Title: Stolen Moments
Genre: Songfic, angst, romance
Rating: PG
Song: Music: "Stolen Moments" by Oliver Nelson, originally appearing on the album "Blues and the Abstract Truth". Lyrics: Mark Murphy
Characters: Luke, Mara Jade, Leia, Talon Karrde
Summary: Mara Jade Skywalker had just gotten married. It should have been the single happiest night of her life, so why then was her stomach tying itself into a thousand Ithorian half-hitches?

Notes: This is one of those songfics that hits you randomly after you've set your iTunes playlist to shuffle. I was listening to the Oliver Nelson jazz standard "Stolen Moments" and flashed back to a vocal arrangement I had performed in high school the year I took a break from Big Band to try my hand at vocal jazz. I looked up a recording of the song and listened back to the lyrics I realized that this was the -perfect- Luke/Mara song.

Setting my writer's cap to the side for a moment to put on my musician's fedora, I'd encourage anyone who reads this or is just a plain old music fan to head over to Amazon and buy a copy of Blues and the Abstract Truth, the landmark jazz album that launched Oliver Nelson's career and helped to define West Coast jazz.

Stolen Moments
Stolen Moments

There were times when Mara Jade wondered if this was really meant to be. She brought her hands under her cheek, shifting slightly on the mattress as she stared at the sleeping form of her husband. The last few days had been a whirlwind, but she supposed that was to be expected of any sort of noteworthy event involving the great Luke Skywalker, hero of the New Republic. Of course she would have preferred a significantly quieter wedding sans the firefights, kidnapping, and murder attempts that had led up to it, but Mara was thankful that in the end the ceremony itself had been flawless

Why, then, was her stomach tying itself into a thousand Ithorian half-hitches?

This can't possibly work.

Mara chewed on her lower lip as the thought punched its way back to the forefront of her mind. It had been a long while since those concerns had plagued her thoughts. She had nearly convinced herself that her fears were utterly irrational and that they would be fine. Mara frowned. Of course she knew that wasn't true. There were very real obstacles and stumbling blocks that could crater their relationship at a moment's notice.

She was aware of the clear and present danger both of them faced. At any time the Imperial Remnant could resurface or the Jedi could uncover some new threat to the Galaxy as a whole. There were countless threats to their well being and continued existence, but that wasn't what concerned Mara.

What if they were right?

She brought her knees a little closer to her chest and looked away from Luke, focusing her attention instead on the patterned bed sheets. They had said a lot of things over the years she and Luke had been together. They were doomed to failure. It would never last. She was beneath him. No matter how much rationalizing she did or how often she was reassured by others, Mara never could fully repress her fears that they could be on to something. Over time she had managed to ease those concerns, but they were always there in the back of her mind, threatening to leap back to the surface.

On what should be the happiest night of her life, Mara Jade was consumed by doubt and fear. Gingerly, she reached out towards Luke, brushing a stray strand of blonde hair out of his face. How long was it going to be before he realized that they had a point? Their backgrounds were so wildly different. He was the revered Jedi and beloved hero. She was the smuggler, information broker, and former servant of the Empire. They weren't living in some fantasy holodrama wonderland; those kinds of differences were tremendously difficult to overcome.

Mara Jade couldn't help but worry that those stark differences would prove to be more than difficult to shoulder in the long run. She feared that, potentially, it was impossible to keep them from destroying their relationship.

If I told you I love you pretty baby
Would it make up for what they say?
If I hold you and squeeze you darlin'
Would you linger a while today?

Coruscant – One Year Earlier

Talon Karrde reached above him to power down the shuttle's systems. He cycled through his mental checklist. Main power drive off, deflector generators off, hyperdrive motivator on standby, life support off. He frowned as he looked at the control panel above him. Judging by the humming that still filled the cockpit he had missed something. As he tentatively reached up to fiddle with the control panel once more another hand brushed his away to flip off a pair of switches.

"You might want to shut down the repulsorlift motivators next time," Mara Jade said from the co-pilot's seat.

