Healing – Chapter 6
By Sienn (2001)
Rating (for chapter): NC-17
Protagonists: Luke/Mara
Category: Angst/Romance
Series: Part II of "Soul's Trial" Trilogy
Time Frame: 26 A.Y. (immediately after "Soul's Trial I: Jedi Dawn")
Spoilers:
See Chapter 1
Disclaimer:
See Chapter 1
Chandrila, Week 7
Once again, the day was beautiful. Sometimes, it seemed to Mara that this planet didn't know any other season than summer, though she pretty much knew that this was not true. There were the standard four seasons to be found, even if the summer was a little longer than on most other planets with this sort of cycle to go through every year.
Mara really loved the summer on Chandrila; she loved their quiet, little bungalow and the gorgeous scenery that was the sea and the beach right below them.
When Luke had finally begun to relax here, a couple of weeks ago, Mara had for the first time noticed that she, too, was in need of a holiday. The constant worry about her husband, her very precious, had taken its toll on her, also, even if she almost hadn't noticed it at first.
For quite a time now, their ritual had always been the same. Mara would sleep well into the day, having never been an early riser, while Luke would quietly slip out of the bed and the house and go on with his morning practice. Not that his wife didn't practice at all - she just preferred to do it in the afternoon or even the evening, instead of sacrificing her much craved sleep.
This very morning was no exception. Mara woke to the sun blazing into her bedroom, not yet with its full midday heat, but gentle and teasing. She stretched, smiling contentedly. One could think Mara would possibly be a little miffed about the fact that she wasn't able to wake up with her husband, but then, she always noticed when he left.
They woke at the same time mostly, the sun just about to peek out behind the horizon. They would lie next to each other for a couple of minutes, intertwined, caressing and enjoying the moment, then Luke would softly push her away and slip out.
Mara didn't have any objections to that. She well knew that, unlike her, Luke would never be able to fall asleep again and would only unnerve her by tossing or fidgeting when she forced him to lie still for hours.
Smiling to herself, she got up and, brushing her hair with her fingers, made her way out onto the terrace. Though it was rather late into the morning - ten o'clock, she guessed - it was still comfortably tempered - neither too hot, nor too cold. Perfectly fitting to enjoy the morning with nothing on but an old shirt that she had borrowed from Luke.
Mara chuckled softly. Sitting down on one of the chairs on the terrace, she remembered herself condemning all this "sickly sweet" stuff like sleeping with a man's shirt on just to smell him close to her - such had been her thoughts about such matters before she had met Luke. Or rather, before she had admitted to herself that she had fallen in love with him. She still found it a little mushy, but meanwhile, she LIKED this mushiness.
Mara would never have imagined that she would reach this state - that she would become this emotional a person. And least of all because of Luke Skywalker. But somehow, this man had worked his magic on her, magic she couldn't deny.
He was a captivating personality and his earnestness in dealing with her, the openness and readiness with which he had accepted her past and decided not to judge or condemn her had pushed open a door to a place in Mara Jade's soul she had thought to have died too early in her life as that she would have been able to remember.
And, as she had come to respect him more and more, to come to know him more and more, she had come to see that he was addictive - at least to her. His smile, his eyes, his voice, his being was addictive and the memory of how empty she had felt while their mind link had been cut made Mara shiver.
She really would take care that she never had to miss him like this again. Never. Which brought her to the question where the object of her musings actually was.
For he obviously wasn't anywhere in the house, Mara stepped up to the railing and gazed out over the beach.
In the past few weeks, she had often found him performing his practice down there or, when this hadn't been the case, had met up with him in the little bay she had discovered in their first days on Chandrila. He enjoyed the calm water and used to swim and dive until she came over to him. Which she normally did as soon as she had persuaded herself to crawl out of the comfy bed.
This morning, though, she was a little earlier than she was normally, and not without good reason. She had a final surprise for her husband.
All this time, Mara had been delighted that Luke had let her organise everything related to these holidays - every trip, every dinner, every day.
That had made her suspicious at first, for Luke loved to explore a planet, its cities, its customs, its people, if he had the opportunity to do so and normally preferred to decide himself what to do when and where.
