Title: Wanting To Know...
Author: DaenaBenjen42
Characters: Luke, Mara, other people eventually…
Timeline: Except for the first scene which takes place during Heir to the Empire, post-TLC
Genre: mush, maybe some angst…
Disclaimer: Star Wars belongeth to other people. Quite happily playing in the sandbox.
Notes: This is the back story for Obsessed With Flowers, and you do not have to read that first to get what is going on here. Enjoy. :)
She sighed, hating the fact that she was on guard duty and had no one to talk to... well, she thought as she glanced at the astromech droid standing nearby, no one that she could understand if they talked back, that is.
"Hey you," she stage-whispered to the droid. The droid rotated it's canopy so that it was "looking" at her. "Yes, you. Sense anything out there?"
The droid signaled in the negative and it rotated away from her again. Ignoring her.
Mara glanced to where her charge was sleeping and sighed in disgust. She hated him. Hated that he'd run, hated that she'd had to go after him. Hated that they had to depend on each other to get out of this situation that they'd landed themselves in the middle of.
The droid's canopy rotated around to her again, and signaled what sounded like a question.
She frowned at it. "Huh?" It signaled again and she was even more confused, sure that it couldn't be asking how she was. "I don't understand."
The droid's "head" rotated to it's master, and then back to her and signaled again, this time sounding even more concerned.
"If you're asking how I am," Mara said, bewildered as could be. "I'm fine. Just..." She shook her head, suddenly aware that she was about to spill her guts to a piece of machinery. The droid trilled at her in question again and she looked at him. After a moment, she smiled. "Thanks, little guy." She stood up, walked over to it, and patted it on the head. "Needed that."
They stood keeping watch together for the rest of the night.
They had wanted to know.
After everything that had happened in so short a time, now that she finally had time to think, that thought kept coming back to her.
They had wanted to know. It was that simple.
To know where the place was. To do something right with that knowledge, legal or not.
It hadn't mattered if it was legal to break her out and get past the guard, they just did what was needed. To right a wrong, no matter what.
As Mara stood on the roof looking out over Imperial City, she couldn't help but feel good that she'd been a part of it. That she'd helped them to put it right.
And as his arms slid around her in a tight embrace, she smiled. "We did good."
"Yes," he answered. "We did."
They stood there for a moment before Mara turned and looked up at him. "This thing between us?"
"What about it?"
"It feels… right and wrong at the same time." She shrugged. "I don't know."
Luke took that in for a moment, then nodded. "You're right. It does feel like it shouldn't be. Wrong."
"But right," Mara pressed, her tone insistant.
Luke pulled her closer. "Definitely right."
"I don't want to tell anybody yet," Mara told him suddenly. "Let's keep it between us… see where it goes."
"Sounds good."
Mara let herself be pulled deeper into his arms, smiling.
They had been standing on the roof for a little while looking out over Imperial City, when Mara reluctantly pulled herself out of his arms. "We really should go to that meeting now, you know."
Luke nodded. "I know."
"But you'd rather stay here." She smiled vexingly at him.
"So would you, Mara."
Mara scoffed. "And miss all the fun of trade agreements? Never."
"Well, if we must…"
"…and we really must," Mara said indulgently.
Luke chuckled. "Right… then we must."
As they walked toward the door to the roof stairs, Mara glanced back at him. "Meet up later?"
Luke nodded. "Sounds good."
Mara smiled once more, then adopted a serious expression. "All right. Let's do this."
Luke just shook his head in amusement as he followed her through the door and down the stairs.
Talon Karrde wasn't surprised to see Skywalker come into the meeting a minute behind Mara and lean against the wall. He'd noticed that they'd been a little closer after Wayland, but hadn't thought to ask why. Glancing at Mara, he noticed that she glanced toward the occupied wall every so often when someone else was speaking. Amused, Talon shook his head and leaned over to her. "Something on your mind?"
Mara turned and blinked at him. "No, why?"
"You seem a bit distracted."
Mara shook her head and shrugged nonchalantly. "It's nothing."
He didn't believe her, but let the subject rest. For now.
Mara sighed contentedly in his arms. "We're not going to be able to keep this quiet."
"Sure we are," Luke murmured as they looked out the window at the sunset.
"Talon already suspects something. I could see it in the way he glanced at us."
"Then he'll just have to wonder, won't he?"
Mara tilted her head back to look at him. "You're not going to let me be pessimistic, are you?"
"Nope."
"Why not?"
"No need for it. If people want to wonder, then they get to wonder for a long while."
"So says the most famous Jedi in the galaxy."
"Ha-ha."
They were quiet for a few more minutes until Mara pushed out of his arms. "Go on. Your sister was expecting you for dinner, wasn't she?"
Luke nodded. "She is." He pulled her in close again. "But I'd rather say and have dinner with you."
"Mmm... farmboy?"
"Yes?"
"You really better go."
He kissed her once, and then he left. Mara watched him go, a soft smile on her lips.
Mara sighed as she sat at her desk in her cabin on the Wild Karrde and went over reports. She missed him already, and it was only the first week of the run.
She put the datapad down and stared at the blank wall. She could see his eyes, blue and clear, and honest... gazing back at her in the darkness when they'd said goodbye on Coruscant.
