Kam Solusar finished placing his patient into a healing trance and watched as his fellow Jedi, the healer Cilghal, did the same. He sighed deeply. He was tired - they were all tired. It had been quite a hectic few weeks, but things were slowing down. Finally, they were turning the tide.

"What is it?" The Calamarian Jedi looked at Kam curiously through huge, round all-seeing eyes.

"It's Luke. He's coming here and his presence in the Force has been damaged."

"Damaged! You're certain of this? I felt his presence when we arrived, but wasn't aware of his distress. Is Mara Jade with him?"

"Of course." Kam picked up some dressings and moved to clear a bed. "Mara Jade is close to him, and was very aware of his impending distress. She's the reason for us being here after all, and we owe her our thanks."

Cilghal nodded thoughtfully. "I felt her presence touch us not long ago."

"Somehow, Mara knew Luke would need us here. She knew he would need her, even if he didn't. We'd better prepare a bed." He cocked his head to one side as if listening to something. "Mara is on her way with him. He's unconscious, has burns all over his body, and she thinks he has a badly sprained ankle as well as concussion. She's broadcasting to any Force sentient who will listen."

"How did he get himself into that kind of trouble? I don't know if we have enough Bacta."

"We don't."

"We need more supplies, however for the first time in days, this unit is empty. So we've plenty beds."

"I'll contact the special Senate disaster Committee straight away, although I think Councillor Organa Solo has things in hand. As acting head of the Yavin Facility, I have the political clout, wouldn't you say? They'll see that we get an emergency batch. It's not quite as urgent as it was, but Luke should surely qualify as an emergency, don't you think?"

"I would agree, especially as Luke has invested so much of his time and effort helping the people. Supplies will be in short supply for some time and we will have to depend on foreign aid. It's the way of such disasters. We must help until the people can help themselves." Cilghal grimaced, the words coming from her mouth sounded so trite, but they were true. The Jedi healers had been instrumental in organising aid to the stricken planet. Organising it and making sure it kept on coming. She glanced at Kam, pleased that he had become a capable leader in such a tragic time.

Cilghal's fin-like hands were graceful as she prepared salve to help cool burning flesh. "Do you know how the Master knew the volcano was ready to blow?"

"Apparently it was a vision, while in a healing trance. Because he was on Coruscant he had access to planetary records and he was able to discover the identity of the planet. So he was in the right place at the right time, and the Force drew him to the suffering of the people. Mara Jade is right about the Jedi. Luke, or Master Skywalker, as he deserves to be called more than ever, didn’t rejuvenate the Jedi order for us to become isolationists on a jungle moon."

Cilghal smiled. "Mara Jades’ words?"

"Who else." Kam retorted, sharing her amusement.

"She will become a great Jedi."

"She will, when she accepts the Force as her true destiny."

"I think she already has."

"You could be right there." They shared another small smile. "It’s up to the Master."

Cilghal’s smile widened, her large luminous eyes wise to the frailties of individuals. "No, it’s up to Mara Jade."

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

A group of men rushed in through the makeshift building's entrance, carrying a small child. "The Jedi Master rescued her, but got injured in the process. She's not badly hurt, but suffering from malnutrition, shock and a few burns. Master Skywalker looks far more serious."

Kam nodded calmly, while Cilghal took the child and transferred her into the arms of a passing medic. The child never stirred. "We know. Where is he?"

"You know?"

"Mara Jade has already been in contact."

"Ah, the flame haired woman. She is Jedi? Then all must be clear. She is bringing him in her landspeeder. He collapsed at the scene and we think he inhaled a lot of the poisonous gases."

Cilghal sighed softly. "I'll get the medical droid. He wasn't wearing a breathing mask, I suppose?"

"The child panicked whenever one of us approached. The Master suggested he try to coax her to him without one. It was our final solution; we'd tried everything else. He was breathing in the poisons for a long time."

There was a commotion at the entrance to the facility, and Mara's voice could be heard angrily demanding something. "Get him inside - quickly now and careful."

Two medics carried the unconscious form of the Jedi Master into the hospital, with Mara hot on their heels. Kam gave Cilghal a look.

"I'm not leaving him. So if you're going to treat him, you do it with me present." The redheaded woman folded her arms mutinously across her chest and dared the other Jedi to argue with her.

"Don't you think…?"

"I'm not leaving him." Mara's chin firmed obstinately as several medical orderlies ran past them and loaded Luke onto a trolley. Mara pushed past Cilgahl and followed the medics until the operating theatre doors formed a barrier.

"Mara…." Kam gave chase.

"I'm sorry, you cannot come in here. Medical personnel only." The Medic squawked in surprise as Mara grabbed him by the collar of his coat.

"Listen, you scum-sucking son of a wampa…"

"Mara!" Kam stopped to yell in frustration. This was not the behaviour of a Jedi. She wasn't thinking - she was reacting. He legged it after her, before she did real damage.

She felt herself pulled roughly from behind. Mara's saber arced into her hand as she turned, ready to defend Luke. The emotionless face of Kam Solusar stared at her. "Let him go, Mara. You need to let the medics do their work."

She blushed in silent shame - one hand was still gripping the medic's overall and slowly she let the nervous man go. He'd honestly thought the madwoman would do him harm. "I apologise," Mara murmured softly to both men. "I want… Oh spit. Look, I'm… Oh sith!" Her ability to articulate clearly departed, just as many of her more rational thought processes had done recently, especially when in the presence of Luke Skywalker. The medic gibbered something and vanished into the theatre after Luke's unconscious body.

"You can watch from the observation gallery." Cilghal's voice was calm and reassuring. Just what Mara needed.

"I can? Thank you," she whispered.

Kam nodded his head and Cilghal ushered Mara to a chair, where she subsided into it on suddenly shaky legs. 'He was alive - she had found him. Mara sat in the corner of the room, silently - but with green eyes fixed on the motionless form of the Jedi Master. The medics and the 2-1B droid bustled about, but Luke never moved.

Eventually, the emotional strain took its toll on Mara and her bright head drooped in sleep. Kam gave the exhausted girl a sympathetic glance while he covered her with a blanket. Luke would be fine; he just needed to have his blood cleansed of the toxins, plenty of rest to counteract his sleep deprivation and nutrients to build up his wasted frame. Kam was concerned at the amount of weight Luke had lost. His ankle would need a bacta wrap, but they had none left. The ancient art of Jedi healing would therefore be invoked. That and a splint of some description.

Kam marvelled that the man still gave with everything that was in him, without expecting reward. Luke would have given his life for these people if the Force had willed it and what that might have done to Mara Jade didn't bear thinking about. The 2-1B droid looked through the transparisteel partition. "We are finished, Jedi Solusar. We have done for Master Skywalker what we can. His lungs will need a day or two to recover as he breathed in some nutrients that were not essential for a member of the human species, we are running his blood through the filter to cleanse it. Unfortunately, without bacta, he will have to recover the old-fashioned way. He has been sedated otherwise I suspect he would continue to ill-use his person."

"Many thanks, Doctor. We will transfer him to a quiet room to recover."

"His companion. Is she in need of medical assistance?" The medical droid observed Mara Jade asleep.

Kam shook his head. "No."

"As you wish. Now I must check on our other patients. Good day, Jedi Solusar."

Kam moved towards Mara, stretching out his hand to awaken her.

"Leave her to sleep." Cilghal voiced quietly. "Waking her up now would do neither of them any good. He worries about her too."

"You're correct." Kam turned to see Luke's trolley being wheeled out of the theatre. "It's strange that Luke should be treated here - symbolic in a way. We've nearly finished our work amongst the worst of the casualties. The reports indicate only the dead are being brought out now. Sad for the people, but time to pick up the pieces and move forward. Greoa has been wounded but is recovering. We have many lessons to take back to Yavin with us. The rebuilding programme is extensive and urgent. Perhaps some of our less experienced Jedi trainees might benefit from the work, now that the real danger is past. "

"True - a good idea, but I don't think the Master is ready to return with us."

"No, I suppose not. Much will depend on…." He waved his hand towards Mara, who oblivious to all, slept on.

Cilghal gave Mara a curious look. "Do you think the rumours about them are true?"

Kam ran his hand through his cropped grey hair and considered his words carefully. "You know I don't like to gossip about the Master and Mara would kill you if you did so about her. Both of them are very private individuals. They are close, that much is clear and it's not good for someone to be so alone." He looked a little uncomfortable. "I'm talking about Luke, here. He has shut himself off from all of us lately and although we would do anything for him, I'm certain it's not 'us' that he needs. There is a strong connection between them in the Force, they work well together and I have a feeling…" He let his voice trail off.

"What?"

"They would probably both deny it, but yes, I think the rumours are perhaps not yet true, but will become so."

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

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

Greoa Prime had turned the corner. The Government had pulled together and with help from the New Republic was beginning to walk the slow road to recovery. Memorials for the dead had been said and built, along with new habitation complexes in areas known to be safe. A new Greoa City would rise from the ashes close, but not too close to the old one. They would never forget their dead, but where they could, the people were trying to recover.

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

Luke wondered why he felt so strange. His head felt as if he was cocooned within an incredibly thick blanket and his aching limbs were heavy. Lifting his head brought an attack of dizziness.

"Hey, don't move."

Luke tried to sit up, his eyes flickering open. The light was too bright and he squinted upwards. Something moved in front of his blurred vision, and he blinked to clear it.

"I told you to stay still. Lie back down." The voice was soft and familiar. A tender hand touched his cheek in a gentle caress. Awareness flooded his being, as he recognised her presence. He hadn't dreamt her; she was real - vital and alive. "Don't you ever do anything you're told?" her voice admonished mildly.

"Mara?" His voice came out barely louder than a whisper and he opened his eyes a little wider. Her hand on his cheek stilled and her gaze met his. Bewildered blue met hopeful, sparkling green. Luke swallowed, his throat dry. Were there really tears in her eyes? Was she crying because of him?

"Here", she moved away and Luke tried to protest. It came out as an awkward croak. "Ssh! It's okay," Mara soothed. "Drink this. It should help." She brought a beaker to his dry lips and he gulped thirstily at the water. His throat felt like the inside of the sarlacc pit. He swallowed too much and a little of the fluid went down the wrong way. "Hey, slow down, flyboy. You'll make yourself sick and then I'll have the medical droid and Cilghal onto me. Carefully now." She lowered his head back on to the pillow. "Now, get some rest."

Mara's heart melted the moment Luke opened his eyes. The bond between them was stronger than she'd thought; her life had little value without him. The poignancy of the moment was not lost on her. She was sitting at his side where she wanted to be. Her eyes filled with tears and she blinked quickly to dispel the image. She couldn't have Luke think she was crying over him. He'd think he was dead. Her lips quivered at the thought, but he was here, not quite in her arms, but he was alive.

"Mara?" Luke's drowsy voice sent little tendrils of something sweet into her heart. "Why are you here?"

"You needed me, so I came. You know you get into trouble without me."

"I do not." But the protest was weak.

Mara shook her head, amused at how much like a little boy he sounded. He didn't make love like a boy. She wondered how she could have been so foolish as to imagine Luke would hold her in thrall like the Emperor would have. Luke didn't need to exert power over people. They gave him their loyalty and most of the time he was ignorant of it. He wasn't above a little manipulation now and again, but he was a man. Mara's face flamed a little; there was no denying that.

"You made me a promise, Luke. You said, that if I needed you, you would come, wherever I was, whatever I was doing. If I needed you, you would come. I find the promise works in return. I can't ignore your call. I never could. Very few people would make an oath of that magnitude, but you would. This is nothing to do with debts, or credit and debits. This is about trust and friendship. I feel that I have both and I give you mine in return."

His eyes widened at her words and he attempted to say something. She had the impression that she'd hurt him a little, but she'd given him the highest honour she had in her to bestow. He already had her love, which had been granted to him a little unwillingly. Mara shook her head. "I've told you this already. Get some rest," she instructed firmly, restraining the urge to ruffle his hair. There was a nasty bump in there somewhere. "We didn't have enough bacta, so you're having to do a little natural healing."

"You could put me in a healing trance." His voice was barely a whisper.

"I could?"

Luke nodded, his eyelids beginning to droop, but stubbornly he tried to keep them open. If he closed them she might not be there when he opened them again. That was what had happened the last time. He'd fallen asleep with her in his arms and he'd awoken alone. He couldn't bear to have that happen again.

"Sure, I could." She smiled at him. "Close your eyes then."

"Don't leave me," he pleaded quietly. "Last time I closed my eyes, you had gone when I opened them again."

Mara's eyes darkened at the loneliness she heard in his voice. "I won't - you know I won't. Now for the last time, Skywalker. Close your eyes or I will start to get annoyed."

Trustingly, like a child, he did and Mara began to reach into the Force, ready to put him into the healing trance, but stopped as his eyes snapped open. "I'm not ten," he murmured, a spark of something mischievous lighting the blue orbs.

"Luke," she drawled warningly.

He wriggled an arm out from underneath the bedclothes and crooked his little finger. "Mara," he whispered and muttered something she failed to catch. Bringing her head nearer, she let out a little gasp when his hand caught her chin and pulled her face to his. Before she could protest, his lips covered hers like a man starving. Her mouth opened and his tongue darted in to caress hers in seductive exploration. Mara's eyelids fluttered close and she just let herself feel. The kiss deepened until Mara, her head spinning, knew she wanted more than just his lips on hers, but cognisant of the real state of Luke's health, she reluctantly brought the kiss to a close. Blue eyes met green eyes full of an attraction they could no longer deny.

"Mara, I…"

"Healing trance, farmboy."

Mara sat beside him as he slipped deep into sleep, finally giving in to the stresses and strains he'd been under since he'd arrived on the planet. His presence in the Force muted and faded. Leaning over him once more she placed a kiss on his forehead. "Rest, Skywalker and yes, I know."

Kam Solusar stood at the open doorway and caught the last part of Mara's cryptic statement, plus the gentle salute to his brow. Grinning, he crept away and headed to check on any of the patients who really needed him at that point. Luke and Mara were fine, for the moment.

He returned half an hour later to check on them and found Mara curled up beside Luke, her arm curved around his waist. Her face, in repose, held all the tender promise of awakening love. On Mara Jade, it was beautiful.

There was a tremor in the Force. Kam watched, startled as the shimmering blue figure of a woman appeared and seemed to smile on the resting pair. The figure was dressed in the traditional garb of a Jedi, but he knew without question, that this woman was long gone from life. The image, as fickle as that of a hologram, faded gradually from view. Kam pondered on the vision he'd been granted. There had been no evil intent - no overtones of the dark side. He'd gained the impression that the spirit had been happy, the sensation of recognition arriving to him at the same time. Once, long ago, he'd seen that woman before - before the dark times, before the Empire.

The late afternoon sun filtered through the small windows set high in the prefabricated hospital building. Mara curved herself closer into Luke's side. He was warm and Mara moved her head seeking the bare skin at his neck. The unwillingness to open her eyes stemmed from the fact she was with Luke and while she was lying here, everything was okay. Her eyes snapped open. Something, she amended that, someone was in the room with them. Her hand moved slowly to where her saber hung from her belt. Whatever happened, she must protect Luke.

Mara's eyes focused on a shimmering figure standing at the foot of the bed. Pushing herself upright she stole a quick glance at Luke, but he was still deep in his healing trance. Mara stared curiously at the figure. The woman was dressed in the garb of a Jedi, but her old-fashioned hairstyle was one popular during the height of the Old Republic. Mara felt caught, strangely defensive and a little embarrassed. Slowly, she swung her legs around and placed them on the floor, and bending down; she retrieved her black knee length boots and pulled them on.

Green eyes met green eyes.

"And you are?" Mara's chin tilted at the defiant attitude with which she faced the world at large.

"You know who I am," the vision said patiently.

"I do?" Mara's tone turned sarcastic. "Then I'm the lucky one."

Mara groaned. "Oh, not that old chak root. Sith, you sound like him." She waved an airy hand towards Luke's recumbent figure. "You are saying you’re my 'Mother', I take it?" The words came out low and bitter. Mara couldn't help it. She didn't blame her parents for what had happened to her, others had had it far worse. Luke, for instance. Still, part of her resented that the woman in front of her had been unable to stop the Emperor from taking her. Part of her longed to have known a normal childhood.

"Bitter and twisted?"

Mara caught a slight smile flicker across the spirit's beautiful face. "No - a Jedi Knight of a rare and true calibre."

Mara dropped her head in apology. "I'm sorry." She cursed her vicious tongue. She'd nearly driven Luke away from her with it - or at least she'd tried to. Mara gave him a quick darting glance from the corner of her eye. If he were standing with her, would he still want her?

The woman watched Mara carefully, a look of understanding on her face. "You've had a lot to contend with recently. I do understand. I've suffered many hours of soul searching myself."

Mara's green eyes darkened with remembered pain as again she heard Luke's words. 'I gave you my soul that night.'

"It's been a big step for you to take. Belief is just along the path from imagination and taking that final step along the worn way to the Jedi ideal is not easy. You will doubt and despair, but you are strong. I could never have hoped for you to be as you are. The Force kept your heart pure and true - for that I give many thanks." The spirit's eyes seemed to be full of moisture.

Mara shrugged, her expression non-committal. "I am what my life has made me and yes, it's been hard. I know hearing things is part of a Jedi's existence and I've had my fair share of voices in my head. Including…." her voice darkened, "Palpatine. Couldn't you have picked another way?"

The spirit sighed and held out her hands in appeal. "I didn't have the strength. It was only when you made the connection with the young Master that I was able to return from the void. Only the two of you together have the power to send me back. It's good to finally see you with him. I was doomed to never undertake the journey because I lost you," Her voice grew fainter. "May the Force be with you."

Mara moved towards the woman and watched as the vision faded from her sight.

"But who am I?" Mara asked. "Please tell me that. Who am I?"

Her mother's face grew more transparent. "Anyone you want to be. Forge your own destiny, my daughter. I love you." Finally, she disappeared completely.