Some evening during dinner, he had caught up on her suspicion and explained to her that he actually liked to not have to worry about anything trivial like organisation. "I trust you to find things I like, Mara," he had said and had made Mara blush quite uncharacteristically.
She was surprised herself about the certainty with which she was able to pick out things Luke was always excited about. The easiness of pushing back her own preferences for the sake of her husband's happiness.
Mara had planned this day excruciatingly carefully, almost every minute of it, and wanted it to be something special. The pompous end, so to speak, for they had decided a couple of days ago that they would return to Coruscant by the end of the week.
By then, they would have been gone for two months. Two months in which the galaxy had neither seen nor heard anything about the great Jedi Master. The galaxy - and his sister. Mara imagined that every day she didn't get a message from her brother was a hard day for Leia and she didn't think they could strain the Princess's patience for much longer without risking that the Alderaanian woman would think there was something wrong and send the whole fleet after them.
Having this in mind, Mara gave R2 orders to finish the last preparations for her surprise, then slipped on a robe and made her way down to the beach.
She wasn't in a particular hurry - they were still in good time - but yet she didn't go too slow either. In the evening, with Luke, she enjoyed taking a walk along the beach, slowly, and relishing the feel - but Luke was the crucial factor with that. Without him, admiring nature was not half as much fun as with him.
It took her about ten minutes to reach the little bay, their little paradise, as Luke called it, but her husband was nowhere to see. Sighing, she reached out with the Force: 'Luke?'
She immediately received a soft brush at her soul as answer, but nothing that indicated he would come out of the water anytime soon. She knew that he expected her to join him in the silver waves. Mara smirked, let him know that she had something special in mind and settled down onto the sand to wait. Force knew how far out he had swum.
His fascination with water was endearing. And of course the water, the sea, had been the most important reason for her to pick Chandrila out of the thousands of pleasure planets all through the galaxy.
Right from the beginning, Mara had wanted not only a quiet, but also an extraordinary place for Luke to spend his holidays on. She had wanted to confront him with something totally new, totally captivating for him, as a sort of distraction from all the terrible things that still assaulted his mind when he was alone or had nothing to do.
At first, she had thought about taking him to Mon Calamari, sure that their old friend Ackbar would be able to arrange a nice room or suite in a good hotel, but then she had reconsidered.
True, water would be intriguing to Luke Skywalker, a man who had been raised on a desert planet and hadn't had the time to explore what he had only heard told about in fairy-tales afterwards - the sea.
But she had wondered whether he would be comfortable when there were nothing but water all around him.
Mon Calamari had no continents - the islands that existed were small and not suited to sustain guests - unless you wanted to live like a caveman. So they would have been forced to stay on one of the floating cities and Luke would probably have become even more nervous.
Leia had told her about the strain it had put on him when the two of them had been on Mimban, forced to travel over a large lake on nothing but the leaf of a plant.
So she had decided to go for Chandrila and had learnt that Lando had a wonderful bungalow there, which he seldom used. For him, she supposed, the fact that he OWNED it was more important than the question whether he really NEEDED it. That was Lando. He loved luxury.
It had taken her a few hours to swallow her pride and go ask him for the keys, ask him to be permitted to live there and offer him to pay a rent, if he wanted it. She had counted on him quipping some of his tasteless jokes, but had been pleasantly surprised.
He had smiled, given her the keys and necessary documents without a word, shortly embraced her and had whispered: "Take care of Luke, Mara. Help him heal."
Mara had just stared at him. Never had she expected anything like that from Calrissian of all people. She had been mistaken. Gravely mistaken.
He had seen her astonishment and for a moment, she had thought to see hurt in his dark eyes. But when he had spoken, his voice had been calm and soft. And full of emotion: "He is my friend, Mara. I want him to be ok. I won't tell anyone you're there." More seriously, he added: "If you should need anything, contact me. Tell Luke so, too."
With this, he had turned and left for his ship, having some serious business about his companies to attend to elsewhere. But his statement, his words, had touched Mara deeply.
There were so many people who loved Luke - the earnestness of their feelings had made Mara feel unworthy in those days. There was no question about anything with them. It was Luke and if Luke needed help, they were there.
