Rating: G. Sooo G.
Archive: Please ask first – I'll say yes, I just want to know where it's going.
Mara the Assassin . . . Mara the MotherLuke Skywalker didn't know what had woken him up. He had lain in bed for a long moment before realizing that his wife, Mara, was not in her customary place next to him. He searched through the sheets for a minute in confusion, and then stopped, feeling stupid.
He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Oh, Mara," he muttered. He swung
his feet out of bed and stood up. He decided the X-wing covered pajamas he was
wearing – Mara had impulsively bought them for him, in a moment of silliness –
were enough, and walked out of the room.
He went down a short hall and stopped outside his son's door. As usual the door was slightly ajar, as Ben was only four, but the streaming light coming from the room was unusual. He pushed the old-fashioned doorknob. The door silently opened a few more inches and Luke peered in.
The first thing he saw was his wife's golden red hair. She was sitting on the hardwood floor, in her pale green nightgown, with her legs crossed. Luke couldn't see her face, not from the position he was in. Sitting before her was Ben Skywalker.
Luke couldn't help but smile. He always did when he saw his son; the cute little chubby cheeks and tiny hands. His pale hair was almost blond, a combination of Luke's blond and Mara's red. The eyes were like neither of his parents – Luke's were blue and Mara's an emerald green – they were big, gray eyes that could stare at you for hours.
Still not alerting Mara to his presence, Luke listened carefully.
"Now, you never, ever want to be without these," Mara was saying quietly.
"Can I have them?" Ben whispered, his lisp making his serious tone sound silly. He was looking intently at something Luke couldn't see.
"Well, not yet. You are rather young, a bit younger than I was when I was taught these things – and besides, your father is being stubborn," Mara replied with a slightly miffed tone. She tossed her hair slightly, still mussed from whatever sleep she had gotten.
Luke shook his head and looked up for a moment at the heavens. Unbelievable, he mouthed. Yes, the threat of the Yuuzhan Vong still remained, but this was getting ridiculous. Sometimes he wondered how his wife – the former personal assassin of the long gone Emperor Palpatine – ever functioned in the real world. With a quiet, unheard sigh, he turned his attention back to the two people he loved most.
"Now, see you hold the knife just so," and Mara took Ben's chubby little hand and pressed a tiny, blunted knife in it. She arranged his fingers so they would hold the hilt properly. "Right," Mara said approvingly, straightening.
Ben gave a grin of pure happiness. He looked at the blunt knife in his hand curiously.
Luke rolled his eyes when Mara took out a little toy blaster. He watched as Mara put that in the toddler's other hand and arranged those fingers around it as she had with the knife.
"There," she said, satisfaction and pride coloring her tone. Luke could hear the smile in her voice.
Ben looked at the blaster while his little mouth gaping open.
"Since you can hold them properly now, tomorrow night I'll teach you how to keep them hidden," Mara said. She leaned forward conspiratorially, and Ben copied her movement. Luke had to force himself not to laugh.
"But remember, you can't tell your father about our little lessons, okay?"
Ben nodded, his eyes huge and serious.
Shaking his head, Luke opened the door fully and stood in the doorway.
Mara whirled around, reaching for the knife on her thigh that she always wore to bed. Her expression quickly became sheepish when she saw just who was there. She leaning back and glanced at Ben, who looked at her at the same time.
"Not my fault!" Ben said instantly, looking at Luke.
Luke burst out laughing, and he saw Mara relax slightly and give him a humor-filled look. Luke walked up to Ben and knelt. Ben happily came into his arms and he picked the boy up.
He looked at the toddler with a firm expression. "You are too much like your uncle. And you need to go to bed," Luke said, breaking out into a smile. Ben nodded, for once not arguing.
Luke placed the toddler under his comforter that images of Wookies. Mara got to her feet as he did so. He tucked the boy into his bed and gave him a light sleep suggestion with the Force. He then switched off the light and left the room with Mara.
Green eyes focused on him immediately after the door was closed. For a long moment Luke just stared at her, amazed anew at the beauty and paranoia of his wife. Even with her hair a messy halo around her head and dressed in only a nightgown, she seemed completely at ease and confident of herself. As Luke said nothing and simply gazed at her, her eyes grew uncertain. Luke knew that he was the only one who could do that to her.
"I know you said we shouldn't teach him such things, but –" she began finally, voice imperious and calm. Her chin came up.
Luke laughed, interrupting her. "Don't worry," he said simply. His hand cupped her cheek and as he went to kiss her, he laughed again, more softly. "I wouldn't have you any other way." Their lips met with the ease of familiarity and love.
He could feel her smile against his lips.