Karrde rolled his eyes, "I knew that, I'm just not used to flying one of these things."

"I'm sure."

He resisted the urge to fire a response back towards his second-in-command. Wisely he thought better of it. Getting into a war of words with Mara Jade was usually a futile effort and one best not wasted for something as silly as forgetting to turn off the repulsorlift motivators. Best not to get caught in the crossfire of her sharp wit. Smiling slightly, Karrde undid the restraints holding him to the pilot's seat and stood, wincing slightly as he forced himself to move for the first time in hours. This was why he hated shuttles. It was far easier to move around on a larger cargo freighter.

"I'm starting to think phasing me out is a bad idea," Mara mused as she walked towards the back of the shuttle, keying for the entry ramp to lower. "You're going to fall apart without me, old man."

Admittedly, part of Karrde was going to long for the banter when she was gone. He knew all good things had to come to an end, though. Mara Jade was moving on with her life. These days she had her own struggling trading and shipping business to tend to, not to mention her growing responsibilities to the Jedi. Though he might have wanted to keep her in his employ for the rest of his days he was well aware that wasn't possible or even fair. She was her own woman and would fly in the direction she saw fit for herself. That was why the time had come to begin phasing her out of his organizations operations. He was certain that Shada D'ukal would be fill the role admirably, but he would miss Mara.

They were greeted at the bottom of the ramp by Aves, his longtime aide and communications officer.

"Nice of you to join us," Aves said, handing Karrde a datapad as he descended the ramp.

"A warm greeting as always," Karrde replied as he quickly scanned through the contents. "What's on the agenda?"

"Lunch with the senator from Jaminere," Aves said, "has something or other he wants to discuss with you. Staff meeting at 1330 hours. Formal dinner with prospective clients tonight."

Karrde groaned, "I have to dress up, don't I?"

"That would be the 'formal' part of formal dinner, yes," Aves confirmed, looking over at Mara, "I'm guessing I'll be serving as your arm decoration again tonight?"

"I don't think that will be necessary this time," Mara said with a half-grin, "though I appreciate the offer."

Aves looked relieved, "Thank the Force. I didn't want to try and find a place to rent formalwear today."

Karrde raised a brow but didn't pry further. He had other matters to deal with first.

He didn't see Mara again until the dinner event and by that point had largely forgotten about her insistence that she didn't need a faux-date for the evening as she usually required for events like this. To say he was surprised to see who she walked in with was an understatement. Yet, there they were, Mara Jade and Jedi Master Luke Skywalker, arms linked and smiles plastered on their faces. He was dimly aware that there was something there between them, but that alter the fact that seeing them together was rather unexpected and jarring.

They appeared to have enjoyed themselves, and that was all that really mattered. Mara always had a difficult time indulging herself. Of course, the next morning she only received reinforcement that would likely prevent her from doing that again.

"Did you read this?" Aves held up his datapad as he set his cup of caf down on the table.

Mara glanced up from a stack of flimsiplast, "The Coruscant Daily? I don't read the tabloid garbage."

"It's cheap entertainment," he admitted. "This headline's a gem. Jedi Master's Torrid Love Affair With the Emperor's Hand. Honestly Mara, you step on Coruscant for ten minutes and the media goes wild. This one's absurd even by the Daily's standards."

Karrde, who had been sitting on the sofa to idly watch the morning news looked up just in time to see Mara wince. She held her tongue, but he could see she had been hurt by Aves' words.

If I hold you and hug you my dear so don't argue
Then gossip won't hurt you I'll never desert you
And someday we'll find us where people won't bind us
To the hands of time

It was difficult to step outside these days. Luke frowned to himself as he peered out of the window of the relatively nondescript, small tapcafe. Everywhere he went he knew he was liable to be harassed by the sludgenews and tabloid reporters. There were days he wondered why he bothered to step outside of. As soon as he walked onto the street he knew he was liable to have a recording device shoved in his face by some over-eager young reporter trying to find the latest sound bite to cut and distribute wildly out of context. Truly, it would be easier to stay holed up in the flat he used as his home away from Yavin IV.