And they had really been there, while Luke had been unconscious in his medical room. Wedge, Corran, Lando, Tycho. They had all dropped in, wanting to see him. She remembered how they had paled when Han had told them what had happened, remembered the worry she had seen in their eyes, the disappointment and annoyance when they had been told that Luke couldn't see anyone right now.
With everything going on, they hadn't had time to stay long and had had to leave before Luke had regained his awareness. But they had sent him messages, stating repeatedly that a word from him would be enough and they would be back.
Yes, she mused, he was loved. For everything he was. He had always put his friends before anything else, even his own life and neither of them would ever forget that. She had experienced first hand how they stuck together.
Back then, decades ago, when she had made it public that she would use the first opportunity to kill Luke Skywalker, she had come to see that, if she decided to deal with him, there were a whole lot of fairly dangerous people she had to take on, too.
Solo had made that clear to her. Lando had kept his distance from her when he had heard about her threats and only returned to vowing her after the events on Wayland - sure that she didn't intend to kill Luke anymore. Wedge had been suspicious about her up until she had married Luke. Not that Mara held that against him- the two of them had hardly met and she knew that Luke knew Wedge as long as he knew Han.
To tell the truth, Mara was kind of proud that her husband instilled this sort of loyalty, of friendship, love and protectiveness in those he dealt with.
He was a very special being and she was incredibly lucky to have ensured herself the love of this special being, she thought to herself, lifting her head and smiling broadly at the figure that was splashing towards the land.
Indeed, she repeated in her head, she was very lucky. He was not only a wonderful being considering his soul - to her, he was very special and most beautiful in flesh, too.
Now, this long after his nervous breakdown and the weeks of severe depression that had followed, there was no trace of the eating problems he had had.
He was still slim, but he had always been. And there was a big difference between being slim and being thin, as she well knew. To her, he was perfect and if she considered his age, even more so. The cute dimple in his chin was only one factor that made him seem boyish, even now that he was beyond forty. He didn't look like it. Not a bit.
The dimple.. and the eyes. The eyes that could still hold a little boy's fascination. The blue could turn into ice when he was angry, it could darken when he was tired and sad and it could sparkle and shine when he was happy, when he laughed, when he enjoyed himself. Or when he was curious.
The mop of his hair added to his youthfulness too. He had been comfortable letting it grow longer and hadn't bothered to cut it all too short. She didn't know whether this had any deeper sense, but she liked it and didn't mind at all.
Coming out of the water, the blonde strands soaked and plastered onto his head, drops all over his body glittering in the sun and sliding down his fine-boned, well-trained frame, she felt the strong urge to embrace him, kiss him, feel him.
She wetted her lips when he approached, but the expression on his face and the way he plopped down beside her told her that he really didn't think of something like that at the moment.
Inwardly, she sighed and quickly gathered her composure.
"You know what that is?" he asked, panting slightly and dropping a handful of deep purple stones in front of her into the sand.
Mara needed a moment to focus on them, finding herself mesmerised by the way the sand clung to Luke's lightly tanned skin when he pushed himself up on an elbow, laid his chin into the palm of his hand and stared at the stones.
"Um.. no," she finally said, forcing herself to change the direction of her gaze.
Luke frowned, still attentively eyeing the stones, and touched one of them. When he let go, it had changed to a rich, red-gold colour. Mara perched an eyebrow, her curiosity peeked.
"Where did you find those?" she asked, sure that she had seen nothing of that sort when she had accompanied Luke in his diving excursions. He smiled: "It's way out, on the cliffs before the sea ground gives way to this underwater precipice. You know? We have seen it on the charts," he explained.
Mara froze. "Don't tell me you've swum out that far! That's well beyond the bay!" she exclaimed, staring at him incredulously. Luke grinned: "Well, I'm in good condition."
His wife rolled her eyes. "That's not what I mean! There are... gods, Luke, there are all possible predators living in those seas! You can't just go splashing around that far from the shore, without your lightsaber," she fumed.
Luke snorted: "Oh, come on, Mara. If something had tried to sneak up on me, I'd have felt it before there would have been any danger and I could have avoided it."
Annoyed, she folded her arms in front of her chest. "Obviously, you'll never change, Luke Skywalker," she growled.
