-stabilization system. Someday, she would be known as the wife of a Jedi Master.

"Well, lad, 'tis an amazin' contraption ye've got here, to be sure," Hiley complimented as the men finished the repair work. "But I still canno' be believin' it'll rise into the air like a scudbird."

"Aye," Jaco said. "I can hardly wait to see yer ship floatin' through the sky." He looked toward the foothills of the nearby mountain range. "Do ye have to go further than the Magnes Mountains to reach Corey-sant?"

"Much, much further," Luke answered with a laugh.

"So where be yer Corey-sant?" Hiley inquired.

Luke laid the servodriver he'd been holding into a tool tray. Hands on his hips, he looked up into the dusky heavens. "You can't see it from here; the distance is too great. But it would be just about ..." he pointed to an invisible spot in the wintry sky, "there."

Hiley and Jaco followed the direction he indicated with unbelieving stares.

"Ye're goin' ... there?" Jaco murmured, his eyes glued upward.

"No, we're not."

All three men shifted their attention as Mara joined in the conversation.

"First, we're detouring to about ... there." Mara's arm extended upward at a sixty degree angle to where Luke's hand had pointed.

"That settles it." Luke came forward and wrapped one arm around Mara's waist. "From now on, you're in charge of navigation."

"I accept. But before climbing into a cockpit with me, you need to climb into some fresh, and spaceworthy, clothes." She held out a bundle of clothing, including a spare flightsuit she'd found in the storage hold.

Luke stepped back a pace, finally recognizing that Mara had already changed into a new flightsuit. "Oh, right." He glanced down at his torn and dirty garments and smiled sheepishly. "If you'll excuse me, I'll ... uh ..." He looked at Mara, wondering where she'd changed without any of them noticing.

"Behind any tree, Skywalker."

Luke grinned as he ambled behind the nearest grove of evergreens. Left alone with the two amiable villagers, Mara fielded their continuous barrage of questions as best she could – "No, this is definitely NOT typical of the kind of ship our people travel in." "Yes, there are ships that can hold more than two people." "Yes, there are ships big enough that people can live in them." Mara refrained from pointing out that there existed ships so big that a hundred villages the size of Zembuhl could fit into them.

Within minutes Luke returned, looking and feeling clean and refreshed. He assured Mara that his wound had not reopened and his bandages did not need changing. After storing the last of their gear into the B-wing, Luke and Mara agreed it was time for their departure. For the second time in two days, therefore, they said goodbye to their new friends.

Mara was the first to clamber into the double cockpit, her eyes routinely scanning the controls as she slid into her seat. Luke soon followed, after giving Hiley and Jaco final handshakes and directions on how far back to stand during liftoff. They both donned their helmets as the canopy sealed with a barely audible hiss.

"I think they were actually anxious to see us go," Luke commented as he began the start-up sequence.

"Really?"

"Yeah. The anticipation of seeing this 'metal contraption' sail through the air seemed to outweigh any pangs of regret over our departure."

"I'm sure you're exaggerating."

"Who, me?" Luke returned with a laugh.

Despite its cumbersome appearance, the B-wing rose gracefully on its repulsers, the main landing strut folding back into its slot. Luke let a sigh of relief escape as the large primary wing swung down and locked into place, confirming that his repair job had been successful. Giving a final wave to the two tiny figures below them on the ground, they angled their ascent toward the distant clouds.

"Did Hiley and Jaco understand anything you were telling them about the B-wing's operation?" Mara asked as they soared into the upper atmosphere.

"Hmm ... vaguely. From the mechanical work I saw in Hiley's shop, I believe their generation isn't far from devising some kind of steam-powered engine."

"Do you think they'll tell everyone about our ship?"

"I got the impression they were going to discuss that very question on their way back," Luke replied. "It may depend on whether Efam and the Prudens witnessed our take-off. I left the running lights off, and there's a chance they may not have heard the thrusters."

"Always the optimist." Mara's light chuckle filled the cramped cockpit. "Got an ETA for Lorrd?"

"Is that datapad on the mission up there?" Luke returned her question with one of his own. Mara tossed the small device over her shoulder, and Luke began scrolling through the screens. "Looks like we should arrive around seventeen-hundred on the second day of Lorrd's standard week, which will be the tenth day since I sent them the message."