"It could be worse," Mara Jade mused as she lifted her cup of caf to her lips, pausing to inhale the scent of the drink and allowing a soft smile to grace her lips. "They could be Stormtroopers waiting to blast your head off the second you set foot out there."

"I think I'd prefer that," Luke mused. "They would all miss wide-right."

"Now, Luke," Mara chided, "just because you managed to run through an entire Death Star without getting shot doesn't mean they're all bad shots."

"No, just most of them."

Luke couldn't help but smile. Of the reasons to leave his home every day, Mara Jade was second only to an out of control fire. He relished the precious little time they could spend together. Between Mara's duties within Talon Karrde's infamous information network and his own responsibilities to the Jedi and tending to the fledgling Academy on Yavin it was incredibly difficult to find themselves on the same planet most of the time. Even if they were on Coruscant at the same time there was no guarantee that they would be able to see each other. They each had duties that, admittedly, got in the way of their relationship more often than Luke would have liked.

Of course, that was why it was worth leaving his flat every now and then. Moments with Mara were far too precious to pass up. Not even the threat of being harassed by the media was going to come in between them if there was an opportunity to be together.
They talked for a long while, stretching out their cups of caf as long as they could. By the time they had finished both of their drinks had gone from steaming-hot to a mild room-temperature warm. For a short while they merely looked at each other nervously. Luke was all too aware that, as much as he wanted to, they couldn't spend the entire day in the quiet little tapcafe. He stared down at his empty cup of caf for a moment before looking up slightly to see Mara's hand resting on the table. She was wearing that bright red polish that he thought looked rather fetching on her again.

"We're going to have to face them eventually," Mara noted. She took her hand away from his line of sight to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Do I have to?" Luke asked.

Mara cocked a brow, "Jedi Master Luke Skywalker pouting? That's rather unbecoming of you, farmboy."

Luke sighed and stood, offering the red-headed woman his hand. She merely nodded towards the window and the reporters waiting for them outside. Best not to give them any more ammunition than they needed and already had. He waited for Mara to grab her jacket before walking over to the door and escorting her outside. Almost immediately they were verbally assaulted by the reporters who had spotted them entering the tapcafe earlier.

"Master Skywalker is it true you're seeing Mara Jade?" One young reporter with a very apparent complexion issue asked.

Luke smiled, exuding as much calm as he could through his Force aura, "We're all entitled to enjoy a good cup of caf every now and then."

It was agreed that they wouldn't try to draw more attention to themselves than needed. Deflect questions when possible, focus attention away from their relationship for their own sanity. Luke didn't particularly relish the fact that he was futility attempting to hide the fact she was seeing Mara. Most of the New Republic was well aware of it since it had been discussed by the media in so much detail. Unfortunately it came down to image control. They didn't need to make their lives any harder by inadvertently giving the reporters something to pounce on.

Luke and Mara managed to escape the scene without giving the quote-hungry press anything they could use against them. After a few minutes it became clear that they wouldn't be getting a sound clip that they could send back to their employers and dispersed, leaving the Jedi and the information broker alone. Heaving a sigh of relief, Luke looked over to Mara. She had handled herself remarkably well, which he supposed was to be expected from one of Talon Karrde's top agents.

"What do you say we go someplace where we won't be mobbed by holocameras?" Luke asked.

Mara smiled faintly, "I think we're on the wrong planet for that."

"Well, they're probably waiting for us at my place," Luke mused. "But..."

"But?"

He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, "I do have the entry codes to the Falcon."

"Han would kill you," Mara replied with an amused smirk.

"I didn't say I'd fly it," Luke raised his hands defensively. "We'd just...hide out there."

Mara considered for a moment before nodding a small affirmative. She offered a warm smile, but Luke felt something hiding beneath the artificially positive expression. Was that anger? Annoyance? No, it felt more like sadness. Luke opened his mouth to speak, trying to delve into what was bothering her but before he could say anything she tugged at his jacket.

