Title: Breaking-in
Author: Jedi Trace
Rating: T
Genre: Fluff, humor, romance
Disclaimer: Star Wars belongs to Uncle George and I write for free.
Summary: Written for a L/M "Newlywed challenge:" Write a vignette in which Mara or Mara/Luke adjust to some aspect of married life. Can be funny or serious, romantic or poignant. Must include the words: acclimate, concede, persist, volunteer.

A/N: This started off as a song fic but, besides the fact that the lyrics weren't entirely board friendly, they didn't quite flow with the narrative. So lemme just say that this plot bunny was inspired by the song Leave Me Alone (I'm Lonely) by Pink.

A/N2: Apologies to any fans of South Park. ;)

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

Mara Jade, no – Mara Jade Skywalker, she reminded herself – stood at the entry to her, no – their – Coruscant apartment while her husband keyed the entry pad. Husband. After a week-long honeymoon, it was still surreal. And, realizing that it might take a little time to acclimate to this new arrangement, she knew she'd never been happier.

The door swished open and she started to step through when the world tilted beneath her and her gut instinct told her to plant an elbow in the ribcage of the offender, when said offender grinned down at her with bright blue eyes.

"Hey!" she protested, reigning in her arm. "What are you doing?"

"I'm carrying you over the threshold, of course," Luke answered, laughing.

"Oh. All right."

Must be a Tatooine thing, she thought.

He lowered her gently to the floor in the midst of the budding beginnings of their new home. They'd chosen the residence prior to the wedding and purchased basic furnishings and supplies to be delivered while they were gone. Luke had had his personal possessions sent over in crates as well, but Mara had little besides her clothing and few effects to contribute.

"It looks a lot smaller with all this stuff in here," Luke commented.

Mara nodded, surveying the rows of crates. "It'll come together," she said, suppressing a yawn. They had been traveling all day and it was late. "We both have a whole week of vacation left to get it in order. But until then…" She did yawn this time and Luke cast a sideways glance at her.

"Right. Let's make a place to sleep."

They walked down the corridor to the bedroom and Mara halted in surprise. The bed was already assembled and covered in fresh, clean sheets with a small bundle of flowers resting between the pillows. A dim lamp on the bedside table cast an inviting glow over the otherwise stark room.

"What's this?" Mara picked up a datapad lying on one of the pillows and switched it on. "It's from Leia. She says to enjoy our first night home. That was nice of her," Mara said, placing the datapad on the table gently. She had the feeling that she was going to like having a sister.

Luke joined her beside the bed and looked down at the smooth, unrumpled surface. "You know," he slipped his arms around her waist. "There's only one thing to do now."

His eyes flashed in a manner she'd come to appreciate very much. "Let me guess," she answered with a wink of her own.

"Break it in," they said in unison. He picked her up again and they collapsed onto the bed laughing.

:-:-:-:-:-:

Mara woke the next morning, squinting against a vile and abrasive intruder. Daylight. She groaned, turning away from the light.

"Window coverings," she murmured to the man stirring beside her. "We forgot to order window coverings."

Luke rolled out of the bed and headed into the refresher with a soft grunt of affirmation. Mara's eyes shot open in surprise at the subsequent unexpected sound. She peered from under the covers to discover that Luke had left the refresher door open and – well now – that was certainly not something she was accustomed to seeing first thing in the morning.

Not that she minded. Not at all. It was his home too, and if he wanted to use the 'fresher with the door open, it was probably a good sign that he was comfortable around her. She pulled the covers back over her head. Or something like that, she thought sleepily.

The bed sank beside her as Luke sat down and tugged at the blanket hiding her face. "'Morning, beautiful. How about I go make breakfast?"

As far as she was concerned, it was entirely too early to eat, but Luke's internal clock was still set to 'up with the dew' so she simply answered that breakfast would be nice.

Stumbling into the food prep area, Mara sat down at the small table and noticed that Leia had also arranged some of the food items and cooking utensils to be accessible and made a mental note to thank her the next time she saw her.

Luke, for his part, had prepared enough food for five people. In addition to being a powerful, generous, and handsome Jedi; the man could eat. Mara could only imagine how much his aunt must have had to stock in her cupboards when he was a growing boy.