"What kind of an answer was that?" Mara snarled into the nothingness, but she was alone, apart from Luke, still motionless in his healing trance. Mara crossed to the bed and sank down into the chair next to it. "I blew it, Luke," she whispered, clutching at his hand like a lifeline. "The voice we heard. It was my Mother's voice, but I snapped at her, drove her away, like I did you. It wasn't long enough to know who she was. When will I learn? I'm not worthy of the Jedi order - I'm not worthy of you." She put her head down on the bed and wept tears of genuine grief for the loss of the Mother she'd never had. The first inkling she had that she'd awakened Luke from his trance was a feather touch on her red-gold head. Fingers tangled in her wild hair, threading through it. With his touch she felt the love and tenderness surround every part of her. Luke hadn't said the actual words, but then again neither had she.

"Luke!" Her head lifted and her tearstained face gazed into the bright blue gaze of the Jedi Master. In all her years of knocking round the galaxy, she'd never seen anyone with eyes that clear colour. It was the sky above the sands of Tatooine, the seas on Chad during high summer, and the colour of the most precious Corusca gem - a pure glistening crystalline blue.

"Don't cry, I can't bear to see you cry." His hand lifted and with a gentle finger traced the path of the tears on her soft cheek. With his thumb he brushed her lips. Mara's mouth hung slightly open, soft and vulnerable like the velvety petals of a flower. As if drawn by some unknown power, Luke's hand curved into her hair and drew her mouth to his. It was like being burned, scorched by sheer passion. His mouth moving firmly on her parted lips. Too many sensations to count rushed through her at the moment of contact as every nerve ending pulsed with awareness. Pleasure rippled through her body at the gentle movement of his mouth upon hers. The kiss went on and on, and Mara felt dizzy by the time she needed to pause for breath.

Reluctantly, Luke pulled his lips from hers and closed his eyes in a prayer to the powers that let him experience so much feeling. Mara's parted lips seemed to draw him to her; they were soft, inviting and wet. He traced her beautiful features with tired eyes. Mara too had dark circles under her eyes. 'Probably worrying over me', he thought. Her glorious hair straggled untidily out of her thick braid, but to him, she'd never looked more beautiful; tearstains smudged over her soft, grimy cheek.

"Why don't you think you're worthy, Mara? Tell me." Luke shifted a little in the bed and pulled her down to lie beside him, curving her head into his shoulder. "Tell me, Mara. But before you start running yourself down, I want you to know that I won't allow you to do that, do you hear? The Force radiates within you; the light is there in your soul. Why the tears, Mara?"

It wasn't an order and somehow Mara found herself talking. "I saw an apparition."

"A person outlined in a blue shimmery light that you could see through - kinda transparent?"

"Yes," Mara blinked in surprise. "How did you know?"

"Obi Wan."

"Obi Wan what?"

Luke grinned and tucked her head firmly under his chin, which was difficult to do as he was under the covers and she was on top of them.

"Obi Wan used to appear to me. It was like a hologram message, but you knew the person was not of this life. Once when I was lost in a Hoth blizzard, another time on Dagobah. The weirdest was when I woke up and found him on the end of my flotation bed."

"Flotation bed! Where?"

"Medicentre on Home One after the battle of Endor." His voice was meek.

Mara twisted her head round to glare at him. "You end up in these places far too often for my peace of mind, Skywalker."

"Hey, what can I say? Now talk, Jade."

"This figure appeared and we talked," Mara said as she made herself comfortable under his chin again.

"Talked?"

"Well, I snapped at her, lost my temper a bit."

"A bit."

Mara twisted her head around again. "Yes, just a bit," her eyes shot laser bolts at him, then fell. "I tried to drive her away," she mumbled. "Like I tried to do to you."

"You'll never get rid of me, Jade. I'm your friend - remember? She'll understand."

"You think so?"

"I did. Didn't I?" Luke's voice turned a little flat and there was a subtle shifting between their Force bond. "Thanks for coming after me, by the way. I owe you one."

Mara sat up, exasperation etched on her features. "Luke." She drew his name out over several syllables in the way she'd perfected over the years. "You don't owe me anything. I told you. I was returning the honour you gave me with your trust and friendship. Genuine friends don't keep score." She picked up his real hand and rubbed it against her cheek. "I came because I wanted to - because I had to."

"Why did you have to come?" Luke sat up, his covers in disarray and stared straight into her eyes.

Mara's tongue moistened suddenly dry lips and Luke's eyes zeroed in on the tell tale movement "I came because…" she whispered. "I came because I lo…"

The door hissed open and Mara leapt off the bed, but Luke refused to let go her hand, so she was in the undignified position of trying to free herself from a very determined, fast recovering Jedi Master. Kam Solusar stood at the door, masking a grin.

"Let go, Skywalker," Mara gritted. "Or you'll need another new hand."

Luke immediately let go and watched with a wicked glint in his eye as Mara fought to control her balance. Kam chuckled, and Mara levelled at him one of her death glares.

"You're looking better, Master Skywalker."

Luke grinned, "Feeling better too, but forget the Master Skywalker stuff. Just call me Luke, for Sith's sake. It's great what twenty-two hours in a healing trance can do for you."

Mara snorted. "Try forty-four hours in a healing trance, farmboy."

Luke lay back, his arms behind his head. "So I lost a day."

Kam turned to Mara. "There's a message for you from Coruscant and Luke, you still need to rest."

"I've been resting for forty-four hours," he protested.

"Maybe so, but according to those in the know, you didn't sleep at all, or rest, for over an entire week. Our chief Jedi Medical Officer, Cilghal, insists on it. Have you ever seen a Mon Calamari mad?"

Mara shook her head and sighed. "No, I don't think he has, but he's seen me really mad, and I'm more frightening."

"Okay," Luke gave in with surprising swiftness and Mara raised an eyebrow in Kam's direction. What was the wily Jedi Master up to? She watched as he obediently closed his eyes and within minutes, Luke was fast asleep.

"Well," she muttered.

"He's a lot better," Kam commented thoughtfully.

"Yeah, nearly well enough to argue," she mumbled irritably. "But it shows how unwell he's really been. Nothing would keep Luke Skywalker in that bed if he were all right."

'Not even you?', thought Kam to himself.

"My message?"

"In the temporary Comm Centre. It's this way. It's from Councillor Organa Solo."

"Checking up on him."

"We kept the holo-reporters out of this. They think Luke is resting, not hurt. He's not seriously hurt after all."

Mara stopped and faced Kam in the narrow corridor. "He could have been. Luke was very lucky. He collapsed because he had no strength left. He went without sleep and often without food while helping here. He'd nothing left to fight with. The man was completely exhausted. All right, he wasn't hurt in a saber fight or battling a dark Jedi, but he was still killing himself. If he’d been any longer in that atmosphere without a breathing mask he would have been dead for sure."

"It's good he has you to look out for him, Jade. He needs a friend," Kam told her succinctly.

Mara gave him a hunted look from wary green eyes and vanished into the Comm centre.

The place was deserted as Mara tapped into the codes to return the call. She didn't have to wait long before Leia's worried face appeared on the screen. "Mara, is he okay?"

"Sure, a bang on the head, a sprained ankle, a lungful of poisonous fumes, no sleep for a week and not enough rations. Yeah, he's fine. All situations normal."

"You being ironic, Mara?"

Mara's face softened and the worry lines smoothed from her brow. "He's fine. Exactly as I told you. In fact, he's sleeping this very minute. He has a hard head - shouldn't addle his wits more than they're currently addled."

"What did you do - knock him out?"

"No, I just threatened him and he gave in."

Leia’s face paled. "That bad, huh?"

"He's your brother and Skywalker stubbornness seems to go more with the male gene pool."

Han's face peered over his wife's shoulder. "I heard that. If you want stubborn, have you met the female Skywalker twin?"

"I believe I have. Listen, he's going to be fine. I’ll keep a close eye on him and see he doesn’t do anything stupid."

Han put one hand on Leia’s shoulder and leaned in as close to the monitor as he could get. "Don’t you do anything stupid either, Jade." His eyes for once were serious.

"Was he pleased to see you?" Leia asked.

Mara’s eyes darted nervously away for a moment before returning to face Luke’s sister. "I think so. Thought he was seeing things for a while."

"Don’t run out on him this time, Jade," Han warned. "Look what a mess he got himself into."

"Han, shush!" Leia murmured. "Just tell him I love him, and I want to see him home as soon as he’s fit to travel. Oh, and Mara… Look after him."

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

Mara returned to the Skipray to check on the emergency medpac in the small craft. She might have a bacta wrap there. It would help with Luke's ankle. Most of his burns had healed, but she still had some synth-flesh to spare. Might as well donate it to the hospital. Moving into the tiny cabin, Mara collapsed tiredly on the bunk. Sifting through her memories, she tried to build a picture of her mother. They hadn't shared much in appearance, her eyes had been the same -that clear strong green and perhaps something in the curve of her face and the copper glint in her hair. Her mother's hair had been more brown than red.

Perhaps Luke would help her search. She'd thought that she didn't need her background, but perhaps she did after all. Her mother had, after all, been a Jedi and there was comfort in that. Maybe Luke was right, and she had the strength necessary to complete her training.

Sitting up, she surveyed her person. A shower and a change of clothes would be a good idea before she returned to check on farmboy. He was down at the moment, but Mara held no illusions about him. That deceptively innocent expression was hatching plots and when he was well enough, he would spring them on her.

Standing under the shower, she ran her fingers down her body, her breasts growing heavy as she remembered the care Luke had given them, until they had sprung proud and throbbing. She moved restlessly as an ache began to throb between her thighs. "Luke!" she moaned, her eyes shut. The sensations began to build - they were so powerful. That one night had ruined her for any other man for ever. 'But you enjoyed it every moment of it,' her own taunting little voice crowed jubilantly. 'Who would have thought the saintly Jedi was so good in the bedroll?' Mara grabbed a handful of cleaning solution and tried to rub his touch from her body. 'You knew what it would be like with him, deep down you always knew.'

Enough of this, she told herself and flicked the switch to cold and the water jerked her back to reality.

Pulling out a long dark green tunic, she dressed quickly, all the time trying to forget Luke making love to her. But the longer she spent near him, the more she thought about it. The tunic hugged her curves faithfully, a tight upper bodice and a wide skirt over her sturdy knee length boots. Brushing out her hair, she left it loose to dry and it rippled down her back in a sea of red-gold waves. She could feel Luke's restlessness return as he turned and agitated in his sleep.

"It's okay, I'm still here," she soothed, reaching him through their Force link.

"Mara!" The comlink she'd pinned to her throat went off and Kam's voice was heard clearly.

"Yes," she answered.

"Luke's calling for you. He's still sleeping, but seems to be very restless."

"I know. I can feel it. I'm coming to check on him and I've found a spare bacta wrap."

"Good."

Mara left her ministrations and made her way quickly back to the hospital. She could feel Luke's presence with her and hurried towards the warmth she felt.

"Mara," Kam's voice called from the office he shared with Cilghal. "Can I talk to you for a moment?"

Biting down a sharp retort, Mara stalked gracefully into the small room. "What?"

"You know my career as a Jedi has covered a lot of ground, shall we say."

"You were trained by your father, had a brush with the darkside and I know Luke brought you back to the light. So?"

"Luke was brought up in isolation on Tatooine and you belonged to Palpatine. Why would Mirahn appear to you and Luke?"

Mara's heart froze in shock. Opening her mouth she tried to say something, anything to hide the fact that that one word had knocked the stuffing from her. Her mouth opened and closed, her pulse sounded loud in her ears and all the colour drained from her face. Kam leapt to his feet and guided her to a chair.

"Mirahn!" She managed to stutter out the word. "Mirahn..." She looked up into Kam's proud face. "That's her name?" She wet her dry lips.

Kam peered worriedly at Mara; he'd never seen her hit this hard by anything.

"Can I have a drink of water, please?" Mara asked shakily.

Kam poured a generous amount into a tumbler. "Wouldn't you like something stronger?"

"No," she whispered. "Water's fine."

She looked up urgently. "Are you sure that was her name?"

"Pretty much. I only saw her a few times. And I was only a boy at the time, but she had a unique signature in the Force - all the Jedi do. She was kind to me, that's all I remember. She was someone who fed me sweet things if I attended the temple with my father. He was a Master. His name was Ranik." Kam kept his voice low and even, hoping it would prove to be calming.

Mara reached for the centre of her focus. "Mirahn," she repeated wildly and tried to peel away the twisted layers in her brain. But nothing came - no visions, no memories - nothing. "Why can't I remember her? Why?"

Kam shook his grey head regretfully. Mara had curled into herself, her shoulders heaving, in an effort to regain her control.

"Ssh." The arms surrounding her were safe and strong. "Ssh, it's going to be okay." Mara realised with a shock that Luke was there in the small room and had bundled her into his embrace. He lifted cold hard eyes towards Kam. "What did you say to her? What made her react like this?"

"I asked her why Mirahn should appear to you both?" Kam's eyes were grey and bewildered.

Luke turned to the shaking woman in his arms. "What's this, sweetheart?" He kissed her brow, uncaring that Kam should see him and possibly draw conclusions about the nature of their liaison. "Who's Mirahn?"

Mara took a deep shuddering breath and raised stricken eyes to Luke's face. "I think that's my mother's name, Luke. But I tried to remember her," she cried brokenly. "I searched my memories and I found nothing. I thought I would be satisfied with that, but I'm not. That monster who raised me took away my memories of my family and now I have no one."

"You have me, Mara. You'll always have me."

Kam Solusar stood silently watching the sun gradually sink over the crater's rim. The once proud city had been levelled to nothing but charred ruins and lumps of misshapen masonry. The last of the fires had burnt themselves out a few days ago indicating the planet's beast had now returned to a somnolent state. It had been reminiscent of a long burning funeral pyre for the many that had tragically lost their lives. Something new would rise in its place. The ground was fertile and in time people would forget.

Kam clasped his hands loosely behind his back, his mind troubled. He had been so lucky. His father had been a great man, but Darth Vader had killed him during the purges and Kam's faith in the light of the Force hadn't been strong enough to sustain him during those dark times. Until, he thought thankfully, the dawning of the new era. The rise of the 'Skywalker dynasty' as news pundits often referred to it, when speaking of Luke and Leia. 'Thank the Force for the Skywalkers.' A lot of people would be in poorer circumstances without them.

Behind him, he heard Luke continue to comfort the distraught Mara Jade. Kam had been amazed at the emotion pouring from her Force sense. She'd been so closed in before - tighter than a Hapan Battle Dragon. Her green eyes had made sure you kept your distance, the bitter blaze warning you of things long suppressed, things that would be best if you never learned about them. Mara Jade held secrets in those eyes.

There were some individuals in the New Republic hierarchy who would like to see Mara Jade imprisoned for what they saw as her role in Palpatine's Empire, but Kam knew she was as much a victim as he himself had been. He was lucky in that he had memories of his mother and father, even in the dark times. He had spoken the truth. Mirahn had been kind to him in a time when public feeling against the Jedi had been high. She had been one of his kind, a Jedi in the temple. Still she had time for a small boy and then, not many people had. He frowned, screwing his forehead into a mass of lines and furrows. It was no use, he couldn't remember very much. Nonetheless, he had memories of Mara Jade's mother, and she had none.

Unwillingly, he glanced around, feeling like a voyeur as he watched his Master hold Mara Jade close and offer her solace. Luke had thrown on his tunic pants and rushed to find Mara as soon as he'd become aware of her distress. The Jedi Master's muscular chest was bare, still adorned with multiple strips of synth-flesh and bandages, their pristine whiteness in contrast with Luke's ever-present tan. Kam came to the conclusion that Luke had been very lucky - again.

Mara seemed small and vulnerable in his arms. Kam was surprised how petite she was as Luke kissed her eyelids shut and whispered words he couldn't hear. Whatever Luke had said to her had done the trick. The girl with the red-gold hair had relaxed in his arms. Luke had reacted instantly to her need of him, as she had to his. Kam could feel their bond, shimmering like liquid fire around them. It was a powerful one. His Jedi colleague, Cilghal, was right. The presences of the two were so strongly intertwined that it was difficult, if not near impossible to separate one from the other. To him, at that moment, they felt like a single being.

He walked carefully into the corridor to give them a little more privacy, but they didn't seem to notice. The intimacy he sensed between them was not new. Luke's arms circled Mara not with the awkwardness of the new lover but with the familiarity of the old. So, in a way, he had been wrong. The rumours about them had been true, their relationship well beyond what he had thought it had been, and he was glad.

Kam cast his mind back to days he'd long tried to forget. It was common knowledge among the Jedi community that Mara Jade was ignorant of her origins, but it figured that one of her parents must have been a Jedi and a powerful one. Mara's presence in the force was nearly Luke's equal - even if she didn’t think that herself. He hadn't known Mirahn well, hadn't known she'd had a child. But she must have been a young woman while he was at the temple. They'd all fled, his father cut down by the dark Lord of the Sith, Mirahn had…. Something teased at his memory. There had been something about her. Something unexpected had happened - a scandal! He tried to remember, but it was possible he hadn't known what it was. They'd had little time to absorb what was happening to them. They'd been too busy saving themselves, trying to hide. Mirahn had died needlessly, of that he was sure… and her daughter. It felt strange to think of Mara Jade as a daughter, but she'd never known the love of a mother, nor of a father. He owed it to the memory of Mirahn to find out - and to Mara too.

Inside the tiny office, Mara had stopped thinking ages ago; she only felt. Luke's arms surrounded her slender form and in her distress, they had become a safe haven. It had been a long time since they had held each other. He made her body quiver and she made his clench with need. His mouth lowered to hers and possessed her with a kiss of such aching sweetness that it was hardly a possession at all. Her whole body reacted with the quickness of fire, and she felt her blood begin to sing to him. Luke parted her lips with a gentle finger and she deftly kissed its tip, causing his groin to react with painful alacrity. His mouth smothered hers and for just a fraction of time he pretended to forget where they were. But any time spent kissing Mara Jade was enough to make his body hard and hungry for hers. Mara's arms smoothed over his naked chest and coiled themselves around his neck as she pressed her lithe form closer to Luke's need.

"Mara," Luke finally groaned against her mouth. "We have to stop this….. Kam..."

Mara stiffened and moved carefully away, her face scarlet and her body throbbing with sexual frustration. "Sith, farmboy, you should be in a bacta tank, and I'm ready to … to…" She blushed and looked away, horrified at herself.