"That soon? What kind of shortcut are you planning?"

"You're the navigator, remember?" Luke settled lower into his padded seat. "And the pilot."

"What?" Mara made a futile attempt to turn around and look at him. "I can't pilot from up here. The controls are disabled."

"Not anymore. I hooked them back up when I fixed the hyperdrive."

Mara made a renewed study of her instruments. He'd actually defied the New Republic military to allow her control of the ship, and had done so before their relationship had taken the drastic turn that it did.

"I trust you," he answered her unspoken question. "The ship's log has a record of our flight in through the nebula. You can program up to two jumps at a time in the navicomputer. All you have to do is backtrack our way out. Four or five microjumps should get us back to the asteroid field."

"But ..." Mara began scrolling through the log, her mind already calculating their route.

"I'm going into a healing trance," Luke murmured, closing his eyes. "Wake me when we're in orbit above Lorrd."

"You're going to sleep all the way to Lorrd?"

"You've been nagging me to go into a trance since I got shot."

"But, Luke ..." Mara repeated.

"You can handle things," he assured her. "The microjumps will keep you busy, then you can meditate during the last leg."

"Yes, Master." Only a hint of sarcasm was evident in Mara's tone.

"Goodnight, my beautiful apprentice." He sent a warm sensation of love through the Force, which was quickly reciprocated.

"Sleep well, Master."

Luke gave a small snort of satisfaction, then fell silent. Mara could sense him immersing himself deep into the Force, his breathing low and steady.

Quickly and carefully familiarizing herself with the B-wing's controls, Mara pulled back on the hyperdrive lever for their first short hop. "Hold on to your seat, my love," she called quietly over her shoulder. "Next stop, the planet Lorrd."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Leia Organa was fit to be tied. She'd spent all afternoon in the New Republic administrative hanger, current berth of the Millennium Falcon. Han, along with Chewbacca, was crouched under the belly of his beloved ship, while Lando was relaying instrument readings via comlink from the cockpit. Leia didn't think the string of complaints, excuses, and curses flowing between the two locations would ever end.

"Are you three boneheads EVER going to finish?!"

Han squatted down and peered out from under the ship. His gaze fell on a pair of diminutive fists planted on slim hips and a tiny booted foot impatiently tapping the ferrocrete floor.

Leia ducked low enough to glare at the lagging repairmen. "Well? We should have been halfway to Lorrd by now."

"Keep your tiara on, your worship. I just have to tighten down this one ... last ... bolt. Ah-ha." Leaving Chewie to reattach the outer hull plating, Han joined his lady near the boarding ramp. "See, Leia. We'll be on our way before you know it."

"And meanwhile Luke could be—"

"Luke's a big boy. Maybe we should let him get out of trouble on his own for once."

"Han!" Leia's big brown eyes flashed with irritation.

"Get on board, hon." Han wrapped one grease-stained arm around the princess's shoulders. "We got us a Jedi to rescue."

Less than an hour later, the Falcon was navigating its way into Coruscant's upper atmosphere.

"How long—?" Leia began, peering over Han's shoulder at his cockpit readings.

"We'll be landing on Lorrd in thirty-four hours," Lando supplied, sitting beside her in the seldom-used navigator's chair.

"Luke may already be there by then." Leia bit her lower lip nervously. That Jade woman could be plying all sorts of subversive atrocities on her brother.

"Probably will." Han gave her a helpless shrug. "That'll have us making planetfall eleven days after he sent his message."

"Han, I can't go thirty-four hours without knowing if he's even made it."

Chewie uttered a low rumble.

"Right." Han glanced behind him. "We'll have to come out of hyperspace about halfway there to make a course correction around an asteroid field. You can comm the Lorrdian authorities then, or even try comming Luke directly if you want."

"All right." Somewhat mollified, Leia sat back, making sure her seat harness was secure.

"Hold on to your seats, everyone," Han called out as he watched the countdown, then pulled back on the hyperdrive lever. The stars elongated into strings of diamonds as the ship surged forward. "Next stop, the planet Lorrd."