"What's the holdup?" she asked. "I've only got a few hours before I have to get back to Karrde."

Luke did his best to try and ignore the conflicting feelings coming from Mara Jade. As they made their way to the Falcon's landing berth, they strolled passed an older couple sitting on a bench while they awaited for a large airspeeder transport. The woman apparently recognized them, leaning into her husband as she eyed them.

"It's never going to last," the woman said.

For a brief moment, Luke could sense an intense flash of pain coursing through Mara.

I can use more than moments with you baby
And I know where you steal them from
There are so many things I'll teach you
But they call me a useless bum

"It really calls into question Luke Skywalker's decision making skills."

Leia sighed as she listened to the latest dreck from the sleemos on the news outlets. It must have been a slow news week if they were willing to grasp onto her brother's personal life and run with it as a major headline. She knew it was pointless to hope they would move on to something else. The media these days were far more focused on delivering ratings than they were about reporting anything that could actually be considered "news."

Idly she wondered what they were going on about now. Leia vaguely recognized the voice. The program anchor was some loudmouth who made a habit of regularly questioning the direction the New Republic was going. He was one of a new breed of news reporters more concerned with generating holonet hits than delivering the news in an unbiased fashion. She despised that style of journalism but had learned to shrugged it off. Leia had heard much worse during her political career.

"Fruit fizz, Mara?" Leia asked.

Mara Jade had dropped by an hour or so earlier through the cargo lifts to her apartment building. Leia felt remorseful that Mara had to go to such lengths to conceal her whereabouts while on Coruscant. The media's assault on her had been relentless since word had escaped that she and Luke were seeing each other. Still, Mara was taking everything in stride. Leia had no doubts that she would do whatever it took to steal a few minutes with Luke whenever possible.

"Mara?" Leia asked again, frowning slightly as her earlier question had been ignored.

Speaking of Luke, he should be here shortly. This had been Han's idea. Certainly the media wouldn't bat an eyelash if Luke were to arrive as a guest at her apartment. They were often seen in public together, discussing various matters from politics to spiceloaf recipes (why she couldn't get anyone to willingly eat hers was mystifying). The general assumption would be that if Luke were here, it was for either some kind of familial reason or official New Republic business. They wouldn't suspect it was actually a rendezvous with Mara Jade.

Occasionally Han had a good idea spring out from that over-active mouth of his.

Mara still hadn't responded. Leia stuck her head out of the kitchenette and called out her name again. She spotted Mara sitting on her sofa, staring stone-faced at the holodisplay that showed the wretched news anchor.

"Is Skywalker really that quick to forget that Mara Jade is affiliated with the Smuggler's Alliance?" the anchor's guest asked. "Worse, she was the Emperor's Hand."

"This really does not reflect well on him," the slick-haired news anchor said. "Is he naive enough to believe that one of Emperor Palpatine's personal aides really has done an about-face?"

The guest nodded in agreement, "and really this just brings up another question. Why hasn't Mara Jade been brought before the courts yet? I refuse to believe that she can simply be absolved of her actions while in the service of the Empire."

"You have to think that Skywalker has a hand in that."

Leia didn't need to use the Force to see that those words had shaken Mara Jade to the core. Her heart sank as she watched the normally strong woman struggle to maintain her composure. Mara quietly rubbed the back of her thumbs over her eyes, trying to prevent a few stray tears from cascading down her cheeks.

"They have no idea what they're talking about," Leia said as she sat down on the sofa next to the distressed woman. "You should have heard some of the things the media said about me when I was getting into the political scene."

Mara responded, her voice shaky, "But they're right. He's incredibly foolish for seeing someone like me."

"He might be foolish, but that certainly isn't a contributing factor," Leia said, trying to ease the mood. "So what if your histories are different? It's not like Han and I had a whole lot in common when-"

"You didn't spend years of your life devoted to killing him."

Leia's first reaction was to make some sort of a wry quip about how she had wanted to kill Han on numerous occasions, but she wisely thought better. The red-headed information dealer who took such pride in her own strength had been cut down by the newsman's words. Leia could only watch as the months of harassment by the media and disapproval from everyone willing to utter an opinion finally broke through Mara's defenses.