Determined to stay angry with him, her resolve faltered when she felt him crawl up to her, softly pushing her on her back and onto the warm sand, smiling at her mischievously: "Do you really want me to?"
She stared into his eyes - now oh so baby blue with innocence - and finally sighed: "I guess not.&" He grinned victoriously, rising and brushing the sand off his skin.
Mara propped herself up on her elbows and stared up at his shapely behind: "Promise me not to swim that far into the sea again."
He turned and looked down, towering over her, but this merely brought Mara to smirk. Luke was not exactly tall - in fact, for a man, he was rather small. Fine-boned, delicate, strong… but small. Anyway, not at all tall enough to intimidate her.
Finally he shrugged and nodded: "Okay, if it makes you happy. We're not here for much longer anyway," he added with an evil glint in his eyes, dodging the wave of sand she sent toward him with a strong kick of her right leg.
"Coward," she grunted. Luke merely laughed. It was such a wonderful sound, Mara thought. A wonderful sound, a wonderful man.
"Hurry, farmboy, we're having an appointment in an hour," she said after a while, watching him while he dried himself.
"What? What have you come up with now, Jade?" he queried, unintentionally amusing her by struggling to get the water out of his ears.
"You'll see, you'll see. By the way, " she finally rose, too, picking up the Mon Calamari breathing mask her husband had dropped onto the sand, "where did you learn to swim?"
Luke stopped for a moment, smiling to himself, obviously lost in a fond memory. "Han taught me how to swim. It's been ages… after the Battle of Yavin. I first thought he wanted to drown me," he chuckled and when Mara perched an eyebrow, hurried to explain: "You know Han. He had just a very... unusual way to do it, that's all."
"I can imagine." Mara mumbled, feeling a little melancholic upon thinking that back then, while the man she would later love more than anything had learnt this, she had served the monster that had wanted to kill him or turn him into a Dark Jedi. Now, it seemed paradox.
But there was no use in thinking about this anymore. "Come on, we've got to go," she said, dragging him after her.
*~~
Three hours later, Luke knew what the surprise was and, to say the least, he was suspicious. From their bungalow, they had gone by foot for three hours, arriving at what looked like a little farm or ranch amidst the Chandrilan grass planes. It was idyllic and Luke had thought they were going to take lunch there or something, but he had been mistaken.
"Oh, come on, Luke. You can ride, can't you?" Mara asked, stroking the deep-green fur of a four-legged, rather big native animal that looked vaguely equine. Just that it was bigger, broader and a lot more agitated.
Luke frowned, hesitantly stroking the bronze fur of the specimen that was destined to take him to wherever Mara had planned to go. "Taun-Tauns. Banthas. But THIS..?" he shook his head. "It's not exactly what I'm used to."
Mara sighed, then came over to him: "Don't make me laugh. If you can ride something as stubborn as a Taun-Taun, then you can ride a Codi, too. Really, it's not that different."
"It's just got more legs," Luke murmured, still dubious, but at least beginning to like the idea.
His wife laughed, then swung herself onto her Codi and winked at him: "If you're afraid, farmboy, I'll just enjoy the afternoon by myself. Don't think I can't have a fun day without you." And with his, she galloped in the general direction of a far-away forest.
For just a few seconds, Luke stood rather dumbfounded and stared after her. Then his stubbornness set in and he determinedly climbed onto his animal's back.
"It can't be that difficult, can it?" he mumbled to himself, settling into the saddle and trying to get comfortable. It was different than sitting on a Taun-Taun - somehow more convenient, but strange all the same.
"Now there, how do I get you going?" he mused aloud, absolutely sure that the rudeness that was applied to a Taun-Taun wouldn't be taken kindly by this particular kind of beast. He decided to go for the way of least resistance, reaching out in the Force and intending to give the animal a gentle nudge.
'Oh no, Skywalker! No Force cheating allowed.' his wife's voice sounded in his head. Luke groaned. She was gaining on him and he was looking reasonably dumb, sitting there on an animal that was happily chewing away on some grass.
"Okay. Okay," Luke grumbled. Recalling exactly what Mara had done and in which order, he copied it and to his utter satisfaction, the animal began to go after its fellow that was only a little, black spot in the far distance.