"I'll be back every chance I get," she promised.
"I know you will." He took her in his arms and they stood there, looking out over the city in the darkness. "Just be careful out there."
"I'll be with Karrde, Luke."
"And you'll take all the burdens on yourself, Mara."
She opened her mouth, about to say something, then stopped herself. Instead, she leaned into him. "I can't deny that."
"And?"
"I better not hear that you nearly got yourself killed again, or I'll kill you myself."
They were silent for a moment as Mara let those words sink in, before Luke snorted. "I'll do my best not to get myself killed, or nearly killed."
"Good."
Luke breathed in the smell of her hair and sighed. "I'll be there."
"Hmm?"
"With you. And you'll be with me..."
Mara startled at the sound of her comm going off. Blinking, she reached for it and thumbed it on. "Jade here."
"We're coming out of hyperspace, Mara," Karrde's voice replied.
"I'll be right there. Sorry, lost track of time."
"Oh, and Mara?"
"Yes?"
"There was a message earmarked for you a while ago. You should be able to access it from your terminal."
"Thanks."
Curious, Mara turned to her terminal and checked it. Sure enough, there was.
The massage said, quite simply: "I'm already there. Miss you."
Mara stared at it for a minute, then smiled. "Love you too, Farmboy. Love you too."
"You seem distracted today," Talon said quietly to her when they were doing the inventory for the latest supply pickup.
Mara glanced at him. "It's nothing."
"Sure doesn't seem like it." Talon raised an eyebrow at her before turning to finish the crate he was on.
Mara watched as he finished and closed the lid of the crate. Then she looked down at her data pad again. "It's… well… I hate being on the sidelines. Out of the loop."
"We're not out of the loop, Mara." Talon glanced at her gently before checking the next crate. "Because we are out here, supplies are going where they're needed."
"True." Mara keyed some information into the datapadd, and then stopped and frowned. "Ow." Something sharp hit her through the force, and then it faded to a whisper.
Talon turned away from the crate at her vocalization, concerned. "Mara?" To him, she appeared somewhat pale and off balance.
She took a deep breath and shook her head. "It'll keep. Let's finish this."
"What was it?" At her glare, he turned back to the crate again. "Right."
Mara sighed as she continued to help with the inventory. Whatever that sensation had been, it could wait a while.
Later, when Mara was in her quarters alone, she found a private message waiting for her: "Don't worry, Mara. I'll be fine for the time being. Love you."
She was going to give him an earful when she found out what that meant.
Mara sat in her quarters on the Wild Karrde and relaxed into the Force like Luke had taught her to do. That message, and the painful sensations that bore reminders of her time as a dark servant made her uneasy.
Not worry? Who was he kidding?
She took a deep, cleansing breath reaching out, searching for him.
It felt like an eternity, because usually he was the one who initiated the contact, but she found him. It was… dark where he was.
* Luke? *
The answer she got back was confusing, almost as if he was trying to get her to leave. As if he were backing away. That only made her more insistant.
* Answer me, Farmboy. *
His presense finally, almost reluctantly, turned "toward" her, and he seemed… different, somehow. It reminded her of something, but she couldn't put her finger on what, precisely, it was that was so striking.
She frowned. * Luke? *
He seemed to shake his head, but didn't speak. Just stood there for a long, long moment looking at her as if from a great, murky, dark distance.
And then he seemed to vanish.
Mara opened her eyes to stare at the walls of her quarters. What was going on? Why did he vanish like that?
Standing up, she moved to get dressed, and then left her quarters. She needed answers, and there was only one way to get some: call his sister.
Leia Organa-Solo was still somewhat confused over her brother's behavior before he had let the Force Storm take him… wherever it was that he went. He'd been… almost reckless. Distracted. And he hadn't seemed like himself.
Presently, a chime startled her and she blinked. There was a comm. coming in over the holonet.
Leia pressed the answer button and waited for the image to resolve. "Mara?"
The woman on the screen appeared upset. Angry, even. "Your brother is in so much trouble, Organa-Solo."
Leia stared at her in surprise. "I'm sorry?"
"Just what I said. He sent this message, telling me that he'd be fine 'for now' and told me not to worry… What's he done?"
"Uh…" The tone in the other woman's voice confused her even if the question did not. "That's kind of a long story, Mara."
"Humor me."
She did.
A little later…
"Where are you and Solo right now? I'll join you as soon as I can tear myself away."
Leia suddenly felt a distracting sense of… something, and she had to shake her head. "I don't think that's wise, Mara."
Mara frowned. "Why not?"
"We'll find him, but… I have this sudden feeling that you should stay where you are. Why, I'm not sure."
"But-"
"No, Mara… Listen to me. Please? We will get him back, but you need to stay with Karrde."
Mara stared at her. What was going on here? First, he vanishes with a sloppy note and now Leia telling her to stay? "Why?"
"Because, when you said you were going to join us here, I… had a sudden sense of impending doom. Almost as if it's dangerous for you to be involved. I don't know why, but it is."
Mara nodded slowly. She didn't like it, but she could live with it. "All right, then. I'll stay here… Keep me posted?"
"Will do."
"And Leia?"