Despite his body's discomfort, Luke grinned. "You're ready to what, green eyes?"

Mara's eyes flashed emerald fire. "You can hardly hold yourself upright and you're thinking about… about…. Skywalker!" Her voice rose as she sensed his need, and more importantly she tried to stifle her own.

"Can't blame a guy for trying." Luke offered cheekily, as he willed his body to return to normal. But despite his determinedly jaunty air, his eyes still looked tired, dark circles outlining the vivid blue, still bright in his pale face. He picked up her small hands and then sat staring at them as if he didn't know what to do. Kam chose that moment to return to his office.

The older Jedi took in the scene as the Jedi Master and his beautiful companion sat and stared at the other, holding hands, but saying nothing. Kam felt like a spare rocket-pack.

"I'm sorry I upset you, Mara. I didn't mean to," Kam said gently.

"I know." She didn't remove her gaze from Luke's. He squeezed her hands tightly before letting them go, and she turned to Kam with an unreadable expression. "Can you tell me anything about her?"

"I'm sorry, I can't. I was just a boy at the time and I only remembered her because she was kind to me, made me laugh and fed me sweet things. It was a time when there was little laughter among the Jedi. I'm going to meditate on it. If I remember anything more, I'll let you know." He held out a hand to her and she looked a little startled, but in essence, apart from Luke and his family, it was the first time that one of the Jedi had accepted her and offered her a hand in friendship. Her eyes closed briefly. Then with a little glance at Luke, she stretched out her own hand and clasped Kam's.

"Thank you," she whispered. "You've given me more than I ever had before, than I ever hoped I'd have."

"I'll take Mara back to her ship. She needs to sleep," Luke suddenly said.

"Fine," Kam murmured, recognising Luke's intent even if the Jedi Master did not. He coughed a little, embarrassed by his envy of the younger man. "I'll go and see if Cilghal has finished her rounds for the night."

Mara got to her feet and stumbled out of the room. Luke immediately arose and limped after her. But Kam put his arm out to stay the Jedi Master for a moment. "There's something about Mirahn, something important, but I can't remember. I don't want to upset Mara any more than I already have, but there was just…" He clenched his fist in frustration. If only he could remember…

"Don't worry. If it is meant to be, the memories will return. Thank you, Kam. I appreciate it. She'll be fine; she's the strongest person I know. You've given her somewhere to start, more than she's ever had in her life. Palpatine and his darkside evil did this to her. I don't know what I'd do to him if he were still alive. Anger, hate, aggression are the darkside and I'm teaching the Jedi to renounce such emotions. But as far as I'm concerned - I might not be able to control what I'd do to him for doing this to her."

Kam blinked. Luke's voice had darkened and so had his sense in the Force. Yes, he thought. Mara Jade is important to him. More important than any other woman, save his sister and even then, I would say that what links Luke Skywalker and Mara Jade together is stronger than the thickest slab of durasteel.

Kam shook his head as he watched Luke starting to follow Mara outside, his limping gait slowing him down as his ankle protested at such ill usage. Immediately able to sense he was in pain, Mara returned to his side and offered him a supportive arm.

"Should you really be up, Skywalker? I think you should be in that bed in there. I could get 21B to knock you out." Her voice was brisk, but Luke could tell that she still felt shaken by news of her mother's identity.

"I'm fine," he dismissed her words as he usually did and promptly stumbled as he tried to put his full weight on the offending limb.

"Lean on me, flyboy," Mara offered, her tone dry as she helped him towards the Skipray. Once they'd made their slow progress up the boarding ramp, she waved him to a seat and thrust a sealed packet in his face. "Look what I've found. The only spare bacta wrap on the whole planet."

Luke' s azure eyes lit up. "You'd better give that to Cilghal; she could probably use it."

"She probably could," Mara's tone mocked gently. "On you."

"Hell, Mara, my ankle's fine." Luke tried to stand, to prove he was as healed as he could be and quickly crumbled as the ankle gave out. His face blanched and he sank down upon the seat. "Just give me a couple of minutes and I'll prove it."

"Luke," she drawled. "So your ankle's fine?" She placed both hands on her hips. Yeah!" she said dryly. "Right!"

Suddenly kneeling before him, Mara unwrapped the wrap and applied it gently. Her smooth fingers soothed the healing bacta over the swollen area and carefully, trying all the time not to cause him any pain, wound the bandage around it. Luke could feel the healing properties in the bacta immediately begin to work and he closed his eyes for a moment, finally relaxing.

Mara got slowly to her feet, watching carefully as Luke's breath expelled from his lungs and his body eased. He must have been in considerable pain, even with Jedi pain suppressing techniques. His eyes blinked open, surprising her. "You okay?"

"I should be asking you that." But she nodded, her face still a little troubled.

"Palpatine never wanted to risk you finding out about your past. You know that, don't you?" Luke asked gently.

"I thought I never would. I still know nothing about her. Who she was, when she lived or how she died. Kam was only a boy himself, he wouldn't know anything, even with meditation. I understand that, but it's hard to get a glimpse and then - nothing."

"It's surprising what children can pick up, even when they are not supposed to. I've got some new records at home on Coruscant."

Mara lifted an eyebrow in surprise. "Why on Coruscant and not on Yavin at the Jedi Academy?"

"I just received them. They were unearthed in a vault deep below the Imperial Palace just before I returned to Coruscant." His eyes darkened. "Just before we…, "he blushed and continued quickly to cover his embarrassment. "Once they were determined to be Jedi records they were turned over to me. At the moment they are unreadable, being heavily encrypted. The records I have on Yavin are much older, belonging to an era long before our currently troubled times."

Mara paced the deck in front of Luke, her strides swift and agitated, before turning to face him, her expression strained. "I know now that she loved me, but I just never expected to feel like this."

"Like what?"

"As if I've suddenly awoken from a thick fog, and things are not the same. I was viewing everything in monochrome and now it's in colour."

"At the risk of sounding like my former Master Yoda, I can only state the obvious. Things are not the same…" He stuck out his hand and caught Mara's, pulling her steadily towards him.

"Luke…"

"Mara…" he mimicked and drew her onto his knees.

"Skywalker. What about your ankle?"

"What about it? What ankle?" He dismissed it and brought his arms around her. "Mara…" he looked deep into her eyes and she felt her insides begin to dissolve.

"Luke…" The word came out as a breathy moan, barely even a sound. She felt his intent and closed her eyes as Luke's intense blue eyes drew nearer and nearer. Her lips parted automatically and finally his well-shaped mouth descended on hers. Sensation sizzled through her as their mouths met. Mara's hands clenched but slowly came up and placed themselves around his strong shoulders. Her fingers clung to him like a hawk bat on a Coruscant tower. Their mouths sought the hidden tastes and textures of one another, tongues probing, teeth nipping and all the time it was undeniably possessive on both sides. He was hers and she was his. Her breasts swelled within the confines of her tunic, yearning to have his hands and lips teasing them into taut, rosy peaks.

With a little gasp, she tore her mouth from his and rested her head against his forehead, her hand reaching up to trail tenderly across his cheek, feeling the rasp of stubble covering the little cleft in his chin. Luke's arms wound even tighter, if it were possible, around her slim form.

"You need to go back, Luke. Kam and Cilghal will be waiting."

"No - I want to stay with you tonight. Please…. I don't want to be alone and neither do you," he murmured shrewdly. "I'm not asking for, or expecting, anything from you. I'd just like to hold you in my arms and sleep."

Mara gave a faint grin. "And sleep? Skywalker?"

"We have a bond in the Force, Mara," Luke insisted.

"Yeah," she sighed heavily. "It's a strange one that."

Luke winced a little, but whether it was from her words or from the aches and pains in his body, she had no idea. Mara assessed him and slipped out of his embrace. "You really should go back to the hospital."

Luke caught at her hand again. "No! I'm staying with you." His voice was determined, but the impression of vulnerability caught at her heart. He stood up, gingerly testing his weight. The bacta wrap had helped and the pain was less. He let out a relieved grin. "See, it's better," and pulled out her bunk, immediately spreading himself full length upon it. "I'm even resting here, taking the weight off." He used his best innocent smile, the blue eyes clear, the smile without guile, and Mara rolled her eyes, not fooled for a minute.

"The charm doesn't work on me, farmboy. You know that." She tried to sound stern, but the sight of him lying on her bunk, his blue eyes wide and full of hope melted her steely resolve. She would not let him get to her. She would not let him get to her. She would not…

He'd got to her again. "Look – I'll be no trouble," he said sweetly.

"Somehow," she stood over him, her hands back on her hips. "I find that very hard to believe." But eventually she accepted his need to stay with her and took the hand he held up to her. Joining him in the bunk, her body lay stiffly next to him with a barely perceptible gap between them. Mara knew if she touched him she would be lost.

With a wave of her hand, Mara switched the lights off and for a few moments they lay stiffly side by side in the dark, getting used to the feeling of being together again. Subtly, the awareness began to grow between them, like heat seeping into a cold room. Mara held her feelings in check, unwilling to act upon the sensations that were beginning to course through her body, threatening to swallow her whole. Her skin prickled, nerve endings tingling, energised and receptive to the man lying silently beside her. The man she was in love with. Mara's throat went dry, her heart hammering loudly in her ears. It was going to be a very long night.

Luke resolutely closed his eyes and tried to concentrate on anything rather than the beautiful green-eyed girl he was so in love with. He was as relaxed as she was, which meant he was not relaxed at all. Every muscle strained not to act upon his feelings. If he'd given in, acted upon his desires, Luke Skywalker would have torn the clothes from her and buried himself in her beautiful, receptive body. He knew it would be that way. His body was on fire, aching more than his ankle had ever thought to. If he touched her, even in the slightest way, Luke knew they would both be lost. His eyes flew open as he attempted to banish such an evocative picture from his mind. It was going to be a long night and, Jedi or not, he didn't think he had that much control. He slammed his eyes shut again, working to distract himself from the stiffening in his groin. He concentrated on the pain in his ankle, the bacta wrap, and the contents of bacta itself. It had helped his ankle considerably, but as a diversion it failed. Nothing would lead him away from thoughts about the woman at his side. It was where she belonged; he knew that.

Luke sensed Mara moving just a fraction as she tried to steady her erratic breathing. It brought his awareness of her presence next to him all the more forcibly to his tortured mind. He could inhale her scent, redolent of a fresh spring day. He could imagine rubbing such a fragrance over her smooth supple body. He could remember the feel of her skin against him, her firm breasts in his hands, the sensation of becoming one in body and in mind. He had given her his soul.

The Jedi Master had reached the breaking point in his control and without realising it, let out a small moan. In the tense stillness of the Skipray's miniscule cabin, the moan sounded louder than a triumphal war cry.

Mara jerked upright and using the Force anxiously waved the lights on. The cabin became painfully bright and Luke blinked dazedly into worried green eyes, her pupils still dilated owing to the thoughts she'd been having, thoughts of what she'd like to do within the sanctuary of Luke's arms.

Mara placed a hand on his forehead, Philokian fire moths dancing in her stomach. His skin was hot and dry to her touch, his blue eyes dark with wide aroused pupils. Mara bit her lips in concern as he moaned again. "Luke… I'll get Cilghal. I should never have allowed you to stay here with me. I…"

Luke's eyes widened at her words and a swift hand snapped around her wrist and yanked her down on top of him. She never saw it coming.

"Luke…!"

His mouth covered hers - hard, forcing her to yield to him and he rolled her underneath him, imprisoning her with the weight of his body. But no force was needed because as soon as flesh had met flesh, they both fell prey to their strongest desires.

By the Force, the fire building between them was hot, and Mara gave into the flames burning between them without the slightest protest. She needed him as much as he needed her. Hands fumbled and clutched as clothes were removed without ceremony. This would be no gentle loving. This would be hot and hard and desperate. Too much had passed between them, too much fear that they might never have had the chance to love like this again. Mara grabbed at his naked shoulders in a frantic attempt to meld with him. Luke's hands and mouth were everywhere until all their clothes were scattered to every part in the cabin. The temperature rose higher as Luke parted Mara's legs and, with one quick thrust, buried himself within her, just as he'd dreamt of earlier. Mara gasped loudly, her hands gripping his shoulders, but she was ready for his entry, her inner muscles tightening around him as if they intended to never let him go.

Luke gasped for breath as Mara's fingernails dug into his back leaving livid scratches to add to his other faded scars. His body thrust as the pain acted as a stimulus to his final completion. Mara's face contorted, the waves of pleasure leaving her coated in sweat. This was more than it had been in Coruscant - much more. She'd been ready as soon as he'd entered her body and climaxed almost immediately before setting off to reach completion again. Luke slid down her body, caressing and kissing every contour with frantic haste, until his mouth tasted the sweetness of her breast. Mara offered herself to him, glorying in what she'd once been afraid to give. Her eyes screwed shut, her hands tangled in his hair as he slid lower and tasted the very essence of her womanhood.

Mara's body rose off the bed, her voice lifting in a keening cry as Luke's spirit joined with hers and they became so totally immersed in each other's souls that Greoa could have blown itself to pieces again and they wouldn't have noticed.

Luke's fingers slid to the nape of Mara's neck and tangled in the damp length of her hair, as he turned her head towards him. "Mara Jade, you bewitch me." His voice was quiet, the expression in his eyes deadly serious. "No matter how hard I've tried, I cannot get you out of my mind. You've always been there. Even if I hadn't consciously thought of you in weeks, you were there, a presence just hovering where I could feel you with me. Do you know how I feel about you?" His voice shook a little. "I have to tell you, even if it is something that you don't want to hear. I cannot keep quiet any longer, not when you mean so much….."

Mara's hand lifted to stay his words momentarily. "I want to hear. Tell me."

Luke closed his eyes and with a deep breath and a heart thundering in his ears spoke the words he'd held deep inside himself for so long. "I love you."

Mara's eyes filled with tears at the import of his words. Her hands still shaking from the climax of their loving and, she could no longer deny it was loving. She knew that as surely as he did. They couldn't have hidden anything from each other in that cataclysmic frenzy of passion if their lives had depended on it. She knew his heart as surely as he did hers and they would never be apart again.

"But I knew that," she whispered huskily, the light of her self-discoveries shining brightly. "I think I always knew it. Even when I hated you, I loved you too. Luke…"

He warily opened the eyes that had haunted her over the years and throughout the galaxy.

"I love you."

With a gentle finger, she traced the outline of his firm chest and then let her hand drift lower. Her vivid green eyes darkened to match the storm tossed blue of his, before he rose up on one elbow and began once more to bring her body to completeness. His body hardened and, as it would always do, no matter what happened to them, hers leapt in response.

"Oh, Mara…" he whispered reverently, lovingly. His mouth covered hers and they lost themselves once more.

 Chapter 12

Mara awoke gradually with the dawning knowledge that something awaited her. Carefully stretching out with the Force, she amended that to - someone. Cautiously, she disentangled herself from the arms of the Jedi master. He was sound asleep, his still boyish face almost free from the recent strain it had been showing. Reluctantly, she eased away from his warm body and groped about the floor for her scattered clothing.

Luke muttered something unintelligible and fumbled for her presence in the bed, his head turning and burying into the pillow. Mara quelled a moment of amusement as she was presented with a shapeless lump under the bedclothes, with a mop of tousled, overlong fairish hair, the only visible part of him.

"S'all right, Kam. She's strong…"

Mara caught the muffled words and knew who was awaiting her.

Kam Solusar. Trained by his father, the Jedi Master, Ranik Solusar. But saved from the darkside by Luke. She cast another amused glance at the lump under the covers. His hair needed cutting.

Kam was waiting outside for her. She cast a quick glance at her chrono. It wouldn't be light yet. So, he'd been meditating as promised and had more to tell her. Mara's stomach turned over nervously. Scoffing at herself, for she'd faced far worse than this, she picked up her tunic.

Dressing quickly, she cloaked her presence and moved silently from the cabin. She hoped Luke would remain asleep for some time; he badly needed his rest. He'd probably argue against this, but it was her decision and her origins. She had to be strong and being strong meant looking out for Skywalker and his overprotective genes. The fact was that part of her wanted Skywalker with her to hold onto her hand, but Mara squashed it into the darkest corner of her mind. If they were to spend time together in a… her mind balked a little at the word 'relationship' but that was what they had - she needed to make sure it was an equal one. Still, a trickle of fear wormed its way past her carefully erected barriers.

Kam Solusar stared resolutely away from the Skipray Blastboat behind him and out into the dawning morning on Greoa Prime. He'd been sitting there now for several hours just watching the sun come up. He knew enough to distress Mara Jade and perhaps not enough to give her what she craved.

Luke, always the Jedi Master, had picked up his troubled thoughts. Kam pulled his barriers down tight around his worries. Luke would become familiar with them in due time, he was sure of that. First he had to tell Mara everything he knew. It wasn't much, but she had a right to know.

"I'm ready for anything, Kam."

Her voice was clear and strong. It surprised him and he whipped around to face her, startled as he'd not felt her approach him.

"Practising your cloaking techniques, Jade?" he asked.

Mara cocked her head to one side and gazed at him. He felt himself shrinking beneath the intensity of the fabled stare. She made no reply. Although it took courage, Kam returned the steady look, taking in her mood and every aspect of her appearance. She seemed calm enough; her hair pulled tightly back into a thick rope of burnished fire. But a few fiery strands escaped and framed her face in a feminine display of gentle curls. He took a moment to appreciate her stunning beauty, but then he nodded - her expression was composed, her eyes clear. It was time to tell her. She was prepared to face the truth.

"I get the feeling this won't be easy, Solusar. So let's get it over with."

"I…"

"Don't have much to tell me - I know."

Kam hunched into his black cloak, pulling it securely around his shoulders as he shivered in the chill of the morning air.

"This is not entirely clear, Jade. I meditated on it and some memories returned, other things happened, but I think they are visions of what happened - things that I couldn't possibly know. The images were blurred, tumbled - confusing…"

"I understand," Mara whispered. "Tell me."

"Are you sure you want to know?"

"The Force wills it." Her tone was resigned, but something more profound lurked in her clear green gaze. Kam hesitated. She'd spoken words that Luke might have said himself. Kam closed his eyes and bowed his head in a silent prayer before beginning to talk.