After a couple of tries - one of which got the Codi to halt abruptly, almost throwing Luke off its back - he even found out how to bring it to gallop and caught up with Mara.
*~~
Mara was dozing and enjoying herself immensely. Being the good ex-Emperor's Hand she was, she had explored the whole vicinity of the bungalow they were staying in way before they had come here and planned to do such a trip before she had known Luke would be able to do it at all.
She was happy all that had not been in vain. They had ridden for quite a few hours, enjoying the feeling of becoming acquainted to the animals that were a lot more intelligent than Taun-Tauns.
As she had expected, Luke hadn't had any real problems adapting to the sort of animal he was required to ride. Animals had always liked him and he had liked them. He had simply not known how to handle such an unfamiliar beast.
Presently, the two Codis were grazing quietly a couple of meters away from them, bound to a large, broad tree and so not in danger of getting lost.
She herself was lying in the soft, rich smelling grass on a sun-bathed streak of land, her head resting in the small of Luke's back.
She had been dozing - sometimes even sleeping - for the most part, relishing his closeness and playing with his hand until he had withdrawn it some time ago.
Mara was aware that her husband was neither dozing, nor sleeping and she was dying to know what he fumbled with, but he hadn't told her yet.
Up to this moment, that was.
"Mara?" he asked softly.
"Hmmm?" she huffed, feeling perfect right at the moment. They had had a very, very delicious picnic that she had brought with them and the day was just about wonderful.
"Turn, please." She did so, feeling as he turned as well, on his back, his shirt slipping a little higher, revealing a flat stomach and a navel that was extremely enticing to Mara.
Before she could contemplate this particular part of her husband's body a bit more, though, he sat up and her head plopped down into his lap.
"Here," he said softly, letting something dangle in front of her eyes. Mara couldn't help but smile enchanted. Somehow, Force knew how, he had managed to make holes into every one of the stones he had found in the sea, arraying them on a string of soft, dark leather.
The deep purple colour was very beautiful. Seeing that she liked it, Luke beamed and put it softly around her neck, fastening it with a knot.
As soon as the cool stones made contact with the warm skin on her breastbone, they changed colour, glittering in the warm, rich red-gold they had already shown down at the beach.
"They remind me of your hair," Luke said finally, sounding a little shy. After all these weeks, he was still timid around her if it came to tenderness, to flirting. To things which had come naturally to him before Ithor.
Hesitantly, he took one of her heavy locks and twirled it around his finger. "It's the same colour, you know. I've always loved it." He didn't dare look at her, as she noted, and focused on the way the sun glittered on her hair instead.
Mara, for her part, found herself captivated by the man before her. Showing her the side of his face, she marvelled at his delicate beauty, and decided that if she didn't try now, she would never be brave enough.
She craved to touch him, but was afraid to startle him, to scare him away. It was difficult for her to foresee how he would react. Their relationship had come back to normal in many aspects and in some ways they were even closer than before, but everything that concerned their sexual relationship had been untrod territory for weeks.
Luke was hesitant and she knew why. His self-esteem wasn't fully restored and the prospect of a life in mental and physical slavery, a life in Elan's possession, had humiliated him. Despite the fact that she had repeatedly assured him that she didn't find him ugly, that she didn't think him to be worth less because of what had almost happened to him.
Obviously, his subconscious had a hard time believing her. Wounds of this sort were deep. And needed time to heal, as Han would have said.
Unaware that she was holding her breath, she traced the outline of his jaw softly, admiring the way his face was cut. Mara noticed how his eyes widened a bit, but he kept focused on the lock of her hair. She didn't know whether he wanted to avoid looking into her eyes or whether he was really that enticed. Couldn't even guess.
As softly as she could, eager not to let it seem as if she wanted to force him to do anything - a thought that was absurd to her, but Luke's subconscious perhaps still held this fear and she didn't want to risk ruining the moment - she turned his head and, he finally looked right into her eyes, insecure, yet not really afraid. At least she thought so.
Pushing all fears and doubts away, she leaned forward and touched his lips with hers, softly at first, tasting the faint trace of the seawater's salt on them. It made her want more, but she paused, even if but for a second.