"Yes?"
"Find him."
Leia nodded. "We will."
And the comm. screen went blank. Leia sat there, wondering why her brother had sent Mara a note like that, for a long while.
Mara was at her terminal again, trying to figure out what he'd meant by that message by looking for clues in any messages that he'd sent her recently. The talk she'd had with Leia had been beneficial, because she hadn't known that much, either, other than how things appeared at the time.
What she'd been able to discern, aside from the fact that he loved her deeply, was that he'd developed a sense of melancholy. Why, she didn't understand yet, but... wait. Mara went back to the previous message and read it again. *A presence behind the chaos? That doesn't make sense.*
Mara sat back and thought about what that might mean. If there was something behind the discord, something, or someone, pulling the strings... that was noticeable in the force.
* I'll be fine for now... * Mara mulled his phrasing over in her mind, taking what she knew about her boyfriend and applying it to that phrasing.
He didn't know what he'd gone to face, that much was certain. But... and then something clicked in her mind. That sharp pain that had slammed into her from the Force earlier... it had felt really familiar. Too familiar. Only the missing smell of ozone had kept her from understanding what it was.
Force lightning.
* But who is out there that can... * a suspicion formed, and she shook her head. No. It was silly to even think it. Right? * He's dead. The dead don't electrocute people. *
Then a thought came, unbidden: clones. But that didn't make sense either. What would cloning have to do with it?
And then she got it. Cloned bodies. Or, rather... a cloned body. Hidden for a purpose. A back-up plan of sorts.
So... something behind the chaos, a sensation of force lighting, and the utterly silly idea that somewhere, somehow, there'd been a cloned... * Oh, Kriff. He's dead. He is so dead. If he lives through it, he's still going to be dead because I'll kill him myself. * Well... maybe NOT kill him... just make him wish he were dead.
Months later...
Vima-Da-Boda kept glancing at the man seated across from her at the table in the lounge of the Millennium Falcon. He seemed... withdrawn. And young. She could feel the power he held. Feel the… travails he'd been through of late.
It reminded her of a time… before. Among the powerful ones like herself. He had the same bearing, but... no. Not yet. Almost, but... she felt he had more to do before he got there.
First of the new, last of the old, but still a knight.
"Jedi?"
He looked at her and she saw the shadows of recent days in his eyes. "Yes?"
"Tread softly. Path not an easy one."
He stared at her for a moment before nodding slowly. "I know."
"Shadows deep, but light beat it back if you let it. Remember that."
"I will."
Vima smiled and they lapsed into a more comfortable silence.
Mara sighed as she walked back to the Jade's Fire. Four days, and still no closer to having a full cargo of supplies. The fact that there was a trader's summit going on had probably made it harder to obtain, but she doubted it. Trying to get cargo on Corellia was always hard, and the war hadn't made it any easier.
Glancing back the way she'd come toward the busy street, Mara sighed again. The war. First, the man she loved had to go off and be a hero, then he disappeared with nary a word, then his sister and her husband get him back and it turns out he was on Byss of all places.
She had really wanted to break all the bones in his body when he'd told her that...
Walking down the boarding ramp of her ship into the busy hanger bay of a New Republic ship, Mara had to stop and glance around. Nope, aside from ships in varying states of repair, not much had changed.
Feeling something familiar, Mara turned and saw Luke approaching her with an expression of apprehension on his face. She had to shake her head slightly, to curb the urge of wanting to run into his arms. They had to keep up appearances, after all, even if only just.
"Mara," Luke said when he got close enough. "I'm so glad you came."
"Are you?"
Luke stopped and looked at her, almost taken aback by the coldness of those two words. "Are you mad?"
"You're the one who sent a message telling me not to worry, broke off contact without a word, and then got electricuted... and I'm supposed to be thrilled about it? Really, Farmboy."
Luke suddenly wanted to back away from her very slowly. "You're mad."
"Yes..." She looked at him sternly for a minute longer, analyzing what she saw. He appeared fine, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something was still wrong. "You did have a medic check you over, right?"
"No."
Mara's eyes narrowed and she grabbed him by the arm. "Well, then. That is the first thing we're doing."
"But I'm fine!" Luke protested as she led him out of the hanger bay.
"Uh-huh... I'll believe it when I hear it from a professional."
Leia, holding an infant and walking through the corridors with Han, blinked in surprise when she was treated to the sight of Mara practically dragging Luke down the hall by the arm. "Uh..."
Mara smiled as they passed them. "Hi, Leia. Han. Talk to you two later, all right?"
Han stared after them, then looked down at Leia. "Think we want to know?"
"No."
"Good call."
"I told you I was fine," Luke told her as they left the medical suites. "There was no need for that."
"Sure there was."
"Oh really?"
"Yes."
"Like what, exactly?"
"Peace of mind. Mine, specifically." Mara folded her arms and looked at him seriously. "Well? Are you going to tell me what happened or what?"
"Bad things."
They looked at each other for a solid minute before they both broke into chuckles, the ridiculousness of the situation just too much to hold it in.
Later, when Mara heard the story, she just sighed and shook her head in resignation. She'd missed the whole thing because he'd wanted her to not get involved. She could understand why, but... "I want you to promise me one thing, Luke."