"I didn't know Mirahn well - in fact, I met her only twice. She was a Jedi, but not a master, I believe. My father talked about a spark of defiant independence that she kept within herself. She was too stubborn to ever accept totally the dictates of the Jedi Council. He disapproved of her, but admired her too. She had a freeness of spirit that was refreshing. You've inherited it, Mara Jade."

Mara smiled a little. "Yes - I suppose I must have. I am stubborn. Luke always says so, but then again he should recognise the trait, for he has it himself."

Kam opened silvery grey eyes, which gleamed agreement. "When we met, she was playing with some of the children in the temple. I was too old to play, yet too young to be with the adults. You know, that painful, adolescent no man's land. She must have sensed my envy of the younger children, for she stopped what she was doing and came and talked to me. I can remember the conversation clearly, as if it were yesterday. That in itself is strange as I've not thought of Mirahn for years. Much of my past is painful to me. I have no wish to remember…" His voice tailed off, a far away expression clouding his grey eyes.

"Padawan?" Mirahn asked.

"Then it will happen," her eyes sparkled green fire. "You're Ranik's son!" she exclaimed. "You have a strong look of him and a powerful presence in the Force."

I nodded and gave a furtive glance towards the unconsciously happy children. "Are we in danger?" I blurted it out.

She gave me a keen glance of sympathy and understanding. "A Jedi's life is never easy. We live in difficult times." Her mouth pinched a little at the corners and her vivid presence in the force dimmed just a little.

"Jedi Mirahn!" The deep voice belonged to a close friend of my father's. He stood tall and grave before us; a narrowed stare at me, indicating it was time to make myself scarce. "The Council will see you now."

Kam looked at Mara's rapt expression and shrugged. "Mirahn grinned at me and began to fish around in the capacious pockets of her Jedi robe. When she produced a packet of sweet things, I was surprised. I couldn't remember the last time I'd had such a treat."

"Here," she said. "You have them. I won't need these."

Her grin was infectious and I smiled back.

"Big trouble?" I asked. I knew all about that. My father was still serving me stern glances a week after I'd dismantled his lightsaber to see how it worked.

"Kam!" It was my father's voice. "We have to go."

I looked at Mirahn and dipped my head in the way I'd been taught was a mark of respect to a lady. "May the Force be with you," I told her, with real sincerity. I could feel my father's disquiet and for a moment I watched as his eyes met Mirahn's. Something shuttered and she turned swiftly and strode into the council chamber. My father grabbed me painfully by the arm and hustled me from the building still clutching the bag of sweets she'd given me. We smuggled ourselves off Coruscant, my father finding passage for himself in an old beat up freighter and I hid in a crate of spare engine parts. "

Mara's eyes were moist as Kam finished his tale. "That was the only time you met her?"

"No, but this is the hard part. I didn't know what happened, but things got harder and harder for the Jedi. We were being hunted down like criminals. The Jedi Temple had been destroyed in a great explosion and the remaining adepts had scattered.

We went from world to star system, never staying longer than a few months at most. I think I must have seen twenty places in little over two years. My father and I were hiding on an agri-world in the outer rim colonies. We worked in the fields; they always needed casual labour and didn't ask too many questions. If my father thought it safe, he would train me in the ways of the Jedi. I was his Padawan learner - a great honour that he trusted me enough to train."

"Padawan!" Mara echoed the unfamiliar word slowly.

"We had moved to a different continent seeking work. We'd heard a farm on the outskirts of the spaceport required manual labour. We headed towards the fields and I remember the sensation of tension emanating from my father. When I saw her, I recognised her almost immediately. She too, was working in the fields. I felt my father stiffen and he grabbed hold of my belt. I would have run to her, for I still remembered her smile. But she'd changed. She had no lightsaber at her waist, her reddish brown hair was dull and her face haggard and worried. She was toiling in a field with other beings - some human, but mostly alien. When she stood up I knew it was she and it was with a sudden dread that I spotted the tall Imperial walking towards her.

"Do they know we're here?" I hissed frantically at my father. He shook his head, something in his bearing sinking under a kind of fatal acceptance of something. He'd known she was here.

"The Imperial officer walked tall in his invulnerability though there was something about him that didn't fit and I never knew what it was. But my father recognised him. I could feel that much."

"Who is he?" I whispered to my father.

"Captain Jaden," His words were clipped.

"I'd heard of him, who hadn't? He was one of the Emperor's brightest and most loyal soldiers. A man going places in the new order of things. A man to be feared, not trusted. I watched him move towards the overseer and speak quietly. Mirahn lifted her head a little as the overseer came to her. He began to drag her towards the Imperial. She gave him a cold look and brushed his fingerprints from her dusty homespun tunic as if banishing the imprint of the man's hands from her person. Very much as if she were the essence of nobility.

With a dignified nod, Mirahn followed the Imperial towards the farm buildings where my father and I had hidden ourselves. We'd been hoping to find work there for a few days; at least that's what my father had told me. Later on I discovered he'd been following Captain Jaden.

As soon as the tall Imperial and the small woman had disappeared from the view of the workers, they turned and enfolded each other in a desperate embrace. I was startled but couldn't turn away as they kissed as if they'd been apart for too long. Suddenly they both jerked apart, and Mirahn stared worriedly around her."

"There are other Force users near," she told him in a harsh whisper.

The words may have been bitter, but I couldn't tell. My father had placed a hand over my mouth just in case I had decided to cry out.

"It's not the Sith lord?" Mirahn's voice shook.

Jaden looked hunted. "He's away on other business near the core, but Palpatine will send him out here eventually. No trace of the Jedi must exist."

Mirahn's face paled. "You shouldn't have come, you've placed us all in great danger."

"And you still believe Palpatine's a good man?" This time her tone was bitter.

"That's not true. If you really believe that, then you are a fool and I'm a bigger one for loving you." Her voice held real anguish. "What did I do, to suffer in this way?"

"I did, didn't I? Do you think I'm corrupt, that…." She tore herself from his arms and stood breathing heavily, her gaze averted from the entreaty in his.

Jaden held out his arms in an appeal. "Look, Mirahn, we must find these Force users. Suppose they are tracking us? I don't like it."

"My father slammed down force shields and cloaked our presences. We left the place at a run and caught the first transport off the planet. I never saw Mirahn or the Imperial Captain again.

Once we were off the planet, I asked my father why we'd been there."

My father's wise bearded face gazed down at me, something strange flickering deep in his grey eyes. "I'm not sure I do either, Kam."

"She's a good person," I insisted with the fervour of a boy in the middle of his first crush.

"Perhaps, but she's made her choices and if they were the correct ones for her, we'll maybe never know." My father shook his head sadly.

I still didn't understand why the Jedi could abandon her out here, for instinctively I knew that was what had happened.

"She let herself be distracted by this Captain Jaden, and together they had a liaison. We thought that had ended."

"We've found no trace of her up until now. None at all. She may be completely innocent in all of this. But if she's still involved with Jaden, then the safety of the Jedi is compromised. You heard him. He's Palpatine's man. If the Emperor and Vader get their hands on Mirahn, she is not powerful enough to resist them both. She was banished from the Temple until it was clear that her mistakes hadn't endangered more Jedi lives."

"Mistakes!" Mara screeched, outraged.

Kam straightened, an apologetic expression crossing his face. "Calm down, Jade. I never knew she was pregnant. Perhaps my father did, but he didn't choose to enlighten me. I'm sure Mirahn never felt you were a mistake. I'm not even sure if you even existed when we were there on the agri-world. She might have let things slip when with Jaden - things that betrayed other Jedi.

Once we left there, we ended up further than ever from the Core Worlds. The Jedi Temple had been destroyed so we'd nowhere to go back to, and all the time the Jedi hunters were casting their nets and closing them around us. Think about the time we were living in. The Jedi were hunted, persecuted, imprisoned and killed. They were purged from society. All the things that were good and true were smashed and broken. I survived that time and you came to be because of it. Mistakes were made, but never consider a good soul to be part of total folly. Mirahn bore you and somehow you survived. The Force made that possible. Never discount that fact."

Kam sighed heavily. "Mirahn took the consequences for her actions. She knew she had to do that. You have always done the same for anything you have done."

Kam's tired eyes followed a stray bird as it cut a lonely path across the early morning sky. "My life was never the same after that. Something in my father… died. We ran for another year and then one day he disappeared. I learned he'd been caught and killed by Vader. I ran until I could run no more and lived out a few more years roaming the outer dregs of the galaxy, with bitterness feeding the darkness in my heart."

"So you had a brush with the darkside forces of evil, but you came through it." Mara's tone was flippant. "I lived with it too."

"You only lived with it. It never became a part of you, feeding off any light and hope you had. It wasn't destroying you."

Mara shook her head in disagreement. "I was heading that way, before Luke saved me. I too was bitter and the darkness in me was growing. If I hadn't awoken to the danger I was in, I would have been consumed by it." She poked at a tuft of something vaguely green with the toe of her black boot. "You think that the dashing Imperial Captain was my father?"

"It does make sense. You could have been named for them - Mirahn and Jaden. Your own name, a combination of theirs. But there is something else that just makes me certain…" Kam let his voice tail off.

"What?"

"When Mirahn dislodged his hat in her haste to embrace him, he had the reddest hair I've ever seen. Yours has streaks of gold in it, but his was as fiery as the heart of the volcano that destroyed this city."

"It's a start," she whispered. "There must be something about them somewhere. Information must have survived."

"Mara…." Kam's voice hesitated. "I saw other things too in my meditations - things that I hadn't experienced, none of which made sense. I saw the Jedi Temple explode, the people shouting against the Jedi and the Emperor's yellow eyes laughing at me."

"The Temple?"

"Palpatine built the Imperial Palace on its founds."

Mara chuckled derisively. "That sounds like the kind of stunt he would do." But her smile faded when she sensed the trepidation coming from the older Jedi. Kam Solusar wasn't quite so sure how to break the next part to her. "Just say it. Spinning it out won't make unpalatable truths any sweeter."

"I don't know if they are truths or what might have beens."

"Just tell me," Mara insisted.

"I saw Mirahn on her knees in what was the Emperor's throne room. She was bloody, battered and bruised, but still with that spark of stubbornness I'd reacted to. And Captain Jaden stood next to her in the same physical state. But he had a blank look on his face as if his mind had been wiped and he…he was holding a blaster to his lover's head."

"What!" Mara's head jerked, as she recoiled in horror. "That's not true. It's impossible!"

Kam's shoulders sank. "I don't know, Mara. It may only have been one of a dozen possible explanations." He shifted uncomfortably and then told her the rest. "Sitting on Palpatine's knee was a small red-haired female child - watching."

"Watching?" Mara's face drained of all colour and the word emerged through bloodless lips. "I saw my father murder my mother?"

Kam closed his eyes. "I… He may have been partially Force sensitive. Not enough to train as a Jedi, but enough for Palpatine to be able to bend him to his will."

"Why can't I remember? Why did this have to happen to me?" Mara said bitterly. "You Jedi always have an explanation."

"We don't. We try to seek the truth, but it can be worse than an asteroid field and - Mara…"

Mara lifted a heavy head and stared into his face. "Yes?"

"Are you not one of us? Are you not a Jedi?"

"I… I…." she stuttered, caught, her mind urging her to deny it.

"Yes, Mara." A new, but very familiar voice echoed behind her. "Are you not one of us?"

"Luke!" she exclaimed thankfully and ran into his arms pressing her head into his shoulder, his comforting presence anchoring her whirling mind into focus.

He tipped her chin up and his blue eyes bored into her. "Mara… Have you no answer for me?"

Suddenly it all became clear. "Yes, Luke. I am a Jedi."

"Thank the Force," he whispered and drew her close. "Thank the Force."

Luke bent his fair head over the task of making sense out of the data disks he was scrutinising. It seemed like such a mammoth assignment he'd created for himself. It was a lifetime task and one he would not shirk. He'd done so much already. He'd brought the Jedi to the point where they could carve themselves a niche in the brave freshness of the New Republic. Still, he had to learn of their mistakes and their triumphs. His mouth quirked a little. Yoda would surely have had something to say about him seeking triumphs. Perhaps he was seeking the Light of the Force instead. He was still searching for the good in things - still searching for truth.

He rubbed his eyes tiredly. Where was Mara at this moment and was she missing him? He wanted her so much. He would find Mirahn for her if he had to work a lifetime. He had promised. His eyes closed for a moment as he remembered their departure from Greoa. He'd been tired and sore and Mara… Mara had watched him with real concern in her eyes.

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

They'd left Greoa the day after Cilghal had given Luke the all clear. It had been the day of Kam's revelations too. Mara suspected that Luke had pressured Cilghal into letting him go early. Even with Jedi accelerated healing there was no way he could be completely well, but the stubborn gene had been activated and whatever his state of health, Luke was ready to leave Greoa. The planet didn't need him anymore. It was ready to resume something close to normal life. Mara wanted away too, for there was too much to think over - the truth behind her conception, birth and early life, and her affair with the head of the Jedi order. Or did she want to think about her affair with the Jedi Master? She'd thought quite a lot about it as it was. Her face warmed in the cool breeze covering the newly seeded grass plains. It was time to go.

Their trip back to the moon of the fifth planet had been silent, both Luke and Mara busy with their own thoughts. Mara docked the Skipray carefully in the silver ship Luke had bought.

"It's beautiful, Luke. Really beautiful. Why…?"

"Why did I buy it? I don't know." He'd shrugged, his face expressionless. "It was time I had something of my own. If I'm going to change the way I operate, I'll need better transport."

"But your x-wing. You love flying your x-wing."

Luke's eyes lit up with enthusiasm and he grabbed her hand, dragging her into the cockpit. "But I'll love flying this one too. I will never give up flying the x-wing. This ship is …. is a dream to fly." His eyes lit up as he looked at her, and his voice quickened. "There are other things I won't give up and that is a promise."

Mara could only stare dumbly at him, before he swept her into his arms and fastened his mouth securely over hers. Her lips parted and his tongue darted in, caressing her own. As ever they both emerged from the encounter shaken and breathless, faces flushed, hearts thumping loudly and with the desire to continue. The thirst they'd slaked twice with one another wasn't going to ever go away. But this was not the time or the place and again they both needed to retreat from the emotions that threatened to swamp them.

"Hey!" Luke whispered as he brushed his mouth tenderly over hers.

"Hey what?" Mara's lips clung.

"I know you, Jade. I know exactly what you want to do. You'll back off and go hide for a few months. It's too late for that, Mara. You cannot hide from me now. But I'll give you some time. I'm not letting what we have go. I love you…"

"I love you too, but Luke…."

He placed a finger over her mouth. "I'm not listening to your excuses. I'm going to give you time, but there will be a limit on that time."

"Luke!" She spoke through gritted white teeth. "Will you just…?"

"No, I’m not letting you run away this time. We will be together."

"Luke…"

"I'll see you on Coruscant in one month."

Mara's eyes widened. 'Of the all the dictatorial, mynock brained…' She was intrigued, despite her annoyance with him. "Will you just listen…."

"One month."

"Or what?" she drawled, danger signals flashing in her green eyes.

"I come and get you."

"Oh please," Mara rolled her eyes. "Spare me from the almighty Jedi Master. I'd like to see you try. You can't make me do anything I don't want to."

"That's right," he replied steadily, his blue eyes alive with a certainty she couldn't ignore. "I can't, but I reckon you'll want…" His breath sounded loud in the confines of the cockpit as he stepped close to her and again placed his firm lips upon hers. Mara's eyes fluttered shut and her hands clutched his shoulders as again the merest touch of his lips on hers made her insides melt. He stopped kissing her and took a step backwards, devilment replacing the passion in his gaze. "Yup, I reckon you'll want…to." He thickened his accent until his basic sounded pure outer rimworld.

Mara's green eyes shot a couple of laser bolts at him and turned to leave, her chin jutting out, indicating her ire.

"Mara…" Luke caught her hand and swung her to face him. Quick as a Jawa with a droid part in his sights, she poked him in the ribs and watched with interest as he winced in pain. "Healed, huh? How come Cilghal let you out if your ribs are still this sore?"

"Aw, Mara, don't fuss."

"Someone should. I'll tell Leia…" She grinned maliciously. "That should have you running scared."

"Mara," Luke's voice rose in a long forgotten whine. "That hurt and you can tell Leia if you want to. She won't fuss - too much."

Mara arched a perfectly shaped eyebrow and decided it was time to change the subject

"So - what makes you think you could find me?"

He straightened, and Mara noted with misgivings that he still clutched his ribcage. "It's simple."

"Simple?"

"We have a connection through the Force - a bond. This is something I've felt with none other, not even my Force strong twin sister. Only you." His voice was fervent, matching the earnest expression in his blue eyes. Luke did mean every syllable of what he said.

The mocking words on the tip of Mara's tongue died and she moved towards him, her face raised to his in mute appeal. Luke brought his hand to her cheek and caressed its softness tenderly. "Only you, Mara. I'd know you anywhere. You are special, Jade, and I would search forever until I found you."

He brought her close, and Mara could only shut her eyes as a lump made its presence felt at the back of her throat. Luke tipped her head up and smiled wistfully into her face. "Come to me in one month on Coruscant. I'll be at home waiting for you. I'm going to find your identity for you, Mara. I'll find Mirahn."

He released her with great reluctance and steered her along the passageway towards the Skipray's location. "May the Force be with you, Mara Jade." Then he immediately turned and almost running, left the docking bay. Mara climbed into the craft and before she knew it, was back in her own ship.

"The big Jedi nerf. I would have gone with him here and now but he never let me get a word in." She gazed at the sleek chromium lines of the ship. She'd never seen one quite like that before. What had Karrde said? Oh yes - it was a Nubian. Mara frowned. It was a long time since one of them had come on the market. They were rare birds indeed.

She fired up the converters and set the co-ordinates in the navicomp. "Luke Skywalker, you'll pay for that little stunt. I don't know how I'm going to do it, but you'll pay." A vision of his bed in the apartment on Coruscant and never letting him out of it did cross her mind, but then again, she was only human.

"For you, Luke, I want to be."