Luke was surprised, she could see that, could feel, for the smallest moment possible, his impulse to back away, but he squashed it and leaned in closer.
Encouraged, she cupped his cheek, feeling the heat of a slight blush in them and pressed her lips at his again. She was delighted when he reacted to her kiss, when she felt his tongue dart into her mouth and circle hers, when she felt him lick at her lips, trail her teeth.
How she had missed his taste - seawater and ksava-fruit mixed with his very own. It was elating, euphoric almost, and she pushed him to the ground, clinging to him, letting herself be embraced by his strong arms.
At first, this embrace seemed to be a little helpless. When she extended her kisses, though, splattering them on his cheekbones, his nose and his eyelids, she could feel him relax.
She returned to assaulting his lips, this time more ferociously than tender and grinned when she felt him getting more determined in return. Her hands roamed freely through his hair - she liked his as much as he loved hers, no doubt.
Mara almost sighed with disappointment when she had to come up for air, but used the moment to take a look at her husband. Luke gazed up at her, a little shaken and panting, his full lips red from her kisses.
Mara already wanted to rise, having the desperate feeling she had done too much too soon, when he whispered: "I love you, Mara."
For a moment, she was too stunned to reply, having expected a shy remark or a frantic scramble to safety, then she laughed shortly and leaned back down to claim him with a possessive kiss.
This time, Luke wasn't surprised and pulled her closer with determination, caressing her hair as she did his, enjoying her sweet taste and the way she wrestled with his tongue. This was a nice, little play between them, had always been and he was shocked that he had forgotten how much he had loved it.
He lost track of time, was only aware of the moves of Mara's soft lips against his, her lithe, warm body so close and her hands that caressed his face.
Mara, for her part, experienced the same, and if it was possible, was happier than he, feeling that Luke was back. Fully, totally.
Confident now, she let her right hand slide under his shirt and wander upwards, in search of what she knew to be one of Luke's most sensitive spots… and was astonished to be stopped by a large hand that grasped her wrist and halted her advances.
Flabbergasted, she lifted her head from her husband's face and stared down at him, afraid to see the dreaded expression in his eyes - afraid to once again see panic and fear get the better of him.
But this wasn't what his eyes held - she bit her lower lip, frowning slightly. "What's the matter, Luke? Too fast?" she asked, still a little out of breath.
He shook his head. "No…. no, just.. not here." He gestured around, blushing a little more, afraid to have embarrassed himself before her.
Mara grinned, then kissed the tip of his nose. "Right. Too much earth and too many bugs," she commented, snipping one annoying specimen of the latter race away that was about to battle its way up Luke's shoulder. "Wouldn't want them to bite any sensitive part," she added, smirking.
He laughed, obviously relieved, then rose and dragged her up with him. Arm in arm, they went over to the Codis and began the ride back to the farm.
*~~
Three hours later, still arm in arm, they were walking back to their bungalow, not particularly hurrying, but enjoying every second of it.
The path they took was framed by miles and miles of grass planes, the air was calm and warm and the quiet all around them let it seem as if they were the only people on the whole, wide planet.
Two people in love, as Mara thought happily, leaning her head on Luke's shoulder and putting her hand into the backside-bag of his pants.
Luke perched an eyebrow at her, his blue eyes twinkling mischievously: "No bag of your own, Jade?" "Don't like the feel, Skywalker?" she retorted, letting her fingers play a little, not bothering to look up for she could feel his shuddering immediately. He had more than one sensitive spot.
"Wouldn't say that," he murmured, hardening his hold around her delicate shoulders, a smile playing around his mouth. "Thought so," she chuckled softly.
After a while, half of the distance already behind them, Luke's voice cut through Mara's thoughts - or the pleasant absence of any thoughts except for how much she loved the man at her side.
"You know, you never told me how you were healed."
Mara stopped, staring at him in surprise: "What brought you to that NOW?"
Luke grinned bashfully, shrugging.
It was all he needed to get Mara to forgive him almost everything. She shook her head and smiled, punching him playfully on the shoulder, then swung her left arm around his slim waist.
"Nature healed me," she finally stated.