"Oh?"
"That the next time you have an adventure, I get to go along."
"Promise."
Presently, Mara noticed something small and black following her again. She stopped and waited for the animal that had been following her around for days whenever she'd left her ship to come closer.
It came closer, then sat on it's haunches, still a fair distance away, and Mara couldn't help but be intrigued.
Slowly, in order not to scare it away, Mara walked toward it with casual deliberance. It didn't move, just stared up at her with a calm expression of feline inquisitiveness.
They stared at each other for a moment before Mara bent down and bravely offered the feline her hand to smell.
The feline, tenatively at first, smelled Mara's hand, then nuzzled it with it's head. Mara smiled and acceded to the request for petting and scratched behind the felines ears.
The feline came closer and nuzzled Mara's knees, and Mara noticed the white patch on it's chest. It reminded her of how a star looked against the blackness of space... "Dark Star? Hmm... I like that. What do you think, little one?" The only response was for the feline to continue to nuzzle Mara's knees and lean into Mara's hands as she petted her. "Dark Star it is, then."
Mara sat down in the chair and looked across the desk at Talon Karrde. "I need a month of leave time."
"Oh?"
"Yes."
"For what, may I ask?"
Mara sighed, but didn't break his gaze. "Training."
"Really?" Talon raised an eyebrow at her. "What kind of training?"
Mara stared at him for a moment, trying to think of something better than 'my boyfriend is on a planet alone with a bunch of trainees, some of them women...' Finally, she settled on: "Skywalker invited me to Yavin."
Karrde said nothing as he looked at her calmly, letting the silence hang there between them... then he nodded. "All right... of course you can go, Mara."
Mara smiled at him. "Thank you."
"I assume you're taking Dark Star with you?"
"Of course I am. Why?"
"Just wondering... though Drum and Strang have taken quite a liking to her. You could leave her here if you wanted to." The silence stretched between them as Mara stared at him and Karrde looked calmly back at her... until Karrde rolled his eyes and Mara chuckled in response. "Have a good time at Yavin, Mara."
"Thanks," Mara said as she stood up and chuckled again. Leave Dark Star? Like Dark Star would let her go without her?
Mara walked down the boarding ramp of the Jades Fire and looked around at the landing field once she stood on solid ground. She smiled as she saw the man approaching her from the direction of the citadel, dressed in brown Jedi robes. "Hi."
"How was your trip?" Luke asked, once he got close enough.
"Fine, Luke." Without another word, she pulled him into an embrace and they kissed. Pulling back, she smiled up at him. "I missed you."
"I missed you, too, Mara." They stood there for a few moments before Luke blinked and looked down to find a small black animal brushing against his legs. "Uh…"
"Hmm…?" Mara followed his gaze and had to chuckle. "Oh. That's Dark Star."
"You brought a pet?"
"Yes."
"To a jungle moon?"
"She's not so much a pet as she is a companion… She must like you. She didn't warm up to Karrde near that fast." Mara bent down and picked the feline up, then let Luke see her up close.
Luke reached out to pet the animal on the head, and smiled himself when Dark Star leaned into the touch. "Cute… where did you find her?"
"She found me, actually. At that Trade Summit on Corellia three months ago… So, how is training going?"
"Not too bad, really…"
Mara frowned at the way he trailed off. Something was off, even if he wasn't going to come out and say it. Sighing, she handed the feline to him. "Here. I'll get my carryall and you can show me to my room."
Luke watched as she disappeared into her ship, then looked down at Dark Star, who was looking up at him curiously. "Right…"
Mara set her bag down, then turned to face the man who was still holding Dark Star. She smiled, finding it adorable. "All right… So what has you concerned?"
"Can we please talk about something else?"
"No."
"I just…"
"Luke?" She saw the far off expression in his eyes again, and moved to gently remove Dark Star from his arms. She set her down on the bed, then turned to look at him again, concerned. "Is it about your students?"
Luke looked at her finally, surprise clearly in his eyes. "Yes. How did you…"
"Because I know you, Farmboy. What happened?"
"A student died."
"When?"
"Two days ago… and I don't know why or what happened." He looked away for a moment, shaking his head. "And the holocron was destroyed."
"That's not all, is it?"
"No... it's the little things here, and…" Luke shrugged. "I just haven't been able to figure it out."
Mara led him over to the bed and made him sit down, then sat down beside him. There was more here. She could feel it, even as Dark Star climbed in her lap and settled in. "So tell me."
"What?"
"All the little things. I can't help you figure it out if I don't know what is wrong."
Luke looked at her for a moment before nodding. "All right..."
She listened to him for an hour.
Mara sat in the darkness of her room, thinking about the weeks events. First, Corran Horn had borrowed her ship, and then that little upstart Kyp Durron had stolen it and gone who knows where. She shook her head slightly, anger poking around the edges of her control and threatening to cloud her thoughts. Of all the stupid, silly little things...
Suddenly, she felt as if she were being pulled apart from the inside, and couldn't help but gasp in shock. It was over almost as soon as it began, and she was left panting from the suddenness of it.
Reaching blindly, she turned on a light and looked around. No, everything looked fine, and Dark Star was sleeping soundly at the foot of the bed, oblivious to whatever it had been.