Luke felt the warm brush of his sister's presence as she reached out towards him. Leia was on her way to see him. He smiled and sent back an answering tendril, feeling it connect and entwine with hers.

He spoke into his com. "Artoo, let her in please."

The droid tooted a happy melody of whistles and soon Luke heard Leia's light footsteps tripping down his spiral staircase.

Jumping from his chair, he met her half way across the room and hugged her tightly. Leia stepped back but, without letting him go, ran a thorough check over him.

"Luke!"

"I'm fine."

"I had a call from Mara. She said you'd been in the wars again, and I had to drag you to the medicentre if you needed it."

"I told you, I'm fine."

"Hmm." She pursed her lips at him suspiciously. "Mara thinks you made poor Cilghal release you from the medicentre on Greoa early."

"Now why would she think that?" Luke questioned humorously.

"Past performances, perhaps?"

"Unfair."

"No, not unfair. Typical behaviour."

"I told you. I'm fine," and he meant it.

"But you're missing her?" Leia was past the point of being coy over Luke's relationship with Mara. The more he admitted, the more he would realise he had to do something about it.

"Of course I am, but she's coming here in a month."

"She is?"

"I told her she had to be here. Otherwise, I'd go and get her from wherever she'd holed up." The determination in his voice echoed in Leia's ears and she stifled a smile. 'About time'.

"You gave Mara Jade an ultimatum like that and you're still living," Leia's voice was admiring, but full of irony. "Brave boy. Han will be impressed."

Luke grinned. "Not so much of the boy, sister dear. I am a man."

"Bragging about it too," she murmured sweetly.

Luke immediately went scarlet. "Look Leia… I didn't, that is I…. Oh hell…Nerf droppings!" He subsided heavily into his seat, averting his red face from Leia's amused expression.

"It's okay. I now know one question I don't need to ask."

"It's none of your business," Luke muttered, coughed and returned to fiddle with the data pad on his desk. He hadn't meant to be so harsh with Leia. "I'm sorry, but…"

Leia lifted a shoulder. "It's okay, I was out of line with that one. I didn't mean to embarrass you. I'm happy you and Mara…" She flushed a little, shrugged and smiled. It was a gesture reminiscent of her husband's. Leia knew how protective her brother was of his private life. He had so little of it.

"I don't suppose Ghent has had any luck with the encrypts? I've tried everything I can think of and a few I shouldn't have, to try and decipher these records."

Leia peered at the strange hieroglyphics on the pad. "It's nothing to do with any Sith writings?"

"First thing I thought of."

"Too simple."

"Too obvious," Luke retorted.

"Now, brother dear…"

"It doesn't reek of the darkside. Feel it, Leia. The taint of the Sith just isn't there. Yet, I still sense great sadness, just not evil." Luke fiddled with the controls on the data pad again.

"It will be a big task," Leia observed as she took in the many dusty data cards. "There's a lot of information in there."

"If I can get at it."

"You will."

"If I can get at it, I'm looking forward to it."

"When will you have the time?"

"Now - I'm having a…" He searched valiantly for the right word. "Vacation," he announced triumphantly.

"Stars!" muttered Leia, truly shocked. "You were supposed to be having one of those before you headed off on the Jedi Master saves galaxy crusade, practically single handed." 'Mara better get over here before that month is up. I don't think I can stand a month of Luke on vacation. He'll never stay the course and I'll end up worrying about what kind of trouble he's inveigled himself and probably Han, into.'

"I might manage a spot of nephew and niece babysitting. If you're interested?"

"You're not trying to fend off any more awkward questions, are you?" she asked, suspiciously.

"Me?" The blue eyes guilelessly widened.

"You're worse than Han."

"Stang, Leia. I'm not that bad!"

"No, course not." Her mouth curved and she watched fascinated as Luke pulled several flat, square pieces of glass from a dusty box and placed it on the desk.

"Look at these, Leia. Aren't they beautiful?"

Leia brushed a careful finger cross the delicate surface of one of the pieces and marvelled at the intricate carving on the crystalline surface. "What are they?"

"I think they store data of some sort but there's nothing in this box to indicate what kind of device would read these. But the Force tells me that these small, flat pieces of glass are very important. So it's a puzzle I'll have to solve, along with hoping that Ghent will come up with the code to get into the rest of the data." 

Mara Jade paced back and forth in front of Han. He lounged back on the comfortable sofa, with his arms crossed and shook his head. She was quite something, and he could see why his brother-in-law was so taken with her. That is, once you got past the anger, the mistrust and the former Imperial agent assassin thing. She was beautiful, funny and smart. Plus, she was in love with Luke. There was no doubt about that. She really was in love with Luke, and he'd just made her mad. That in itself was nothing new - just the way he'd done it. Han chuckled, and she zeroed him in place with a fulminating stare.

"He just stood there and told me to go away for a month. There was none of his usual 'come with me and I'll train you in the way of the Force' thing. The big nerf sent me away so he could find out about my mother. Or something like that. Kam knew my mother; he'd met her and meditated so he could remember things about her. It's as if Skywalker thinks he's failed me in some way. That he should have been the one to give me the data. It's not a competition. I've exited for years without such information, surely it could have waited?"

She threw her hands upwards exasperatedly and the air crackled with purpose. Her hair had fallen from its usual thick rope long ago and tumbled untidily around her slim figure. Han loved Leia with everything that was in him, but he still could appreciate the picture of an attractive woman. This one had the added bonus of being able to kill you easily if she wanted to or smuggle you some decent Corellian Whisky. He could do with a few bottles of Whyren's Reserve.

'No', he decided, he liked the woman he had quite fine, and Luke could handle this whirling firebrand. In fact, by the looks of things his brother-in-law had handled Mara Jade and then left her to make up her mind about it. 'Never allow them to think, Luke, especially when they are as sharp as our two women are. They can run the fire rings of Fornax around us both.' Mara had expected Luke to try to convince her of what they both knew she wanted to do – not to give her time to think things over. She'd expected to be trampled over as if by a construction droid. Skywalker could be very single-minded when he wanted to. On second thoughts perhaps Luke had done a very stupid thing. He'd given her time to think.

"Mara," he interrupted the monologue, which had dwindled to muttered curses in a language Han didn't recognise. "You do remember Luke's thought processes don't work the same as everyone else's."

Mara stopped abruptly. "I should have." Then she again glared and Han almost felt sorry for the Jedi Master. "But he's still gonna pay."

"For what?"

"For being Skywalker, sith, I don't know. For being too understanding and giving me time to think things through… I need something to make him know I mean business."

"I think he would know that by now." Han was clearly nervous.

"He has to let me know what he's up to. How can I trust him if he keeps surprising me like that? I thought he was predictable old farmboy Luke. He has to pay for all the worry he puts me through. Reckless, that's what he is - reckless." Mara gave Han a mocking look. "Ease off, Han. I won't bruise him."

"Uh, Mara… Look…." Han sat up and scratched his chin. "Do you think that's…?"

"Relax, Solo. It'll be fine."

"What will?" Leia breezed into the room, her pretty face smiling.

"Mara's planning some sort of revenge on your brother."

"Fine," Leia remarked brightly. "As long as it doesn't involve broken bones and turning to the darkside."

"I can manage that."

"Good, then there's no problem."

Han fell back against the back of the sofa with a muffled thud, his hand covered his eyes and he groaned faintly.

"He doesn't know I'm here?" Mara asked Leia.

"No, you seemed to have cloaked your presence quite effectively."

"With a little help from you, Councillor. You're coming on in that department yourself. I couldn't keep up my shields for quite as long otherwise."

Leia smiled smugly. "He's got a lot on his mind. I think you're the main thing, but he's got a whole box of disks he's trying to decrypt."

Mara nodded. "He told me about those. Found them in a vault in the Imperial palace."

"That's right. Anyway, he's puzzling over them and he's hoping you'll be there to meet him in three weeks time."

"Who said anything about waiting for three weeks?"

"'Atta girl!" Han crowed, still with his eyes shut. "Still time to leave the planet."

Both women totally ignored him.

Luke leant back in his chair tapping his data pad thoughtfully. He had a far away expression in his clear blue eyes. Something told him these records were not as old as the ones given to him by Mother Rell on Dathomir. They'd been in the Imperial Palace which indicated to Luke at any rate, that they were far more modern. Then there was the haphazard way they were packed and hidden. To him, that said these data cards were hidden hastily. They had been in one of the vaults - there were still places in the Palace, which hadn't been cleared. Secret rooms, cupboards full of junk and the occasional treasure. There had been so much rubbish in there that most of it had been ignored. That particular vault had been cleared and one of the workers had stopped him one day.

"We found this and I think you might want a look."

"Thanks," he'd stuttered and peered at the pile of dusty data disks. He'd felt the Force within them as soon as he'd opened the box. There were answers here, even if he didn't yet know the question.

"Why give this to me?" he asked curiously. There were no markings which said - 'Jedi '.

The worker shrugged. "Don't know. Just thought you might want it. No-one else does."

Now he was left with a stream of incomprehensible gibberish in front of his eyes. Ghent had been and gone and even he was no closer to cracking the code. He squinted into the symbols. This was impossible.

'Forget so quickly what you have learned?" He seemed to hear Yoda's cackle. 'So certain are you that this cannot be done?'

Then a grin started to form on his handsome face. Suddenly, the answer was as clear as day. Clear as the green eyes of the woman he was so in love with. He closed his eyes and drew on the Force. When he opened them, the symbols had somehow formed into words. Luke smiled and was about to start reading when a feeling of urgency gripped him and his fingers brushed the delicate crystal squares lying wrapped in a piece of soft material for safekeeping. Placing one on his palm, he marvelled how it fit so easily and the cool glass warmed to his touch. The glass wasn't clear as he'd thought, but shot through with colours. The different shades intermingled with the carving, creating a thing of real beauty. He picked up another piece and placed it at right angles to the first. There was a flash and the two pieces bonded together. Luke paused, a fluttery, nervous feeling starting and he picked up a third piece, then a fourth. Using the Force, the pieces hovered in mid air and gradually they were drawn towards the one held in the centre of Luke's palm. With a tiny jolt he noticed five of the pieces had joined, forming a small lidless box. Luke sank even deeper into the ever-present, ever-surrounding power and when he opened his eyes, the final piece had joined the other five. Luke held in his hand a small crystal cube.

"A holocron!" he breathed, awed at the reverence he felt, and the strength in the Force he perceived at that very moment.

Luke held the small, precious object in the palm of his hand and marvelled at the craftsmanship that had gone into making it perfect. A holocron - who would have believed it? He peered at the carvings and networks of fine threads that seemed to run through the centre of such an object. He knew it had been hollow, just six pieces of coloured glass and now it looked as if the whole thing had been carved from a single large crystal. He could feel its power - feel the Force coursing through it and into him. He wanted to unlock the secrets it held within its depths but something held him back. He glanced at the data pad lying on his desk - everything was there for him to find out what he wanted to know. Yet, he hesitated. He knew that he was not the first person who should access its veiled mysteries.

That privilege belonged to Mara.

Mara sat on the balcony and gazed out at the Solos' view of Coruscant. It was different from Luke's, yet almost as impressive. So many people, all moving in their own progressions through life. She'd moved very far suddenly of late and it left her disoriented. A memory of a similar evening only a few months before on another balcony but with a much different outcome. The night she'd been changed forever and all because Luke Skywalker had kissed her. Mara sipped at her glass of pale green Alderaanian wine and tried not to think about the things she'd learned only five days ago. She'd been stubbornly ignoring what she needed to face - perhaps now was the time, although she didn't want to have to face it alone. Mirahn and Jan Jaden - her parents. It was a strange concept - to have parents. She'd never had them before. Had Jaden really turned the blaster on Mirahn? It was possible, especially if Palpatine had anything to do with it. Her former master had no qualms about destroying anything if it served his ends. 'I wonder how close he came to destroying me?' she mused. 'I was loyal. Would he have used me and then cast me aside?'

The lights of the city drew her attention again and she wondered what Luke was doing? Was he missing her? She craved his touch, his kiss, his hands on her body. She missed the warm, safe feelings of contentment and love he gave her. How could she not love such a man? It didn't bear thinking about.

The ripple of emotion caught her attention. Instantly she was on her feet, pressing herself against the balcony rail and searching through the dark for the presence of the Jedi Master. The surge of feeling came from Luke - it had to. Was he in trouble or in pain? She reached out with her sense… No, he wasn't in any distress, but something had profoundly affected him.

"Mara!" Leia's anxious voice came from behind.

"I felt it."

"The disturbance in the Force?"

"Yes, it was Luke, but you are closer to him than I."

"I'm not so sure about that anymore."

Mara turned to face the other woman and scrutinised Leia with her piercing green gaze. "But you are his sister, his Force strong twin."

"And you are the woman he loves."

Mara looked a way, a bit uncomfortably, but then admitted, "We have a bond." Mara's mind automatically heard again Luke's voice telling her he'd given her his soul. "He gave me his soul…" 

Leia smiled with a mixture of pleasure and pain. "I know and it's good that he did." Mara had certainly changed. It wasn't that she was any softer - she was still dangerous. However, there was an awakening warmth about her.

"I gave him mine and I didn't realise I had." Mara's voice held wonder.

"This is Luke; he will know."

"Yes… he will."

"Is he in trouble?" Leia's voice was brisk.

"No," Mara blinked. "He could still use a comlink if he was."

"This is true," his sister replied dryly. "It's just as quick as the Force."

"It is on Coruscant." Mara stared across the endless streams of traffic as they flew past in their allotted lanes. "This was a different feeling. It held wonder, awe, and even reverence if you will. He's excited about something."

"When isn't he? Okay… and…" Leia's voice stretched the word out warily.

"He's on the move, probably here," she finished. "Can't find me, who's next on the Skywalker hit list - you."

"Probably and it figures. Has he sensed you yet?" Leia asked quizzically.

"No… but he will soon. He's not thinking about me or I'm sure he would have sensed me before now. He'll be mad you didn't say anything earlier." Mara looked at Leia apologetically. "This bond - he can feel when I'm near. I shouldn't have come."

Unknown to the women, Han had joined the discussion and stood quietly behind his wife at the open window. "You're wrong about that, Mara Jade. If Luke loves you and you love Luke, then you're family. Why shouldn't you be here? We're not turning you away."

"I have a perfectly good apartment of my own to go to."

"Yes you have, but you came here instead of being on your own and you must ask yourself why. In any case, Leia and I want to get to know you better. If you're still planning on killing the kid, then we get to find out what your weaknesses are." Han smiled wryly.

"He can still drive me down the Death Star's trench and back up again. But no," her head dipped a little. "I don't want to kill him." She grinned suddenly and the sight of it sent Han retreating a couple of steps. "Well, not at the precise moment I don't."

"Hey, Jade, you should smile more often. You look quite pretty when you do."

"Han!" Leia's tone went up an octave in embarrassment. "What a thing to say to the girl. Thank you, Mr Charm. Ignore him, Mara. In fact, kill him instead."

"I only meant…. Girls - be nice…." Han backed away even further, his hands in front of his body to ward off any imminent attack.

Leia laughed and Mara, surprised at how free she felt to join in - did so.

Han took a step forward and wrapped a fond arm around his wife, dropping a careless kiss on her forehead. "As I said… If Luke loves you, then you're family and you belong with us."

"Family!" Mara's face stiffened. "Family! What do I know of family?"

Leia took a step closer to Mara and clasped her hands gently. "There are no rules in a family. If you don't know what to do, you make it up as you go along. This is not the Jedi Code."

Mara's face crumpled and her shoulders shook as she fought to contain her distress.

"Let it out, Mara. There's no shame in crying."

"But I never cry, and I've done so more times since I got entangled with your family, than I ever did in the whole of the rest of my life."

But she submitted to the almost motherly feelings of Leia's arms as they wrapped themselves around her in the age-old gesture of comfort. The wave of pain she couldn't stifle rippled from her very core, and she clung to Leia as one would to a lifeline. Leia's dark eyes met the serious lighter hazel gaze of her husband and nodded. Mara had a lot of issues to deal with and still needed time to assimilate things properly, and for that she needed Luke.

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

Luke felt the sudden wave of feeling and it nearly knocked him sideways. There was only one person in the entire galactic universe who could have that kind of effect on him. It was Mara and she was hurting. The wave of muffled pain caught him completely unawares. It was as if Mara was trying to spare him her pain. As if she were hiding from him.

Luke stopped abruptly and turned around in a circle. The air around him was charged with the Force. Faces merged into things and he was left in a psychedelic swirl of chaos, colours and sounds. It was as if time itself had stopped in a kind of expressionist nightmare. Through it all he could feel Mara's pain.

'Mara! Where are you?'

No answer. So he tried something else.

The world righted itself and he knew. Beginning to run, Luke ignored the startled expressions of passers by. He had to get to Mara now that he knew where she was. She was on Coruscant and she needed him.

Mara lifted her head and stared intently into space, before tearing herself away and running towards the door.

"After her!" Han yelled.

"No! It's okay," Leia murmured as she watched Mara run to the entrance and jabbing furiously at the keypad. With a violent hiss, the door slid aside revealing the Jedi Master himself and if appearances were anything to go by - he was not happy.

"You've been here all the time, you've been hiding from me." His voice stiff.

Mara flushed a little, her head lowering.

"Five days I've been back and you've been here all that time. Didn't you trust me, Mara? Couldn't you have said I'll see you on Coruscant - forget about the month." Luke didn't accuse but the hurt in his voice was so palpable you could touch it.

Mara lifted her chin, her anger with him returning. "Yeah, I've been here. Why not? This is a free planet - you don't own or control it. You didn't ask me if I wanted time, did you?"

Luke's mouth opened in shock.

"No, you just assumed you knew the best for me, as always. What if I told you I would have gone with you at that moment? I would have gone anywhere, but no. Master Skywalker, Jedi Knight had to decide what I needed. No one makes decisions like that for me. Not any more."

Luke took a step forward, his eyes flashing dangerously. "What mynock put that idea into your head? Since when have you ever opened up enough to admit you want to be with me." His voice grew louder. "You say you love me, but when do I get what everyone else has? When do I see proof."

"I came after you, didn't I?"