"Here you are." He placed a steaming cup in front of her. "Caf – black – just the way you like it."

"Thank you," she murmured, picking at a bowl of fruit. Luke had learned back on Nirauan that she wasn't much of a conversationalist when she first woke up and they ate in comfortable silence.

Until Luke turned on the holonews.

It was a program she didn't particularly like due to its obviously biased viewpoints on multiple social issues. Mara waited for him to change the channel and, when he didn't, she put down her fork. "You watch this channel? That reporter is a hack."

Luke looked at her, wiping his mouth with his napkin. "You think so? I admit he has some controversial ideals, but it really is the most comprehensive coverage."

Mara shook her head, baffled, and set about clearing the table. The show was almost over anyway and definitely not worth arguing about.

Finishing the last bite, Luke put his plate in the dish cleaner and captured Mara in a warm embrace. "Well, Mrs. Skywalker. Are you ready to move in?"

"Absolutely," she answered with a smile.

They spent the rest of the day arranging furniture, opening wedding gifts and unpacking their belongings. It went smoothly, save for the minor altercation over where to put the dirty clothes bin. Luke thought it belonged in the laundry area. She said it belonged in the bedroom.

"If it's in the laundry area, then the dirty clothes are already there when it's time to wash them," Luke explained.

"But we don't take our clothes off in the laundry area. We take them off in the bedroom or the refresher," Mara countered.

"But then you'd have to carry the dirty clothes bin into the laundry area."

"It's not that heavy."

In the end, they compromised by agreeing to put one clothes bin in the bedroom and to buy another one for the laundry area…for backup.

:-:-:-:-:-:

The second day went much the same and, after dinner, they plopped down on the lounger with evening cocktails. Mara reached for the remote to the music console and Luke reached for the remote to the holo.

"Oh. Did you want to-?" they started in unison.

They put down their remotes.

"I thought we could listen to some soft music," Mara volunteered, scooting closer to him on the lounger.

"Of course," Luke answered, putting his arm around her shoulder. "After this show?"

"Sure, why not," she conceded.

It was an animated show called West Lawn that Mara had heard rumors about but never actually seen. Within five minutes, she knew why. The badly-rendered characters systematically spewed what had to be the most tasteless excuse for humor she'd ever heard in her entire life.

And Luke laughed the whole time.

She gave it another five minutes, glancing back and forth between him and the screen, when a particularly off-color joke almost caused him to spout brandy from his nose.

"Oh, for stars' sake." Mara got up from the lounger.

"What?" Luke asked. "It's funny!"

"It's offensive."

"It's supposed to be. It's satire."

Mara plunked her glass down on the table. "I'm going to go take a bath, and then I'll meet you in bed." She left, trailing her fingers suggestively through his hair as she passed.

She was more than a little irritated that he actually watched the rest of the show before coming to bed, but then he made it up to her for hours after West Lawn had gone off.

:-:-:-:-:-:

The third morning, Luke found her in the food prep area typing into her personal data organizer.

"What are you doing?" he asked, embracing her from behind.

Reflexively, she leaned into his warmth. "Making a list. I thought I'd go shopping for the rest of the things we need to get settled."

"Great! I'll come with you."

"Well…" Mara paused. They'd been together exclusively for almost ten consecutive days and, wonderful days that they had been, she was actually looking forward to getting out of the house alone.

"No, really," she turned in his arms, resting her hands on his still-bare chest. "You don't have to. I can handle it."

"But, Mara. This will be the first chance I've had to go out with my gorgeous new wife on my arm." Luke struck his most innocent and endearing smile – the one that, any other time before this, would have earned him a sarcastic earful and, perhaps, an unconventional gesture, but now – Mara blanched in resignation. Technically, it was still their honeymoon, after all.

"All right. I'll just go take a quick shower," she said, clicking the datapad off.

"Can I come with you?" Luke asked with more than a hint of mischief.

"No. It's just a quick shower and shave. That's all." They'd already broken the shower in – twice – and though the memories sparked a definitive thrill in her gut, the desire for privacy was rapidly becoming a priority.