Turning her focus inward, she tried… and failed to find what she was looking for. She tried again, but it was as if he simply wasn't there. As if he didn't exist... * Luke? *
When no answer came to her silent plea, she stood up and pulled on a ship suit. Something was definitely amiss and she didn't like it. Not one bit.
He wasn't in his room, nor the Great Hall, not in the cafeteria, or... anywhere else, and she was starting to get angry again at the thought that he was blocking her on purpose all over again.
She shook her head for a moment as she stopped at the door to the room that he'd made into his office. No, he had promised he wouldn't do that again.
"Mara?"
Mara turned to see Cilghal, standing in the entry way to Luke's office. "You haven't seen him, have you?"
The Calimarian shook her head, studying Mara for a moment. "No... You felt something, too, didn't you? A disturbance?"
Mara nodded. "Yes... and now I can't find him."
Cilghal closed her eyes in thought, then turned to look out the window in the office behind her. "Maybe he's on the roof, then."
"What makes you say that?"
"Master Skywalker goes up there to meditate sometimes."
Together, they made their way to the roof of the great temple, being joined by the other students as they went.
On the roof, Mara couldn't help but let out a silent gasp as she saw him. He lay still, lightsaber at his side.
Cilghal dropped to her knees next to him and Mara knelt on the other side, while the Calimarian began to check him over through the Force. After a minute, she stopped and sat back. "He's... I don't know."
"Dead?" Mara asked, haltingly. This close to him, she should have been able to feel something, anything, coming from him. But all she felt was a void.
"No. Not dead."
"Good."
Mara reached down and picked up the lightsaber, and had to blink at the warmness of it. He'd been using his lightsaber to meditate?
Getting an idea, she stood up and got a good look down at the landing field in front of the temple. Down there among the shadows, was the unmistakable form of her ship... the one Kyp had stolen in his haste to leave.
"Trader Jade?" Kam Solusar asked from beside her, concern evident in his voice.
She shook her head and didn't answer him immediately. Instead, she turned back around and rejoined Cilghal at Luke's side. "We can figure it out later, Solusar. For now, let's get him inside."
They did.
"I don't like this," Corran muttered as the three of them stood in the corridor outside what passed for a medical ward, left over from the rebel base some years before. They were waiting for Cilghal while she checked Luke over again.
Mara sighed and glanced at him and Kam Solusar, before shaking her head in frustration. For some reason, she kept flashing back to that conversation with Leia just after the twins had come home for good from Anoth... "I'll second that... This may seem a little out of the blue, but... Well, what does Leia mentioning that Han missed the first birthday that the twins had spent at home have to do with Kyp Durron?"
Kam looked at her for a moment, blinking in muted surprise. "You don't know?"
Mara sighed again. "I was away on a trade run, Solusar. Of course I don't know, or I wouldn't be asking."
"From what I know, Solo went on a Diplomacy run to Kessel. It… didn't go well, and he ended up in the mines. Durron was one of the prisoners."
Mara frowned at that. It actually explained some of the kid's behaviour. Some, anyway. Not all of it. Especially not the part where he'd made off with her now-returned ship. "And?"
"And somehow, together with the wookiee, they escaped." Kam frowned in thought. "I'm not certain if that was before or after Calrissian and Master Skywalker arrived to check out the situation because Solo had been missing way too long..."
Mara held up a hand to forestall him, a connection suddenly made. "Is that why Calrissian is lacking a ship right now? Because it somehow got left on Kessel?"
"Yes."
"Oh..." Mara shook her head, reminded that he'd had another adventure or three, and had nearly gotten himself killed by a lava worm. They'd really have to have a talk at some point about that one. "There's more to that story, isn't there?"
Kam nodded. "They escaped Kessel and were then..." He paused, something having just occurred to him. "Wait..."
Mara would have prodded him for more answers, but Cilghal joined them in the corridor and forestalled it. "How is he?"
"We'll know more when the New Republic medical team arrives, but he seems stable for now." She shivered. "It's errie, how still he is. Almost as if..."
"Don't," Mara told her. Cilghal's large eyes blinked at her, and Mara shook her head. "He's in there, even if we can't feel him." She had to believe it. For all their sakes. For him. "Solusar? You were saying?"
"It's not possible, and even if it were... The thought alone is scary." Kam looked away, frowning in thought.
Mara looked at Cilghal. "Is there a reason he's speaking in riddles about what happened when Kyp Durron escaped Kessel with Han Solo?"
Cilghal stared at her, then turned to look at Kam with a startled expression. "You don't think he could have pulled the Sun Crusher out of Yavin, do you?"
"No, because it just isn't possible."
Mara shared a look with Corran. "Why not? My ship is here and he isn't. He couldn't have just vanished into thin air, you know... And why is it scary to think that he could be in possession of it?"
"Because that ship has torpedoes that can make stars explode," Kam answered succinctly.
That was the last thing she'd expected to hear, and Mara couldn't help but stare at Kam in utter shock. "What?"
Kam's only answer was silence as he looked away again.