"You always come after me. I'm beginning to wonder if you're not checking that someone's finally managed to finish me off."

Mara's face tightened with anger. "Someone should have a long time ago. But no, Skywalker always seems to come through it. Why?" she screamed inches from his face. "Because I'm there to pull the big krayt dragon out of trouble."

"I would have managed fine on my own. You didn't have to come after me."

"Sure I did."

"Yeah, then you run away. Scared of feeling too much emotion. Scared of letting go, letting someone in. Scared of what I make you feel…" he finished on a whisper. His shoulders heaved and his head dropped a little.

"Luke…." Mara whispered. "Why are we shouting at each other like this? You've not even set foot inside the door."

"Are we shouting?" he questioned huskily.

"No."

She took a careful step forward and so did Luke and he bent his head and covered her mouth with his own. Their arms wound round each other's bodies, so close that nothing could have squeezed between them. Luke parted Mara's lips as they continued to kiss.

"Is it okay to come out now?" Han stuck his head up from behind the sofa, where he'd taken refuge as soon as Luke and Mara had started shouting at one another. He saw the couple in the doorway. "Is that the way the Jedi always greet guests?" he asked whimsically. "I could get used to that part. No wonder hokey religions always last a long time."

"I'm not sure, haven't tried it quite like that."

"You could on me, Councillor Organa Solo," his voice deepened. "But just on me."

"I'll try it out…." She gave her husband a sly wink. "Later, when the courageous Corellian I married comes back."

"Oh, he's still here but sharing quarters with the one who's rather keen on self-preservation."

"I think well preserved is more accurate," Leia vamped quietly. "Crisis over, I think." She indicated Luke and Mara and their passionate reunion.

Luke pulled Mara into his inflamed body as he continued to taste the sweetness of her kiss. She was in his arms and she was warm and real. He hadn't wanted to let her go, he'd genuinely thought that she would need time to think things over. His temperature began to rise, and he knew if he didn't pull away from Mara soon there might be an embarrassing situation.

"Mara," he pulled himself away from her willing mouth and seeking hands. "Mara, we need to stop this."

She pulled away a little, her mouth with the ripe appearance of someone who'd been thoroughly kissed, her eyes a dark stormy jade under heavy lids, summoning him to a feast he'd already tasted, and it was food from the gods. A feast he wanted to experience again soon. Luke felt a tightening in his groin, but closed his eyes and took a mental breather, willing his body to relax.

"We're in the open hallway of Han and Leia's apartment. I don't know how many people we've given a free show to."

"Just the security staff and a couple of Noghri," Leia quipped with a warm smile. "Come on." She pulled Luke and Mara carefully back into the lounge. "Well? Sit down, before you fall down. You look shell-shocked."

Luke sat in a well-stuffed armchair and watched, as Mara stood bewildered for an instant. Luke grinned and gave the hand he still held a little tug. Mara ended sprawled in a heap on his lap. Before she could leap up and find her own seat, Luke wrapped his arms around her and brought her close. With any luck, this would hide the erection he was threatening to display. With a big effort he again willed his body to return to normal and the thought that Han and Leia were sitting opposite helped a great deal.

"I found something," Luke said quietly.

"We know," answered Leia. "Mara and I felt your reaction."

"The disks are ready to read."

Mara twisted in his grasp and turned to face him. "You didn't read them?"

"No, I felt you should be there when I did."

"Oh."

"There's more."

"More?" Leia and Han chorused together.

"The pieces of glass…. They formed into a holocron."

"A holocron." Mara murmured.

"This is the repeating show, with Han Solo in his lounge reporting for…"

"Shut up, Solo," Mara growled.

"You know how rare they are. To find another intact is miraculous. It's beautiful." He gazed steadily into Mara's face. 'Like you', he thought, appreciating her creamy skin, fiery tresses and the amazing green of her eyes. A colour which changed with her mood. 'Beautiful.'

"You didn't access the contents of it either, did you Luke?" Mara asked.

"No, because I wanted to wait for you. At first I was going to find out everything I could for you, then I realised I wanted you with me. We make a good team, you and I." He traced a gentle finger across Mara's parted lips and Leia turned her head away, feeling she was intruding on an intensely private moment.

Han got up and left the lounge, momentarily returning with Mara's bag. "Go on, go home. Be together. You've spent too much time apart. I think you still have some squaring up to do. One or two issues have to be sorted out between you. Before the Councillor here sends out the wedding invites." He grinned at his wife.

"Now wait a minute, Han." Leia and Han had discussed such a possibility, but it was better to wait until Luke and Mara decided what they were going to do. She had the feeling Han had just pushed them all to the edge of a dangerous precipice.

Luke and Mara gave each other quick embarrassed glances and then stared at the Solos.

"You're right, Leia. We have things to discuss." Luke's face had shuttered at Han's words. He placed Mara on to her feet and rose to join her.

Leia tried to probe her brother's feeling through the Force but found he was locked up tighter than Jabba's safe deposit box.

Han crossed to Luke and handed him Mara's belongings. "Mara was ready to go with you that last time and you blew it. Listen to her this time, kid."

"She was… You were? Stars, I'm sorry." Luke's earnest face paled a little. "But you usually… I'm sorry," he muttered again.

"You will be," Mara warned darkly.

"She's planning revenge, kid. So beware."

"The Jedi don't do revenge." Luke insisted.

"This one does." Green eyes locked defiantly with blue.

"Now, Mara," he muttered warningly.

"Don't you 'Now Mara' me, farmboy. Perhaps revenge isn't the right term. We could think of it more as payback."

Luke squirmed. He was in trouble. He could feel it.

"Kids!" Han remarked loftily to his wife. "You never saw us behaving like that."

Luke took a threatening step towards his brother-in-law, which Mara, after a sign from Leia headed off. He shifted Mara's belongings into his left hand and held out his right. Mara, with a nervous expression, placed her hand within the clasp of his. Then she looked at his clothing. Luke was wearing his Jedi blacks, but just at his collar she caught a hint of blue. His hand tightened reassuringly in hers.

"Mara," he whispered hoarsely. "Let's go home."

"Yes," she answered, her eyes darkening to sage. "Let's."

For a moment they stood outside the door to the Solos' apartment as it closed behind them and then they began to walk. They said nothing, but felt the connection grow between them because the simple touch of their clasped hands transmitted comfort and security. They reached the first shuttle station and Luke helped Mara carefully into the small craft before it hurtled the five-minute journey along to the nearest point for the short stroll to Luke's apartment. Climbing out, he again held out his hand and Mara took it, wondering all the time what was happening to them. They felt as if they were in some sort of a daze, almost protected from reality, if only for a moment.

Luke's apartment was dark when they arrived there. Luke reached for the light controls, but Mara shook her head, her eyes glittering at him in the darkness. Still saying nothing, Luke pulled her into his arms and devoured her mouth with his own, crushing her slim body to his harder, more masculine one. Breathing hard, they broke apart and Luke ran his hand over the softness of her cheek.

"Come," he murmured, as if afraid to speak aloud.

The lovers carefully climbed down the spiral staircase, Luke leading and Mara following. It wouldn't always be that way because they were an equal partnership. When they reached the bottom, Luke dropped Mara's things on the floor and lifted her into his arms.

Mara's heart soared as he swept her off her feet, and she placed soft lips against the sensitive spot on his neck as he carried her into his bedroom and laid her gently on the bed.

"Payback time," she whispered throatily and pulled him down to her.

"Payback?" Luke moaned, as she began to torment him in ways he'd only dreamt of. Mara removed her clothing until she was left in her thin undergarments. Luke's eyes traced the outline of her feminine shape as she began to tease him. Mara's hands tugged at the collar of his tunic and stripped it carefully from him, revealing the blue shirt underneath. Luke opened passion-glazed eyes and smiled at her. Mara began to remove it, searching for the naked flesh beneath and when her lips met tanned skin, Luke shuddered. His hands rose of their own accord and slowly pulled the thin straps from her shoulders and the camisole slipped to her waist, revealing Mara's body in all of its perfection. Slim waist, curved hips and soft rounded, taunting breasts…. The picture swam before Luke's tortured gaze. His hands reached for her taut pink tipped nipples and Mara laughed low in her throat.

"Not yet, just wait."

Luke's head pressed back into the pillow and his cheeks flushed feverishly as her hands trailed lower and began to unwrap his lower half from his remaining clothes. She did it so slowly that Luke's already fragile grasp of his body's attributes vanished.

"Mara!" His eyes glittered wildly in his burning face. "Mara!" His voice rose in the strangled groan of a man very close to the end of his tether.

"Oh yes, farmboy - payback. Now ssh! Don't talk." Mara slid her supple body completely over his and began to rotate gentle hips.

"This is payback?" Luke's voice cracked.

Through the long night, they spoke little verbally, but communicated with hands, lips and senses. Flesh to flesh, skin to skin and soul to soul. Mara Jade and Luke Skywalker were weaving spells of desire that they could never break. The tempo of their loving rose and fell and rose again as Mara took Luke deep within her until they both reached the completion they needed. When the passion stilled, there were tears in their eyes.

Luke gazed steadily across the low table towards Mara. Her green eyes contained all the promise and trust that their relationship had sought and gained over the years. He did not smile - neither did she. What was to come before them contained some of their own history. The things they were about to find out could tell them why they were what they were. They'd come a long way together. They still had a long way to go, but it was a journey they were ready to take.

"It's time," he whispered gravely. "Banish fear from your mind, empty it of all thoughts save the connection to the Force. We will need all our combined strength."

"I know," Mara answered. "I can feel it."

"Then we are ready. It is time - begin."

Mara awoke alone in the big bed, but didn't feel the disorientation and unease she'd felt the time before. It had been good last night - in fact, it had been better than good. Payback was definitely something she should have done much earlier and that man…. Her body tingled at the memory of how passionately he'd reacted to her touch. All that Jedi calm was extremely deceptive and Mara wouldn't have it any other way. What it hid was for her alone and her face warmed at how wantonly she'd succumbed to his fervent caresses.

Light was streaming through the open windows and the smell of caf teased her nose. Rising quickly, she showered and dressed, then followed the appetising smell onto Luke's lower balcony.

Luke sat engrossed reading a data pad, munching on his breakfast and occasionally patting Artoo Detoo's little domed head. Mara grinned and sneaked up behind him. She would have to have words with him about his general level of alert concentration. She could have been trying to kill him. As it was, she was just after his breakfast. Luke's hand hovered in mid air, clutching a newly baked bread roll as he absently scrolled down the text he was reading.

"Hey!" Luke's face pouted. "That's my breakfast!"

Mara grinned triumphantly and took a healthy bite, her perfect teeth closing over the roll with a satisfying crunch.

"Was your breakfast, farmboy."

"Artoo, she's stolen my breakfast!" Luke complained. "Zap her with something - now."

Artoo let out a pealing electronic chuckle and then snorted. That's what it sounded like to the humans. Luke rolled his eyes; he would get no help from that quarter.

Mara grinned and took another large bite taunting Luke, her eyes gleaming with irrepressible good spirits. Luke stood up and closed in on her, his arms surrounding her tightly.

"Do you want to share?" he asked throatily.

"Should I, share? You know I don't normally share anything with anybody." Her tongue slipped out and moistened her lips. Luke's breathing quickened, his gaze focused on her lips.

"You shared plenty with me last night," his voice deepened, and Mara felt her insides quiver.

"Yes, but only with you." Pausing, she relented and fed him a small piece of the roll. His mouth closed over her fingers and he sucked at the suddenly sensitive tips.

"Good morning," he whispered, gazing steadily into her sharp green eyes.

"Luke…"

"I just wished you a good morning, Jade. What have you to say for yourself?"

Green eyes narrowed in on twinkling blue. "Morning, Skywalker," her voice turned breathless as he pulled her closer. "Luke…. I… Oh hell." She wrapped her greasy, bread-crusted fingers around Luke's neck and kissed him. When they drew apart they were both breathing heavily.

"Now, it is a good morning," Luke whispered unsteadily.

"Oh go away with you," she muttered. "Sleep well?"

"Yes and no." His mouth curved into a smile. "I kept trying to sleep, but this strange woman kept brushing up against me, winding her arms around my defenceless body and forcing me to make love to her."

"I didn't hear you complain much," she countered dryly, watching with wicked amusement as Luke flushed. His awkward flirting was a welcome change to the penetrating regard of the Jedi Master. This was the man she'd fallen in love with. Oh, she loved the Jedi Master too but he was only part of Luke's persona - part of a complicated, frustrating, annoying, wonderful individual.

"I forgot," he offered lamely, tilting his head and giving her a sideways look. "Hungry?"

"Famished."

"All that exercise…." Luke turned scarlet, then white before his colour returned to something approaching normal. "… makes you hungry," he finished bravely.

Mara smiled at him and sat down, grabbed his plate and began to munch her way through the rest of his breakfast, before he finally went to get more. When he returned, he proceeded to steal items from her plate.

Breakfast was a carefree and light-hearted meal, as if they both knew they had difficult issues to deal with later in the day. Luke behaved in a way that Mara had never witnessed before. It was as if being together and being happy had turned him into the man he should have been. Mara's heart filled with a fierce determination that he would become that man.

For the rest of the morning they went through a strenuous workout and drill with lightsabers, focusing mind and body. Then Luke insisted on meditation.

"Skywalker!" Mara moaned.

"Jade," he returned unmoved, his tone even. "We need to do this - to be completely in tune with the Force today. We need its strength and its guidance."

"The holocron?"

Luke nodded, his expression intent. "Something tells me this is the way forward."

"A Force hunch?"

"Perhaps."

This was the Jedi Master, not the lover. Mara, in turn, became more serious. She' d never been one to turn away from difficulties.

"Of course, I'm sorry," she told him, her face grave.

"You've nothing to be sorry for, Mara."

"I have, you know."

"It's past - over. We're wakening a new future. Yes, we look backwards today, but only to help us move forwards into tomorrow."

"Very profound, Skywalker. Just the thing the Jedi Master would say," Mara teased lightly.

"I am the Jedi Master. I can't get away from it, Jade. It's part of who I am." He offered her a bittersweet smile. "If you take me on, Mara, this is what you get."

Mara dipped her head and a rueful smile appeared. "I know, but I'll never let him take you over completely."

Luke moved to her side and took her into his arms. "I need you, Mara Jade. Never forget that. The Jedi Master needs you. So does the man from a third rate farm on a tenth rate backwater, sandball planet. The one who doesn't think he deserves you, but desperately loves you and hopes you will pity him enough to love him back."

"You know I do, Luke." Mara peered at him, her green eyes suspiciously bright. "You gave me your soul and I now know what a precious gift that was. Could you keep mine safe for me?"

"Oh, Mara." Luke murmured tenderly and brushed his lips over hers, a wisp of a touch, gossamer wings of delight spiralling through them both. She placed her head on his shoulder and they moved into the warmth of his favourite room, shutting away the bright lights and hectic life of the planet city.

"I'm ready."

Luke nodded and brought Mara to a low table surrounded by cushions. "Sit there," he murmured, then he moved towards where Artoo Detoo was plugged into a computer socket. "I'm going to move you upstairs Artoo, and I want you to make sure we are not disturbed by anyone for any reason. I don't care how many clones of Emperor Palpatine are discovered, or if the Ssi-Ruuk invade. I'm not at home. My sister may contact me, but you can give her a message. Tell her…." he paused. "No, I'll tell her…"

'Luke!' He could feel his sister's surprise, but Leia was naturally interfering and would not be able to wait much longer on learning how Luke and Mara had fared on leaving her and Han the previous day.

'No, this is something Mara and I have to do alone.' In his mind's eye he visualised his sister, her dark eyes serious, wanting to aid him in any way, but also respecting his judgement.

'Okay, brother and May the Force be with you. I'll be thinking of you both.' Her tone turned mischievous. 'How did things go yesterday?'

Luke grinned; Leia just couldn't help it. He loved his strong-willed, interfering sister but there was no way he was telling her everything. He sent a feeling of warmth and satisfaction to her. 'Things went fine.'

'Love you and take care.' He felt her smile.

'Will do," Luke, with a tender smile of his own, cut the link and helped Artoo move upstairs to his usual place by the door. Artoo swivelled his head and chirped a couple of times.

"Of course I'll be careful, Artoo. You know me."

Artoo blatted a quick raspberry and plugged himself into the socket.

Luke climbed quickly down the spiral stairway and retrieved a small box from a drawer in his workstation. With a rapt expression on her face, Mara watched him placed the box reverently on the table in front of her. A breeze from the slightly open windows moved over her face, teasing her tumbled curls without disturbing them. Luke's hands pulled gently at a springy reddish-gold lock before sitting across from her.

He gestured for her to go ahead and Mara opened the box, bringing out a small cloth-covered item. With careful fingers, she unwrapped it from its jade green cover. The cloth was old and almost felt as if it might have come from a piece of clothing. Ignoring the holocron, she fingered the fabric. It had to be vinesilk and a vision of a woman dressed in the fabric holding a baby to her breast flashed into her eyes.

"Luke!" she said, her eyes sparkling. "That's the first real memory I have of my mother. It's the only memory. I never thought it possible."

"I know. I see it too." He marvelled that their connection, their bond in the Force had become so intertwined that they almost could experience the same things at the same time. "Don't worry, Mara, we'll find more and if we don't, we will just have to make memories of our own."

"It was Mirahn." Her voice was certain.

"Yes, your mother."

"My mother." Mara hugged the knowledge to herself.

The holocron sat nestled in the soft fabric and Mara finally paid it the proper attention it was due. The power of the Force rippled from the small crystal cube.

"It's beautiful," Mara whispered, awed.

Luke gazed deeply at the woman across from him and stretched out his hand, his rough fingers clasping hers. "So are you," he murmured. Mara stared at him, the man who was her destiny, and took a deep breath. Luke was right. It was time.

Luke closed his eyes and sought the patterns in the Force that centred and grounded him totally in the lightside. Mara watched him curiously. She’d seen him lose control in her arms, now she was watching him gain the ultimate in control through the Force. She saw all of Luke Skywalker – Jedi master and man. Closing her eyes, Mara sought to join him in the cool calm of the meditative state. As their fingers reached for each other and entwined, Mara inadvertently touched the holocron and it began to glow with a steady pulsing hum in the Force as it, too, tapped into the power that connected all living beings.