Luke leaned closer. "Can I watch?"

Mara blinked. "You want to watch me shave my legs?"

He wriggled his eyebrows in response.

"Look…Luke. In spite of what you may have seen on the pay holo channels, it's not all that glamorous. I'll take my shower. You'll take your shower. And then we'll go shopping together. Okay?"

:-:-:-:-:-:

The fourth night, Mara made her escape. She didn't lie to Luke, exactly. Leia did have some remaining wedding gifts for them to claim, but the need to move them out of Leia's spare room this particular evening was a marked exaggeration.

After loading gifts into the speeder and thanking Leia for her help in setting up the apartment, Mara was reticent to leave. She knew she should go, Luke was waiting at home, but instead she sipped from her glass even slower and made small talk about the most mundane current events.

Leia started to laugh.

"What?" Mara asked, glancing around.

"This is your first time apart from Luke since the wedding, isn't it?"

"Yes," she answered hesitantly.

"And you're feeling guilty about how much you're enjoying being away, aren't you?" Leia nodded knowingly.

"That obvious?" Mara asked, feeling a flush cross her cheeks.

"No, but I recognize it." Leia patted her on the arm. "And, to ease your fears that you're the worst wife in the galaxy, it's normal."

"It is?"

Leia leaned back into her chair, regarding her new sister with affection. "No matter how much you love each other, two people were never meant to live in solitary confinement. And the times when you are together – they can be tough. Han calls it the 'breaking-in' period."

"Breaking-in?" Mara bit the inside of her lip, wondering if Leia somehow knew about the meaning of that particular phrase in the Skywalker home.

"Yes, breaking-in," Leia persisted. "You still have to get used to living together. It's not all chill bumps and romance. And it's perfectly fine to want some time alone."

It was as if the woman had read her mind and Mara sighed gratefully.

Leia got up to refill Mara's drink. "Now, I know for a fact that Kam transmitted some pertinent documents to the Academy office. Kick that brother of mine out of the house tomorrow and tell him to make himself useful somewhere else for a day."

:-:-:-:-:-:

Luke agreed, begrudgingly, and Mara shooed him out of the apartment the next morning after a special conciliatory farewell. She then turned off the holo, turned on her favorite music frequency, put on her most comfortable work-out clothes, and set about tackling the few remaining crates.

By mid-afternoon, all the crates were unpacked and supplies put away, holos and various mementos displayed tastefully, closets organized, and food pantry stocked. Mara glanced at the chrono with satisfaction and sat down at the comm station to catch up on correspondence and answer a few belated wedding congratulations.

Some of her friends had been thoughtful enough to send wedding holos and she poured over them, smiling and brushing her finger fondly over Luke's ghostly cheek. She suddenly wished he was here to see them with her.

He'll be home soon, she grinned, heading into the kitchen area to prepare dinner. She was no chef, but there were a few dishes she knew how to cook with some amount of proficiency.

With a fragrant pot of Challat stew simmering away, she bathed and chose an outfit that Luke had been particularly fond of on their honeymoon. Curling her hair into a rather frisky fashion, she dabbed on a few spots of perfume and went to wait for her husband.

An hour later, she was pacing. She was pacing for a man. It was disgraceful. And when he got home, she'd make sure he appreciated it.

"Stang, where is he?" she growled, looking at the chrono – again – and then out the window to the speeder bay – again.

When the front door finally slid open, she pounced.

"Whoa!" Luke caught her, lifting her into his arms. "What's this?"

"I missed you," she purred, kissing him firmly.

When he pulled away, eventually, it was with an inquisitive stare. "This morning you couldn't wait for me to leave."

"Um-hmm," she answered. "And now I'm glad you're home."

"What's that cooking? It smells wonderful."

"Challat stew," she mumbled, starting to work on the collar of his tunic. "I realized something while you were gone today. There are still a few places we haven't broken-in properly."

Luke looked down and his eyes went wide when he realized what she was wearing. "But - what about dinner?"

"The thing about Challat stew," she started, pulling him out of the entryway and into the dining area, "is that it is best served cold."

"Really? How cold?" he asked as she backed up against the table.

"For breakfast."

-End-