Mara was sitting by Luke's bedside, keeping a vigil for her own sake as well as his. After discussing things in the hallway, she'd sent Kam and Corran away. Cilghal had gone to use the comm and contact the New Republic.
Silently, she shook her head incredulously. For the life of her, she didn't understand how something like that ship could have been kept a secret. If she'd understood Solusar correctly, it had been made by Imperial hands... which meant, logically, that her former master had to have known about it. Right?
She glanced at Luke's sleeping form and had to look away. No matter what she tried, she just hadn't been able to sense him. Everything she had learned over the months he'd been on Byss, and... she still couldn't sense him in the Force at all.
Sighing, she expanded her focus and felt for the students. One by one, she found each one, and smirked a bit when she recognized Dark Star's presence. Then she blinked at the nearness of it and looked down. Funny... she hadn't been aware of Dark Star coming in here...
And yet there she was, curled up next to Mara's feet on the floor.
Mara's smiled widened and she sat back, taking that small bit of comfort for what it was.
Together, Dark Star and Mara kept watch over the unconscious form of the Jedi Master. One of them still wondering how her master could have kept something like the existence of that ship from her.
Cilghal stopped in the doorway and saw that Mara had gotten a helpful vigil-keeper. Not wanting the break the moment, she slowly began to back away out the door.
"You're not intruding, Cilghal," Mara said suddenly, startling her. "Come in."
"How did you…"
"How do you think?" Mara let that hang there as Cilghal pulled up a chair and joined the two of them.
Cilghal considered the woman in front of her for a long moment before nodding in understanding. She remembered Mara's voice tone up there when she'd not been able to feel his presence. Of course she'd been keeping track of people to make sure they hadn't vanished, too. "Right... the medical team will be here tomorrow."
"And Leia?"
"Two days after that."
They sat there in silence before Cilghal thought of something to say. "You can go and eat something if you need to. I'll stay."
"I'm fine for now." Mara's tone brooked no argument. "But thank you."
Cilghal looked down at the animal on the floor and shook her head. "Normally..."
"...animals aren't allowed in the medical areas?" Mara finished for her.
"Yes."
"You want to try to make her leave? She has claws, and knows how to use them."
"I said 'normally.' This situation is anything but normal."
Mara smiled ruefully. "So true."
Cilghal had gone to greet the medical team as their ship arrived, leaving Mara alone again with a still-unconscious Luke, and Dark Star still at her feet. Sitting there, looking at his still face, she couldn't help but wonder if he was waiting for something to help him wake up.
She remembered that tale of the sleeping princess that Jaina had made her read once. She'd been on Coruscant for a week and Leia had needed a babysitter because Han had been off... apparently getting captured, now that she thought about it.
Mara thought back on that story. An evil had made the princess sleep, and she'd been woken by her love's kiss after defeating the evil one.
Mara sat there and considered Luke's still form for an endless moment. Then she stood and bent over him, gazing at his slack features. It was worth a try, at least.
Then she kissed him on the lips. His cold lips.
A moment went by, then she pulled away and looked at him again. Nothing. Not even a twitch.
Sitting back down, Mara couldn't help but stare at him. He'd never been that cold before.
Half an hour later, Cilghal ushered the medical team into the make-shift medical suite and Mara had to excuse herself and her companion while the team of professionals checked him over themselves.
Glancing back as she reached the door, she had one thought: "Come back to us, Farmboy... Come back to me."
She stood in the corridor outside the medical suite, leaned against the wall, and waited. It hadn't worked. She shook her head. No, of course it hadn't worked. That story was a fable, meant for small children to help them sleep at night.
There was a sound from down near the floor, and she glanced down to see Dark Star chasing a lizard, catch it, and bat it around with her paws.
Mara had to smile at that. At least someone was acting normal.
The medic shook his head, now thoroughly frustrated. "It's like he's in stacis, only without anything to influence it."
"But he's alive?"
The medic glanced at Cilghal for a long moment before nodding. "Yes."
Mara re-entered the medical suite to find four frustrated medics and Cilghal shaking her head. She looked at the medics, then at Cilghal, then at the man still laying on the bed unconscious. "Um... is it that bad?"
Cilghal looked at Mara with heavy eyes. "Other than Master Skywalker being in what looks like suspended animation and being uncertain of how to wake him? No."
Mara nodded for a moment, then looked at the Jedi Healer in Training, in puzzlement. "Wouldn't we be able to feel some small sliver of a presence if he were in a coma under normal circumstances?"
"Look, lady…" One of the medics paused and glanced between her and the patient. "You might, seeing as patients in comas can hear what is going on around them at times…"
"So it's not a normal coma, then." Mara let that hang there as the medics and Cilghal all looked at each other. "Along with what you said about being in suspended animation, what ever that means..."
"It means that he's caught between the moments, Mara," Cilghal clarified.
"Ah."
Later...
Mara shook her head as she listened to Kam and Cilghal talk about moving Luke to another location. "No. I don't think so."
"But..." Kam started to say, before she cut him off with a glare.
"Solusar... how exactly is putting him on the stage in the grand audience chamber going to do wonders for morale?"
"They'll be able to see him, know he still lives?"
Mara glanced at the person in question, then back at Kam. "So you want to put him in a big room that echoes?"