The room grew dark as Coruscant’s sun descended over the horizon. Time passed and Mara Jade and Luke Skywalker sat motionless, their eyes shut, their breathing deep and slow. The two Jedi were caught in something so powerful that they would never have believed it if they hadn’t experienced it. Colourful images began to swirl in front of their closed eyes. Luke suddenly became aware that he could see Mara – he could feel her presence with him in the vision. They were both experiencing exactly the same thing. He’d never sensed such unity between two Jedi before – ever.

They saw an agricultural world and behind a ramshackle farm building, two figures embraced passionately. The man wore an Imperial Captain’s uniform, but his hat lay discarded on the dusty earth. His hair, a flaming red, shone in the weak sunlight. The woman was smaller with red brown hair and dressed in rough homespun work clothes. When they parted, Mara could see that the couple had tears in their eyes and the woman’s green eyes were uncannily like her own.

"Mirahn, I don’t care. I’m beginning to believe you about the Emperor. Vader is evil, but I’ve seen things, done things that His Majesty cannot be unaware of. I’ve done it because the Emperor wanted it done. No reason, just a vicious whim and Mirahn…. You are a Jedi Knight. You can still be one."

A small cynical smile flashed quickly across her face. "Do I?" she questioned, but not expecting an answer. ‘Never underestimate the Emperor, Jan. You may think Vader is evil, but he’s mainly Palpatine’s puppet, his tool – the Emperor created Darth Vader to destroy us."

He moved away from the woman and taking out a small knife, violently ripped the Imperial insignia and rank cylinder from his tunic and ground it into the dirt beneath his booted feet. The picture then changed to a shabby building in an anonymous industrial world and two naked figures tangled in a bed, communicating the way men and women had done for millennia. That there were repercussions from this act was not lost on the watchers. The picture changed and the woman was in great pain. The Imperial Captain, still wearing his now threadbare uniform, was helping her as she gave birth.

Mara tightened her grip on Luke’s hand. "My birth," she sent to him. Then the calm picture of Mirahn wearing the dress of green vinesilk. It must have been a happy time, for her face bore an expression of love and contentment.

Jaden moved towards his wife and child, placing his arm around them. But the look on his face was a troubled one. "You both are." He hesitated, unwilling to spoil the moment; they’d had so few. "Mirahn… we have to leave here."

"But why?" Her voice rose. We’ve been happy here, made a little money, and lived comfortably for only six months. What have the Jedi done that is so terrible?" Then she nodded, her face paling with the dawning realisation of a horrible fate just over the horizon. "I feel it – it’s Vader."

"I heard some of the troopers talking." Jaden lowered his face a little ashamedly. "I know I shouldn’t have been anywhere near them, but I had to know."

"Oh, Jan," her voice murmured sadly.

The fear and darkness palpable in the next jumbled series of images made Mara and Luke’s blood run cold as the little family ran for their lives. There was no doubt that a great love was present, albeit a slightly unwilling one between the Jedi woman and the Imperial. They had given up everything for one another. They had made their choice and now they were paying for it. The two adults grew careworn; streaks of grey appeared in the man’s bright hair and tiny lines on her face. Mirahn’s shoulders seemed to bear the brunt of the hardships as they plotted to stay one step ahead of Palpatine and his Jedi catchers, yet the baby grew and thrived. Sharp green eyes, pale creamy skin and a determined little chin with curls of a colour most people only dreamt about. It wasn’t as red as her father’s, the child’s’ hair contained copper and streaks of gold. It was getting more difficult to hide her.

Time passed, scenes changed and things happened that Luke and Mara couldn’t and didn’t understand, but time was running out. Imperials were catching up with the little family. The net was closing in and there was no way to slip through the mesh. The relationship wasn’t as happy either. Yes, two people who loved, but even the most secure struggle, living the way they were.

"Don’t you think I don’t know that? I’ve tried to shield her presence," she coughed weakly. "But I haven’t the strength to do it and your powers are too weak to help."

"Don’t remind me that I’m not as strong as other Jedi. I wasn’t picked for training." He turned his back on Mirahn, his shoulders stiff, his voice bitter.

"Jan, don’t let us fight. I’ve been having such dreams." Her voice was truly terrified. "I’m tired, Jan, so very tired." She coughed dispiritedly. "I’m using all my strength protecting Mara and I don’t know how long I can go on doing that. Fear is of the dark side and I’m frightened, Jan. I’m really frightened. Look at her, she’s so innocent and beautiful, and she’s more Force sensitive than any Jedi child I’ve ever come across. What’s going to happen to her? We’re not going to outrun them for ever." She broke down and he wrapped her in his arms, his own face tight. He knew she was right. He was tired of running and they had little money, but he would protect his wife and daughter with his last breath.

"So we go on as before." Her lips tightened into a thin line and she walked wearily to check on the baby who lay sleeping.

The picture faded and as much as Luke and Mara strained they couldn’t bring it back. The next image wasn’t pleasant. Jaden sank to his knees clawing at his collar, gasping for breath and in front of him stood a black visaged figure.

"The Emperor will be pleased. He wants to see both of you, most particularly." His breath mask hissed chillingly as the child, sensing the darkness and fear in the air, began to cry.

Mara moved as in a dream into Luke’s arms. They were powerless to stop what was going on for it had happened a long time ago. Vader stretched a black-gloved hand and the figure of her father crumpled to the floor. Mara choked back a cry as she immediately saw Mirahn holding a screaming child close to her breast.

The Imperial soldiers took hold of Mirahn and one of them wrenched her daughter from her. She fought with all that she had, but she couldn’t risk using her blaster, not when one of the soldiers trained his on the wailing toddler. The child sobbed and held her arms out to her mother but was carried off until her piteous cries could no longer be heard. The expression on the woman’s face was heartrending in her anguish and despair. She begged, pleaded, but to no avail and was left next to the unconscious form of her husband in the planet’s garrison detention block, where her sobbing cut through the dreaded emptiness in her heart.

The Imperial soldier put the sobbing child on the cold metallic floor of the Emperor’s private shuttle. "This is the Jedi woman’s child."

Vader knelt down and swept the child into his arms. "She’s strong in the Force. The Emperor will want to see her too." He scrutinised the small figure in his arms. She stopped crying and surveyed him with a cool almost adult look on the tiny, flower petal face and placed a hand on Vader’s black mask. He chuckled for a moment. "We would not see you suffer, for you are innocent of their crimes. You have a destiny to serve a higher cause." He made her a promise then drew a hand across Mara’s forehead, lulling her into a Jedi hibernation trance.

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

Luke opened his eyes to find Mara clinging to him, tears running down her face.

"Mara," he whispered. "Mara." He shook her gently. "Snap out of it. You're here now with me, and you're safe. It's past."

"Here." Luke handed her a glass of something strong and helped her take a sip. Mara choked and coughed as the fiery Corellian Brandy trickled down her throat. Luke poured himself a generous measure and tossed it back in one gulp. Mara widened her eyes a little, but said nothing. Luke wasn't one to drink much.

They both looked at the holocron, seeing for the first time that it shone with a strange inner glow as if it was fired by a mysterious power source.

"The holocron aided our vision," Mara said, sounding shocked.

Luke nodded looking unsurprised. "Yes - it did. We know very little on how they work. But let's take a little break. I feel I've gone ten rounds with the rancor."

"Me too." Mara rubbed her hands wearily across her reddened eyelids, too emotionally drained to notice Luke's apprehension. Was he ever to escape the legacy of being Vader's son? Would she hold it against him - stop loving him?

He returned to her side and pulled her onto his lap, her head on his shoulder and they sat just drawing comfort from each other.

They sat for about an hour, not speaking, just touching. Luke caressed Mara's hair and the gentle motion soothed her into a light doze. This had to be so hard for her. He secured her firmly in his arms and lifted her through to the bedroom. He would access some of the data files while she slept. Anything to stop thinking about his father and the evils he'd helped to perpetuate

He looked down at Mara, as she lay curled in sleep, her face free from the brittle mask she often assumed like a suit of armour. She was not an easy person to love; though he admitted to himself that he found it very easy and had done so for a long time. Would she forgive him after the things they had seen together? He hoped with all his heart that she would - he loved her that much. Wandering back into the sitting room, he switched on his desklamp and sat at his workstation. Drawing on the Force, he again peered at the strange hieroglyphs until they formed the data he required. Names, dates flashed past his eyes. If he'd ever wondered about the number of Jedi killed during the purges, he had his answer. It was all there. He switched off the light and rubbed his hands tiredly through his hair and still the holocron pulsed with power behind him. All the names of the Jedi Palpatine had destroyed had been meticulously entered into the records. Mirahn's name was among them as was a mention of her husband. They had died together, but it didn't say how. Mara would have to be told yet he knew it would be no surprise to her.

"Skywalker?" He turned at the sound of her soft voice. "Do you think the holocron held our vision within it?"

He stared at her for a moment, then said. "Partly. I wonder if it's been connected to your signature in the Force. It formed in my hands, but I had to see you first before we accessed it."

"Is it too late to access now?"

"No, I don't think so, not unless you're still tired." Luke tried to keep his unrest from their strengthening bond in the Force, but she knew something had upset him. A shadow had darkened his eyes and his sense had clouded.

"Skywalker - what is it? What's wrong?"

He peered up at her through his overlong fringe, the fair strands hiding the expression in his eyes. "Nothing."

"I want to know and don't give me the garbage about patience. You're concealing something from me. "

"Would I do that?" He quirked an eyebrow, trying to change the subject

"Farmboy, you can't lie to me. I know. Out with it".

"Vader."

Mara instantly understood and she saw how he'd been worrying over it for the past couple of hours. Luke Skywalker may be the Jedi Master, but in some areas he had little or no confidence and what irked her was that he was anticipating how she would react and immediately thinking the worst. Fire leapt to her green eyes and she immediately grabbed the front of his tunic pulling him roughly from his chair. "You ever doubt me like that again and you'll be missing another limb. You are not answerable for what Vader did. You can't change the past, Luke. My parents weren't saved, but you saved me."

Mara examined her feelings and found that she didn't care who had done this to her parents. Vader had been the Emperor's puppet, just as her mother had said. Luke wasn't to blame for any of it, but he still wanted to shoulder the blame, if she'd wanted to lay it on him. Didn't he know how much she loved him? She pushed him back into the chair, where he sat with wide blue eyes staring at her in bewilderment. But Mara was to learn the innocent guise was just that - a mask to cover the fragile heart he guarded so carefully beneath. The heart he'd given to her

"I'm truly sorry about my father, Mara."

Mara laid a graceful hand on his cheek in a comforting gesture. "Forget about it, Luke. It changes nothing between us."

He stretched out a careless arm and wrapped it around her slim waist pulling her towards him. Tumbling her into his lap he pulled her close and nuzzled into her hair. Mara stiffened for a moment, she was unused to such loving, but Luke seemed to see it as perfectly natural so she relaxed. Pulling back a little he gave her a quick possessive kiss and pushed her to her feet again.

"Hey! I just got here."

"You did want to access the holocron?"

"You know I do."

"Well then!"

"Jedi masters!" Mara muttered crossly.

"Don't you just love us," Luke quipped and pulled her back to the low table where the holocron sat on the faded piece of vinesilk. He plopped down on a cushion and pulled Mara down with him where she rested in between his legs. "Go on Mara. Touch it," he urged quietly all teasing gone from his handsome face.

"Only if you touch it with me."

"Sure,"

Luke threaded his hand through Mara's and together they placed their intertwined hands gently on the delicate cube. It was literally like being sucked into a whirlpool. The cube drew them towards it.

The voice crackled and broke off. Luke frowned, as he'd had little experience with holocrons, most having been destroyed long ago. The vision of a bearded man with silver eyes vanished and a young woman appeared in his place.

"This is the holocron containing the teachings of Jedi Master Ranik Solusar, Jedi Master Allia Dinn and Jedi Master Ekhro Yharn. Unfortunately they were unable to finish what they started, but all the information on their teachings has been recorded. I was the third padawan of Jedi Master Ranik Solusar. I am Jedi Knight Mirahn Vashneyik of Commenor. I must make sure their work is not lost forever, yet it must not fall into the hands of the Sith."

"I am Jedi Master Luke Skywalker of Tatooine and this is Jedi Knight Mara Jade of Coruscant."

The holographic figure hesitated. Whatever technology was used to make this was simply amazing. Mirahn looked surprised. "So you are alive, my daughter?"

"So you are alive, my daughter?"

The image flickered unsteadily and Luke suddenly understood that this recording had been made hurriedly. It was as if Mirahn had slit the holo imaging technique itself and slipped between the data. Just waiting for something or someone with the correct presence in the Force to activate it. If Mara had died before all this was discovered, the message would never have been heard.

'Always in motion is the future.' Yoda's oft-quoted saying seemed to linger in Luke's mind. Strange how things turned out.

Mirahn held out her hands. "If I am talking to you now, it is because you have grown and accepted your rightful place as a Jedi Knight in the light side of the Force."

Mara fell forward onto her knees and held out her hand in appeal. She tried to commit every detail, every part of Mirahn to her memory. Luke steadied her and supported her, his hands sure at her waist.

"Mother?" Her voice shook but no censure, accusation or hatred coloured her tone. There was great depth of feeling and a just acceptance of the way things had come to be. Mara had accepted the truth about herself. She stood on the threshold of a new life; she had awakened from a long sleep and stood on the dawn of change.

The woman smiled.

"I'm not really here you know, I died a long time ago. I'd hoped this message would reach you someday. That's why I coded into this holocron. It wasn't mine to make. I am not a master -unlike you." She directed her comment to Luke. He had to be amazed at the awesome power of the Force. How had she known? Perhaps the holocron was tapping off his power and recognising Luke's own white Force presence. He wasn't sure if that was the case, but it was a reasonable explanation. He wanted to believe it was more than mere chance. Luke nodded deferentially towards the Jedi woman - he did believe.

"I was Ranik Solusar's third padawan learner and I studied with the others who helped put their knowledge into this holocron. Masters Dinn and Yharn have much to teach you. I helped with setting up some of the information held within. The Emperor learned of its existence through me. I was not good at shielding my thoughts and my feelings, unlike you, Mara. You have yours locked so tightly - how will your young man ever know your true feelings?"

"I picked a wiser one than you did," Mara paled as the words left her lips.

"True, daughter."

"He knows my feelings. He's always known."

Luke closed his eyes as the twin emotions of total joy and abject pain threatened to overwhelm him. Joy at her admission of any emotional dependence and pain that it had taken them so long to come to this point in their lives.

Mirahn gazed at the couple with compassion. Her road had finished long ago. They were setting out on their journey with hope in their hearts. If she'd been of the living, she would have envied them.

"Jan Jaden had some Force aptitude, but was not strong enough to train. However, he could communicate with Palpatine through the Force - only at short distances and for limited periods of time - but he couldn't control or hide it, and I think half the time he wasn't aware of doing so. We met in the grounds surrounding the Senate gardens where I was acting as an assistant to one of the Jedi Representatives, and I fell in love with him immediately. Oh I tried to hide it, as such a union would have been forbidden, but it was my destiny to love him and thus to have you. My unthinking belief and trust in Jan was played to the Emperor without our knowledge.

Eventually the Jedi Council found out - it was inevitable that they would. We were warned that this relationship could not happen - it had to end. There was too much at stake. I was young and I didn't understand."

Luke rubbed his hand across his mouth. "You disobeyed the Council," Luke murmured knowingly. Mara had to get her spark, her bloody-minded determination, from somewhere. Now he knew. Luke gave the woman in his arms an affectionate glance. If her mother was anything like his Mara, then Jan Jaden wouldn't have stood a chance.

Mirahn continued her tale. "Palpatine was by then undergoing his systematic extermination of our kind. At first, it was only a rumour and then as we began to fall one by one he grew more confident. Yoda and the Jedi Council tried to do what they could. Kenobi had disappeared a few years earlier, as had Anakin Skywalker. The way of the Jedi was disappearing fast in front of our eyes.

The council looked for ways to safeguard their most precious teachings if the worst happened. Some of the Jedi began to create holocrons and smuggle them off world."

"Many still haven't been found," Luke murmured quietly.

Mirahn nodded slowly. "I was eventually confined to my quarters in the temple because I had disobeyed instructions the council gave me regarding Jan. I watched Master Solusar, Master Dinn and Master Yharn work on their holocron. I had studied with Master Solusar; I knew his ways. But even the final warning wasn't enough to keep me away from Jan. The Emperor learned of this last holocron because of me. I was stubborn to a fault and I couldn't stay away from the man I loved. I was wrong. It should never have happened and I should have adhered to the council's instructions. I unwittingly betrayed the knowledge to Jan and he couldn't keep a secret from his Master any more than he could stop breathing. I suspect if at that time Palpatine had told him to do that, he would have obeyed.

Palpatine decided he would steal the holocron and possibly destroy it, once he had learned its teachings. But this holocron was so attuned to the light side of the Force, Palpatine could not access the vast wealth it hid within it and in revenge he destroyed the Jedi Temple. We couldn't prove it was him but the flames burned with dark side energy. It was my home, my centre and my salvation and it was gone. The Jedi Council knew it had to be because of me. I had disregarded their instructions too many times. I was headstrong and lacked discipline but I felt so much emotion in my soul..."

Mara flinched and turned to stare at Luke. He was watching her, not Mirahn. 'I gave you my soul, that night.' His eyes seemed to bore through her and he nodded unsmilingly. Mara pulled Luke's head towards her and gave him a quick hard kiss.

"I know," she whispered. "The Jedi code got it wrong. Emotion binds us together."

Mirahn watched their exchange with a sympathetic expression. "Don't lose what you have. When I left Coruscant I thought I'd lost everything. I was banished and I accepted my fate, but not before stealing the holocron back. I should have returned it to Yoda, but terrified that the Emperor would find me and kill me for what I'd dared to do or even worse take out his anger on Jan, I ran, taking the holocron with me. Then I ran as far away as I could. I ran away from the Jedi and from Jan, I lost my pride; ashamed of my weakness I gave up carrying my lightsaber. Eventually Jan found me again. He was a good man and could no longer take what was happening in the New Order. Losing me had somehow opened his eyes to what was really happening out there. We fell in love all over again and you blessed our lives, but also made it more difficult for us to run. He was a good Imperial soldier and I suspect the most courageous thing he ever did in his life was to fall in love with me. He left all that he knew for me, to follow a path he never really believed in and suffered for the choices he made. He did love you deeply, Mara. You made it worthwhile for both of us."