Her husband didn't reply anything to that and she could feel his puzzlement, the questions that formed in his mind.
"I went to Dathomir to ask Rell for help," she explained.
"Rell," he repeated slowly, dear remembrances of the curious old woman surfacing in his mind. "Rell is very special. And wise."
He could feel Mara nod: "Indeed, she is. She told me that only I knew the cure for my illness. I didn't understand what she meant at first, but after the vision, I understood. And was healed."
"The vision?" Luke echoed.
His wife nodded again: "I saw you. You on Dathomir. You were terribly injured - almost dead. But nature healed you. And it healed me after the vision - after I recognised what the vision meant, that is."
"Amazing," her husband whispered. After a few more steps, he stopped, turning to face her. "Back then, when this happened, I was aware that something special had occurred. Something with a deeper sense. But I didn't understand this sense at the time and filed it away in my head. For contemplation when I'd have time again - perhaps also more experience. But now... the implications, Mara...." he trailed off, shaking his head in wonderment.
She smiled at his awe, then continued for him: "There is a connection between the Jedi and nature. A connection far deeper than we thought. It's more than just feeling everything that lives - we can directly draw power from nature."
This time, he nodded, opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by a deep rumble. Startled, both of them looked around, for the first time noting the dark clouds that covered the sky and seeing the flashes that lighted the horizon far away.
The wind had picked up and judging by its velocity, the thunderstorm would be directly above them very soon.
"I think we should speed the whole thing up," Mara suggested, shivering slightly. The air had gone noticeably cooler. "Obviously, nature's not always on the side of the Jedi," Luke quipped, hastening his steps.
Mara snorted: "You know, Skywalker, if everything on you improves with the years, your humour does not." Luke clutched a hand over his heart in mock-hurt: "Mara! I'm wounded, I..!" A soft punch into his stomach silenced him. "Can it, Luke," she giggled.
All the quickening of their steps didn't save them from the rain that began pouring down. When they reached their bungalow, laughing and breathing hard after a dead-run, they were wet through to their bones. Exhausted, they stumbled into their living room, pausing and trying to catch some air.
A fire burnt in the chimney, warming the whole room and giving it a cosy, romantic feeling. "Wow. R2 is finally good for something," Mara said, giving R2 a snicker. The little droid whined indignantly and rolled out of the room, twittering his rage.
Mara laughed, then turned away from the astromech, looking at Luke who stood opposite of her. For quite a time, they just stood and looked at each other.
She found herself unable to tear her gaze away from him. She heard the rain pouring against the glass walls, saw the flickers of lightning, heard the rumble of thunder... but her heartbeat was almost louder as that. He was so beautiful.
"Is this place convenient, Master Skywalker?" she finally brought out, her throat dry, her voice raspy. Luke licked his lips, staring at her and whispered: "I think so."
This was the only incentive Mara needed. She crossed the distance between them, first kissing his lips with the same ferocity as back in the forest. Her hands slid along his shoulders, along his chest, and slowly unbuttoned the soaked shirt.
She loosened it, her kisses wandering along his jaw line, down his throat. Her lips rested at the small place just under this, her tongue licking softly. She knew he loved this and was rewarded by a low moan of pleasure.
"Mara..." he whispered. She didn't reply, determined to be stopped only bodily. She had wanted this for too long, had wanted this too bad to stop now because she THOUGHT he was PERHAPS insecure.
She felt her love shiver as the wet cloth slid off him, making goose bumps appear on his lightly tanned skin. Her hands roamed over his smooth chest, brushing over nipples she felt harden at her touch.
Smiling to herself, she let her kisses travel down further, encircling his nipples with her tongue, then dedicated quite a time to his stomach and navel. She felt him tremble and when Mara drew him closer to her, could feel the hardness in his pants.
"No shyness anymore," she whispered - half question, half statement. His breathing was laboured; his eyes had darkened with desire and his tongue lashed out over suddenly dry lips.
"No, I..." he began, but was cut off by Mara's finger which she laid onto his lips. "Don't talk, show," she whispered, pushing herself against his lower body, satisfied to hear his breathing quicken even more.