Cilghal frowned. "Well... when you put it that way..."
Mara looked at the man laying on the bed again, and had this sudden pang that maybe what they were suggesting was the right move. Maybe. "Still... it is better than suggesting to put him back up on the roof, isn't it?"
"Jade?" Solusar asked, confused at her sudden change in mindset.
"What? I get the feeling that it would be the best place for him." She frowned in thought, then looked at Kam with a shrug. "I don't know why I'm getting that feeling, but I am."
"Right..."
Spin. Kick. Thrust. Side step.
Spin. Kick. Thrust. Side step.
In the center of the grand audience chamber, Mara was doing a series of meditation katas. She'd been unable to just sit there and wait for some sign of recovery, and instead had decided to make use of the extra room and excersize a bit.
Spin. Kick. Thrust-
"Very good, my young apprentice. Very good."
Hearing that sudden, impossible voice, Mara turned. Then she frowned. What was her former master doing here? "Master?"
"Yes, Mara. Come closer."
Mara glanced around and was surprised to find that she was no longer in the grand audience chamber of the temple on Yavin4. Rather, she was in a room on Coruscant that she'd seen often as a child. Curious, she moved closer to him. "What is it?"
"I want to teach you a technique with your lightsaber," he nodded to the saber on her belt.
Mara obligingly unlatched it from her belt. "All right..."
He led her to a board that had been set up between two posts. "Slice through this, exactly in the center."
Mara frowned again at the simplicity of the instructions, thumbed the lightsaber on, and was about to do it when something she heard suddenly didn't fit. It was a meow.
Dark Star.
Suddenly, the image of the room evaporated and the board was no longer a board, but a person. Luke, still lying prone and motionless.
Stunned at what she'd been about to do, Mara turned the saber off and dropped it to the floor.
Blinking in disbelief, she realized something. That had not been Palpatine.
Corran was walking by the doorway for the grand audience chamber when Mara stormed out, a mixed expression of fury... and he wasn't quite sure what... clearly on her face. "Mara?"
"I need to find Tionne," Mara said curtly as she swept by him.
Corran watched as she walked away, anger showing even in the way she walked as the sounds from her determinded steps echoed off the walls.
Frowning, he turned and looked into the room that she'd just stormed out of. His first thought was that… no. That wasn't it. Master Skywalker was still laying on the beir that had been set up on the stage on the other side of the room.
Stepping inside the room, he scrutinized the room with the experience of a life time born of law enforcement, looking for any sign as he walked of what could have made the hardened Mara Jade that he'd gotten to know react like that.
Finally, coming to the steps that led to the raised stage, he found something. Bending down, he picked up the lightsaber hilt and looked at it.
Mara had left her lightsaber on the floor. Odd.
"What did you find?" a female voice asked from behind him, making Corran startle. "Sorry."
Corran stood up and turned to find the New Republic medic, who had stayed to monitor the patient, standing there. He looked at her funny. "How long were you watching me?"
"Not long..." She glanced at the lightsaber hilt in his hand. "Isn't that Miss Jade's?"
Corran nodded. "How come you didn't say anything?"
"I've been around enough law enforcement people to know that one does not interrupt an investigative train of thought, and it didn't seem prudent." She smirked at the expression on his face as she stepped around him and walked up the steps.
Corran followed the medic up onto the platform where she was performing an exam with a pen light, even though she knew that Luke was the same as he'd been for four days now... unresponsive.
"Speaking of Miss Jade," the medic asked as she opened one eye with a gloved hand and shined a light into it, then moved the light to check for a response. "Where is she?"
Corran looked down at the hilt in his hand, then shrugged. "She needed to go talk to someone."
"Oh... Now the other one... Want me to take that off your hands? I'll probably see her before you will, as often as she's in here." The medic stood up and put her pen light away. Then she noticed Dark Star sitting on Mara's chair... staring at them.
Corran shook his head. "No. I'll give it back to her later."
"You're sure?"
"Yes… Ms. Hallan?"
"Ailee," the medic corrected him as she looked from Dark Star to Corran and back again. Then an eyebrow went up. "Mr. Halcyon?"
"What?"
"Put the hilt down and back away from it."
Corran blinked at her, not having expected that. "I'm sorry?"
"Just trust me and do it."
Though it was a really odd request, Corran obliged her and backed away.
As she'd thought, Dark Star's penetrating gaze stayed on the lightsaber hilt and the medic frowned. "Interesting… you can pick it up now. Just... don't hold it out in front of you or make any threatening moves with it."
"Why?"
"Our feline friend will take somewhat more than an exception to it, I think... and I have no desire to patch you up, either. Claws, you know."
Corran paused as he stood back up with the hilt in his hand, and turned his attention to the cat... who was glaring at him as only a cat could. "What did I do to you?"
Ailee chuckled. "You didn't do a thing, Halcyon, but that's why I wanted you to put it down..." She slowly approached and offered her hand, which Dark Star smelled, then leaned into. "It's okay, girl... everything's fine... And Halcyon? I wasn't kidding. Put it away."
Corran nodded and latched it on to his belt. "Right. Sorry... How'd you-"
"Animals act a certain way, cats more so."