The door slid open. Leia looked up to see Luke stride in. The smile he wore faded almost immediately as he saw Mara's state of distress. Leia watched as Luke stared at the holodisplay, a slight but noticeable frown forming on his lips as the news anchor continued to slag his name and throw Mara to the vornskrs. Without saying a word, he turned the display off and quickly moved towards his emotionally drained lover.

Leia released her grip on Mara as Luke took a hold of her by the arms and lifted her to her feet. They looked at each other for a long moment before the emotional magcon field finally collapsed. Luke enveloped the sobbing Mara in his arms and simply held her.

"This has to end," Luke said quietly.

Leia jumped to her feet, "Luke don't do anything rash. They're just looking for ratings-"

"What?" He wore a shocked look. "No! That's not what I-"

He looked down at Mara, his face falling as he saw what he had inadvertently done, "That's not what I meant, Mara. I didn't mean I wanted you and I…this to end."

"Then what…" Mara trailed off.

Luke placed a finger under her chin and rested his forehead against hers, "This charade. Pretending there's nothing here to keep others off our backs."

"Luke, you heard what they've said about-"

"I don't particularly care what they say," Luke replied defiantly. "Let them think what they want. We'll show them how wrong they are."

Luke looked towards Leia, offering a reassuring smile, "I know you went out of your way to let us use your apartment today, but I think Mara and I are going to take a walk through the park instead."

"And maybe after that," he turned his attention back to Mara, "We'll go to that new Corellian restaurant and after that-"

"Oh shut up already," Mara said as she wiped a few stray tears off her cheeks. "If you're going to try and woo me stop talking and get with the wooing already."

As Luke and Mara left her apartment, Leia couldn't help but smile. Something told her that they were going to manage and it didn't matter what any slick news sleemo said. Perhaps now they would be able to get by on more than a few chance encounters every now and then.

They just chatter and patter and nitter and natter
They take it and twist it, until it gets bitter
But we're here, I steered here it's weird here those fears dear
Watch the pantomime

They were convinced this wasn't going to work. The media, complete strangers, and even her friends felt that the differences between them were too great to overcome. As Mara turned all of those memories over in her mind she felt her doubt increase further and further. Here she was, mere hours after her wedding and she was about to convince herself that she had made an enormous mistake. Mara squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breath, trying to regulate her breathing. When was the last time she had felt this conflicted about anything? The height of the Thrawn crisis?

When she finally opened her eyes she found a pair of bright blue orbs staring back at her.

"What's wrong?" Luke asked, reaching out to brush his fingers against her cheek.

Mara didn't answer, choosing instead to avert her gaze. Her arm suddenly became the most fascinating thing in the Galaxy and demanded her complete undivided attention.

She felt Luke pull her into his own arms, drawing her into his body, "We're here, aren't we?"

"Luke…"

"It's been a year now and look at us," He said with a smile as he seemingly continued to read her mind. "We've already done what everyone said we couldn't pull off."

Mara looked up at him once more, feeling herself sink into his body.

"If we managed to come this far it's going to take a good deal more than gossip and naysayers to ruin this."

Mara could feel the genuine sincerity of his words. He may still be the naïve Tatooine farmboy he's always been, but she had no doubts that he truly believed those words. She knew that Luke was convinced that this union would not only work, but it would thrive.

Perhaps it was simply because she was securely held in his embrace, but all of the doubt and conflicting emotions slowly began to drain out of her. As her nerves calmed she realized that he was right. They had already overcome so much just to get to this point. She and Luke were stronger for having endured. At the very least, Mara mused, they could be content knowing they would no longer have to steal brief moments in time to be with each other. As long as they were joined in wedlock, they would walk side by side and face the Galaxy together.

She closed her eyes and placed a soft kiss upon her husband's lips. Just this once, she would concede that he was right. They were going to be fine.

Stolen Moments
Stolen Moments

Finis