It was almost palpable for her how he pushed all his fears, his doubts, and his embarrassment out of the way. Before she could have uttered another word, he pressed her to himself, kissing every spot of her face he could get a hold of. While he finally stopped at her earlobe, taking it into his mouth and sucking and biting softly, she could feel him tear away her own shirt.
'I know YOUR sensitive spots as well as you know mine.' His husky voice whispered in her mind and he proved it immediately, abandoning her ear and attacking the base of her skull with his tongue.
She shivered and panted audibly when his hands slid down her body, cupping her breasts and caressing around her nipples through the silky fabric of her bra.
Burying her face in his chest, smelling his sweat, hearing his heart beat wildly, she also let her hands fall away from his hips, down to his behind, cupping it firmly, being a little rougher than he was to her. Another moan escaped him, this time louder and obviously pleased. Wanting to torture him a little longer, she took one of his nipples into her mouth and teased him with her tongue.
He pushed his lower body against hers, allowing no misunderstandings that he wanted what they were doing now.
He underlined it further by finally ripping her bra off her and taking one of her breast into his mouth, working wonders on her.
Luke lifted her higher to have easier access to her and Mara leaned her cheek on his shoulder, panting. "Luke," she whispered, following a droplet of sweat with her eyes. It made its way down between his shoulder blades to the small of his back, following the outlines of shifting muscles under smooth skin.
Impatiently, she fingered his pants, unbuttoning them after throwing his belt far away. He let her down on the floor, groaning when she ripped his trousers off, then his underwear and paid her back with doing the same for her.
Mara pushed him to the floor, onto his back, and lay down onto him, ravishing his whole chest and stomach with her tongue, his taste and scent driving her crazy. Salt, sweat and his own unique one. Too long had she been denied this. Far too long.
She went farther down, spreading soft kisses along the insides of his thighs, carefully avoiding his erection. He groaned, burying his hands in her hair. "Mara, please," it almost sounded like begging, his voice dark with desire and lust.
Carefully moving up his body, making sure his aroused member was touched more than one time by her body, she lowered herself onto him - or rather, was lowered, for Luke pressed her to himself as if he wanted her to crawl into him.
They paused, relishing the moment of reunion after this trying a time for as long as possible, gazing into each other's eyes.
Gods, she thought, he was so beautiful this way. His chest was moving up and down with ragged breathing, his eyes were glittering and perspiration soaked strands of hair were clinging to his forehead. His lips were slightly parted.
"I love you," he said at last, mesmerised by her gorgeousness. Her locks were a deep brown through rain and sweat, her porcelain skin was flushed and her eyes dark like the sea just before a storm. Force, how he loved this woman. How he had missed her.
"I love you, too," she whispered back. Once again, their lips met in a kiss. This time, it was not ravishing, but tender and passionate. They began to move slowly, carefully, eager to not rush the experience, eager to cherish it as if it were the first time for both of them.
They were lost in each other's breathing, each other's heartbeat and at some point, the gentleness gave way to passion. Both their moans and gasps became louder when Luke turned her onto her back, resting his weight partially on his elbows and quickening his pace, burying his face in her wet locks, his breath hot behind her ears.
"I love you," they both whispered again and again, Mara caressing his back, his behind, feeling his muscles shift, feeling the heat of his skin, the sweat.
She felt herself reaching the peak, reached unconsciously towards her husband, feeling him reach back. He crushed his mouth on hers and their orgasmic cries were stifled to breathless moans while, for a moment that stretched into a wonderful little eternity, they were one in body and soul.
Only when Luke collapsed onto her, still panting, Mara began to slowly register her surroundings again. "I love you," she repeated. No matter how often she had already said it, she HAD to say it again. And again. And again.
Luke slid off her, sprawling on the rug in front of the chimney. "I know." It came out of the depth of his heart and for the first time since they had come here, Mara could hear that he believed it. Believed it with all his soul.
She crawled up to him and rested her head on his chest, drawing circles around his navel while he caressed her shoulder. They didn't say more, it was not needed. They just lay there, watching as the rain poured, the lightning flickered, listening as the thunder rumbled. And letting the flames dry their sweat.
At this very moment, everything was fine. There was no hurt, no anger, and no fear. There was only peace and love.
| To Be Continued | - Next Chapter NC-17