As Ailee bent down and comforted the feline, Corran made a mental note to ask Mara why Dark Star didn't like her lightsaber hilt.
Corran found Mara in the mess hall, picking at her meal in dejection with a fork. He sat down and waited for her to notice him.
Mara glanced up at him, then looked down at her tray again. "Hi."
"Did you find Tionne?"
Mara nodded, but kept her eyes on her tray. "She's looking through the history of Yavin4 now."
Corran let the silence hang there for a minute before laying her lightsaber on the table. "Found this. Thought you might want it back."
Mara glanced at it, then resumed picking at her food. "Thanks."
"Though it's interesting… Dark Star seems to have developed a dislike for your lightsaber. You wouldn't happen to know why that is, would you?"
Now Mara looked at him and he had to wince at the weight of her gaze. "That's why Tionne is looking through the history of Yavin4. Because something happened."
"What?"
Mara shook her head and picked up her fork again. "I'd rather not talk about it."
"Mara..."
"No."
Corran thought back to where he'd found the lightsaber hilt on the bottom step, as if... "You were upset when I ran into you in the hall, and I found your saber... Did it involve the lightsaber?"
"More than that, but yes."
Corran watched as she picked at her food come more. "Are you actually going to eat that?"
Mara sighed, pushed the tray to the side, and looked at her hands for a long moment. Then she picked up the lightsaber hilt and rolled it over in her hands. "This was his first one, you know?"
Corran blinked at the sudden change in conversation. "It was?"
Mara nodded, not taking her eyes off of it. "He gave it to me after Wayland. Trusted me with it... and..." She glanced up at him, then looked away.
This is like pulling teeth, Corran thought to himself. "And what?"
"Something happened. I'm not certain what, but I know what it wasn't... It wasn't my former master wanting to teach me an incredibly simple technique, I know that much."
Corran frowned at that. "Oh."
"That's why Dark Star dislikes this hilt right now. She saw the whole thing, and stopped me just in time." Mara shuddered, then looked up at him with a puzzled frown. "If you're here, then who is on watch?"
"Ms. Hallan."
Mara blinked, and began to stand. "Then I should go..."
"No. She said to take your time, and also something about a cup of caf. She's got a datapad and planned to do some reading."
Mara settled back into her seat. "You're sure?"
"Very."
"All right…" Mara reached for her tray and pulled it back. She took a bite and frowned. "You know… this isn't quite as good cold..."
Corran stifled a chuckle. "So this thing..."
"Can wait a bit. We've just got to be on our guard so what nearly happened, doesn't."
"I thought we were on our guard."
"More so."
Mara found Ailee sitting in her chair with Dark Star in her lap and reading a datapad intently. "You asked for a cup of caf?"
Ailee looked up at her with a smile, then returned her attention to her datapad. "Sure did. Life just isn't the same without it."
"Ah… What are you reading?"
"Continuing education material. I was so busy last year that I didn't have the chance, what with the uprising and all." She set the datapad down and accepted the cup of caf from Mara. "Thank you."
"You're welcome," Mara said as Ailee took a sip. "Um… you know you're in my chair, right?"
"Yes... And now that you've brought me this sweet nectar of life, I'm ordering you to go take a nap or something."
Mara stared at her in astonishment. "Come again?"
"You heard me. Go."
"But," Mara started to protest, until Ailee leveled a glare at her that rivaled Dark Star at her most fierce. "What?"
"I had to calm your pet down, because what ever happened spooked her to the point of nearly attacking an inanimate object, Miss Jade. Now, I don't know what happened, or why, and at this point, I don't care... So, instead of all that, I'm addressing the obvious and ordering you to take a break. Really. Go take a nap and relax... Either way, I don't want to see you again for six hours or longer." She glanced at the man laying stretched out on the beir, then looked at Mara again. "He'll be fine, so don't try using that argument to get me to change my mind."
"You really want me to go take a nap?"
"Yes." Ailee went back to her reading, leaving Mara to continue to stare at her. "Six hours. I mean it."
Mara glanced at Dark Star, still curled up on Ailee's lap, and nodded finally. "All right. I'll be back."
"In six hours."
"Right... And Ailee?"
"Yes?"
"She's a companion, not a pet." At the annoyed expression Ailee threw her way, Mara shook her head and turned to leave.
Ailee set the datapad down and took another sip, watching Mara walk down the steps. Then she glanced at the unconscious form of the Jedi Master, and shook her head. "I sure hope you appreciate what she's doing for you, Master Skywalker. A person doesn't do that for just anybody."
Hearing that, Mara turned and looked back, wondering about that statement. Then she shook her head and continued walking, leaving Ailee alone with the datapad, the cat, and the man in the coma whom she loved.
Mara entered her quarters, intending to lay down on her bed and sleep, but stopped and looked at it in resignation. It... didn't feel right. Not here.
Turning around, she walked back out and shut the door. She leaned against the wall, trying to think. Ailee had been serious about not wanting to see her for six hours, so she really couldn't go back to the grand audience chamber.
Watching Artoo roll by and whistle at her in forlorn recognition, she got an idea. What was the next best thing to her bed that was kind of comfortable?
An hour later, Mara was sound asleep in the cockpit of Luke's X-Wing.