Luke placed his hands on Mara's tense shoulders and began a soothing massage. She was straining without moving, her muscles knotted and tight. "Relax," he murmured softly.

"It was inevitable we were caught. You had such a powerful Force signature added to Jan's weak link with Palpatine. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't shield all three of us and we knew it. I met Solusar one more time before he was killed and told him I had the holocron. Ranik had smiled wearily and told me a holocron could be broken up and only a true Jedi strong in the light side of the Force would be able to forge it anew with its secrets intact. I dismantled it and when I was caught, I think it disappeared. I'd carried around some things for such a long time. The holocron, some data cards onto which I'd added information as I discovered it. I had records of my own training so that one day I would be able to pass on what I'd learned to my daughter. Not much to show for a life. Still, I had you, Mara, the most precious thing in the world to Jan and me. This message was keyed to your presence in the Force, Mara. I had to believe there was still goodness and light in the galaxy - I had to believe there still was hope and you would survive. I am at peace now. Cannot you find some too?"

"I'm trying to," she snapped. Mara's eyes darkened to a stormy grey-green but as she glanced at Luke, her fierce expression softened. "Finding my true identity, who I really am is important to me, especially after living a lie for so long."

Her mother smiled. "Even as a baby, you could hold out from sleeping longer than we thought was humanly possible. You would not give in." She smiled and Luke saw an echo of Mara's seldom seen carefree grin.

"We were caught and you were taken from my arms. Jan and I were separated for days until we were brought into the presence of the Emperor himself. You sat on his knee, but they had done something to you and you didn't react to anything that was going on. He gave you to me, but you didn't respond at all. You just stared with a glassy look on your little face."

Mirahn began to weep, tears sliding down her face. Mara sat as if turned to stone and Luke found that his own eyes were wet. He wrapped his arms around her and channelled all his love towards her. She was going to need every bit of it; he knew that much.

"Palpatine had snapped something in Jan's mind too, he was dazed, confused, barely coherent. He didn't recognise you or me, Mara, and I begged him to wake up. I screamed at him and Palpatine sat cackling at us, feeding off our pain."

"He held his blaster and pointed it at you. I didn't know what Palpatine had done to you, but you didn't recognise either of us and I tried to correct it through the Force. He was much stronger than I was and it was to no avail. I did what I could and instead sent a wave of the Force towards Jan. I sent my last despairing effort and I thought I had failed. They all thought I'd failed - Vader and the Emperor thought that. I could sense Palpatine smirking. But Jan… he looked at me, something sparked in his eyes. His hand lowered.

Jan's arm raised again and he faced me avoiding Mara, avoiding even looking at her and placed the gun against my temple. I could feel his despair and his confusion, his whirling, spinning thoughts. Again I sent the light of the Force to him through our marriage bond and the dark terrors began to clear. I thought I was too late but his hand shook and I knew the Force had given him back his right mind. He now knew what he was doing - what he had to do and turned the blaster on himself.

Then he fired.

Palpatine's face darkened in shock, surprise and a swift spiralling anger - the air crackling with twisted energy. He raised his hands and hissed something. I felt a searing pain in my gut. With my failing strength I held on to you and begged and pleaded for my life so that I could look after my daughter, but I could see no room for mercy on the Emperor's part. I would not turn to the dark side - I could not. I only had to look at my daughter. Then Vader whispered something and the Emperor stopped causing me such pain. Lord Vader removed you from my arms and carried you away, but as he did so, he dropped my own saber, the one I hadn't seen for years into my lap. I killed myself with my own saber in the hope that if I became one with the Force I could protect you. I was wrong and I'm sorry. I loved your father, Mara, and he loved us. Please forgive me…."

The flickering image disappeared and was replaced again by the man with the silver eyes. "I am Ranik Solusar…"

Luke pulled his hand from the holocron and Ranik Solusar's wise visage vanished

"Bring her back, Luke!" Mara turned crying wildly. "She can't be gone."

"Mirahn will always be with you," he assured her gently, his voice and manner projecting peace and calm.

"She's in the holocron." She beat her hands on Luke's strong chest. "She's there. I want my mother… I need her. Bring her back!" Her face twisted in a painful grimace. Her fists clenched, eyes blazing through her tears.

"No, she's not there, not any more. It's a manifestation of her spirit. The Force has granted you this gift." He grabbed her by the wrists and looked directly into her eyes. "Come on, Mara. It's okay."

"But I saw her…. I saw her." The glare crumpled and her head dropped, her neck too slender to support the weight of her pain.

"Ssh…" Luke pulled her into his arms and rocked her, trying to stop the storm of weeping. Thirty years of anguish poured from Mara Jade. Thirty years of tainted association, thirty years of living a lie so twisted that even she hadn't known she was living it.

"Ssh…" he comforted. "Let it go, let it heal. Come on, sweetheart." His soothing voice finally eased her into almost stillness, punctuated with small sobs, until her bright head rested on his chest. Luke caressed her and held her close to his heart, letting its rhythm ease her fears and her doubts. Eventually, she released the last of her tension in a shuddering breath.

"Mara!" Luke pulled her head from his chest and rubbed his thumb over her parted lips. "Mara."

"Oh, Luke" Her arms surrounded him and she pressed herself tight into his warm, living, loving presence.

"You know who you are." He kissed her forehead tenderly, his love enveloping her in a way that she almost remembered in a different lifetime. It had been millennia since she'd been loved this much.

A wisp of an image flashed in front of her eyes, just a pair of green eyes smiling down at her and the feeling of a man's arms keeping her safe. She'd been loved, she was sure of it and she was loved now. The man who held her so close to him, treating her as if she was the most precious thing in his world, loved her.

"Yes…" Luke breathed. "Believe, Mara." He tipped her chin up with a gentle finger and dipped his head so that his lips could find her own and with a sigh like a drop of rain in the desert he once more offered her his heart.

Ignored, the crystal holocron shimmered and for the last time, the ghostly figures of Jaden and Mirahn watched the living proof of their love as she was gathered ever closer into the arms of the man who loved her. Finally whole again after so many years of uncertainty and doubt. Then their spectral images vanished, never to be seen again.

Luke's hands began to untangle Mara's hair from its plait and he threaded his fingers through it. His lips parted and his tongue darted out to taste Mara's own. He kissed her as if it were the first time and the last time that he had ever seen her. She tilted her head back, her eyes closed, allowing him access to the delicate smoothness of her neck and the sensitive pulse point just behind her ear. Hands began to knead and clutch, as their duelling tongues grew wilder and more frantic.

"We must stop…" Luke gasped out between heated kisses.

"No! This is life. This is their blessing, their benediction. I want you, Luke."

"And I want you…. Forever."

Her green eyes darkened to slits of grey green chips. "That's the only deal I'm curious about."

"With interest?"

Mara tugged at the collar of his tunic until she could rip it from his body.

"Mara! My …."

Her lips travelled wildly down his strongly muscled chest and found one of his nipples. She sucked and tasted until he couldn't take any more. Pushing her down onto the cushions, he tore at her clothes and helped her do the same to him until they had enough access to complete their frenzied mating. Luke's eyes glowed brighter than any star as he found the home he remembered so well and discovered they were both ready. With a cry of exultation, he parted her legs and made them whole again. Mara arched her back and accepted him within her welcoming warmth.

As he sheathed himself within her, there was a moment when they paused, their eyes darkening further and a wordless communication passed between them. Then Mara smiled, for the first time truly free from her past.

"What kind of interest are we speaking about here, farmboy?" Her tongue slowly wet her parted lips and Luke's staff hardened even more within her body. His hands teased her nipples, his tongue tormented the soft sensitive pulse points at her throat until her head tipped back and her eyes closed. She could no longer remain still against his passionate onslaught. His hands trailed over her body, igniting a trail of fire so hot that it threatened to obliterate them both.

Mara forgot about giving him a chance to answer her question. She didn't give him time to formulate a reply, but murmured huskily, "Just love me, Luke."

His wonderful eyes softened with love as he pressed his mouth softly to her cheek in a gentle kiss. "That's the easy part, my heart. I always have. Even when I didn't know you - I loved you…"

With a smile that promised him everything in the galaxy he ever wanted. Mara pulled his head down to hers and they communicated in a way much older than language.

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

Luke pulled his wife into the crook of his arm as they stood on the balcony of their Coruscant apartment, her head resting on his shoulder.

"I can't believe I actually went and married you!" Mara sounded a little shell-shocked.

"Well you did." Luke's voice was definite and just a little pleased with himself

"You sure?"

"Yup." He turned his head and nuzzled the smooth skin of her cheek, dropping a light kiss on her temple. "I have the records to prove it."

"You sure?"

"Oh yes. I have lodged one with Karrde,"

Mara rolled her eyes. "How much did that cost you?"

He ignored her. "With Lando, one at the Yavin Jedi complex, the New Republic has several and there may be one on Tatooine. Even Artoo has one lodged within his memory banks. I'm just making sure."

"Making sure of what?" she snapped.

"Of you."

Mara lifted her head, her eyes narrowing. "What do you mean by that, farmboy?" she drawled slowly.

"I want to let everyone in the whole galaxy know that you're mine and I'm keeping you and that…" His voice trembled. "You love me enough to marry me. You didn't have to, you know. I would have done anything to keep you with me. I still can't believe…."

Mara placed her slim arms around his neck and moved until she'd pressed her body against his. "Believe it, Luke," she whispered, her lips closing hungrily over his. They kissed deeply. Mara closed her eyes, relishing the taste of him that was so warm, and she had been so long in the cold.

"Leia had already started organising things. Besides, the tales she told me about some of the women who have their eyes on you." She shuddered, mock delicately. "I've always rescued you from the scrapes you've landed yourself in and I thought it would save time in the long run if I just posted you permanently off limits to them."

"You still want to kill me?" Luke sighed theatrically. "That's what the permanent bit means?"

"Oh no. I like having you around," she murmured huskily. "You have certain… uses…" Her voice trailed off suggestively as she dropped a kiss just below his ear.

"My cooking skills?" The words came out with difficulty.

"Number one on my list." Mara murmured as she kissed her way around his jaw. Interesting, the Jedi Master had become somewhat tense.

"Oh," he muttered. The little word accompanied by a pathetic look.

Mara chuckled until she realised the Jedi Master had begun to unbutton some of her wedding apparel. The delicate cream shimmersilk gown was surely one of the most beautiful things she had ever owned. She stayed his hands for a time. She was enjoying their light banter before things would turn…. Serious. A delicious shiver ran through her and Luke's sky blue eyes darkened to a passionate hue 

"I'm going to have to go through a big thing too, for the public?" She turned the conversation back to something a little safer.

"I think the reception Leia has planned will do the trick. That way we can keep the fuss to a minimum."

"Luke!" She gave him an exasperated glare. "Where you are concerned the fuss won't be 'minimum'. You can be so naïve sometimes and for someone who should know better."

But Mara, I don't take part in public life any more. I just teach Jedi. I leave all that kinda stuff to Han and Leia." He collapsed into a low chair and pulled her into his arms and for a while they sat and watched the sun descend and the lights brighten.

Leia had pressed for a public wedding, but Luke had been rather reluctant and Mara downright against it. The Jedi ceremony they had undergone with just their close family including Karrde, Cilghal and Kam Solusar had been truly moving. The civil ceremony had been attended by about fifty of their family and closest friends. To keep Leia happy, Luke had promised a formal reception at a time later on in the year and that had seemed to satisfy her. The most important thing for Luke, after Mara had agreed to marry him, was to get it done as quickly as possible before she had a chance to change her mind. There was no way he was letting that happen.

"Hey!" Her voice cut into his thoughts.

Luke blinked.

"Where were you?" she asked curiously.

"Just thinking about things," he grinned at her.

"What things?"

"Miss Inquisitive," he teased.

"'Scuse me, farmboy, that's Mrs Inquisitive to you. I got married today." Mara stuck her nose in the air and climbed off his lap, only to return with two glasses of a dark red, rich Borleias claret.

Mara handed Luke a glass and watched as he stared into the heart of the liquid. She moved to the chair opposite him. But he lifted his head, his eyes penetrating and she returned to his arms.

"When…" he cleared his throat. "When did you realise how you felt?"

"About you?" Mara took a careful sip of the wine.

He nodded.

"You're still alive aren't you?"

Luke chuckled. "I think so, but that's not what I meant. When did you know?"

Mara curved herself into his body, her head on his shoulder. "I'd begun to suspect things weren't what they should be between us for some time. I was too happy to see you, jealous of any other woman you paid attention to. Then something in the Force twisted round my senses and called me to Coruscant."

I walked in to my upstairs room and you stood there bathed in light. The sunlight shone through the window and your hair turned to a fiery halo of gold. I knew then - consciously I knew then. Unconsciously I must have been in love with you for a long time before that," Luke whispered reverently. His hand traced the path of a wayward curl. "How could I not have fallen in love with you?"

"I asked Leia when she knew you were special."

Luke's jaw dropped. "You asked my sister that! Mara, it’s a wonder the wedding invites weren't put out then. You don't give Leia Organa Solo openings like that." He shook his head.

"She was very good about it," Mara's soft voice was defensive. "But she did ask me some awkward questions."

"She would - she's very good at them. Been married to Han for too long. She knows he will try to out think her or worm his way out of things. So she stays one step ahead. I waited for you that night. I waited here and the Force was strong. It seemed to suggest things that I wanted to hear and yet, couldn't ever consider."

"I had visions of being in your arms. By the time I got to your apartment I'd worked myself into a very tense frame of mind."

"Touch you and you would snap. I remember." He trailed a gentle finger over her bare arm and she shivered. "But I'd never seen anyone looking more beautiful than you did that night, until today of course. If I'd had suspicions before I definitely knew then. Something had awakened in me and all I could dream about was you."

"Then we made love."

"It was inevitable, wasn't it?"

"Inevitable, incredible, indescribable. I've never been so lifted from within myself."

"Me too," his voice tailed off and he smiled with something suspiciously like moisture in his eyes.

Mara caressed his cheek surprised to find that he needed to shave again. She trailed over the little cleft in his chin and smiled as he kissed her fingers. "It was then I realised I was in love with you."

"So you ran away."

"I ran away with my mother's voice ringing in my ears. She liked you."

"I'm a very likeable guy."

"Then I found out what you were doing to yourself, Skywalker." Her face grew pensive at how lost she had felt without him. How vulnerable her emotions had left her - all because of him.

"I had to do something. I hoped you would reconsider, but there were no guarantees. I'd had you in my arms for one night. No one would ever take your place there. My lifetime choice was made. You or no one. Greoa Prime needed me and I was glad to go." Luke sighed. "I thought I'd botched another relationship and this one I'd never recover from. I needed to go where I didn't have time to think because if I did think, all I could see was your face. The volcano reminded me of the volubility of out relationship. Say the wrong thing and something would explode."

"I had to go and get you. You were in trouble so it was my job to get you out."

"Did you ever wonder why you always did that?"

She pinched him hard in the ribs. "I tried not to, Skywalker. I was feeling things I didn't want to feel and I tried to ignore them by using my anger as a shield. But I gave in on the trip to Greoa. I was coming to get you, but this time I was coming for me. I loved you and I knew you loved me. Things suddenly seemed simple. I'd never thought beyond the my finding you part and the sacrifice I'd have to make in return. I'd never considered the fact that finding you and opening myself to the Force would give me a true identity but it did."

"You're quite a woman, Mara Jade Skywalker."

"I'm married to someone very special, so I'm a lucky one and in the end I didn't have to make a sacrifice at all. The things I thought I desired weren't what I wanted at all. They were meaningless and hollow without you."

Luke pushed her to her feet and stood up. Pulling her back into his arms he wrapped his arms around her and they stood like that for a while. Luke wanted to make love to her but he was prepared to take his time, in fact the delaying tactics were heightening the eventual surrender by both of them.

"The holocron is a wonderful piece of history for the Jedi. Kam was especially pleased to see his father's teachings held within it. He's grateful to your mother for keeping it safe. Mirahn has given him a real gift. She's given me one too. I get you." He kissed her nose. "Did I tell you how beautiful you looked today?" Luke gazed at his wife, her cream gown of crushed shimmersilk accentuating the fiery red-gold curls and the sharp clear green of her eyes.

"Frequently," she murmured as her eyes danced into his. "But I don't mind. You were certainly the most handsome of the men. You know I quite fancied you. Blue is your colour." Mara smiled wickedly, enjoying the teasing. That was until Luke bent his head and bit gently at the sensitive point of her neck. Mara Jade Skywalker wasn't the only one who could tease. She let out a breathy moan. "Luke…."

He swallowed and his eyes turned smokily dark with desire. The time for playing games had just run out. He began to kiss her in real earnest, kisses that left her aching and breathlessly desiring more. For a moment they paused stepping away from each other. Mara picked up her glass and offered her husband a silent toast. Luke fetched his glass and returned in kind. Then he drained his glass, deposited it on the table, plucked Mara's from her fingers and roughly swept her into his arms.

Mara slid down Luke's body when they reached the bedroom and suddenly the teasing and playing had gone and the passion which existed between them burst into glorious, burning life. Luke's dark grey-blue tunic was discarded on the floor and Mara's gown received a similar treatment. They tumbled into the bed and joined together, consummating their love again and again.

"My love, my life." Luke's words were slow and slurred as he stared down into Mara's face at the point of possession. She arched her body accepting his heavenly intrusion and whispered. "This was meant to be, Luke. I love you."

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

Somewhere beyond the void Mirahn lifted her head. She had a new journey to take, as had her daughter. Mara had awakened from the influence of Palpatine and had now assumed the place in life she'd been meant to have all along. Mirahn could no longer return to watch over her daughter's soul, but with a last wisp of vanishing presence she sent them love and contentment.

"May the Force be with you both."