Disclaimer: I own nowt when it comes to the GFFA. I even searched under my sofa cushions and the rights to all of this simply weren't there. Now have a case of sad face.

Mud

She slumped down beside him, her shoulders rounded with fatigue, and flicked a slightly disdainful gaze in his direction.

He shrugged. "That was some rescue. When you came in here, didn't you have a plan for getting out?"

She swept her hand across her right cheek, not entirely accidently spattering him with mud as she did so. "You're the brains, sweetheart".

He actually flinched. She pretended not to see this, and simply raised an eyebrow at his surprise. "Yes, everybody and his pet vornskr knows that particular line," she said, somewhat dryly. She looked away. And shut up.

They sat in silence for a while. They had been on the run for some hours and both knew that a period of rest was necessary.

After some time, she glanced towards him and grimaced. "This is no good." She reached into the rain-sodden ground and scooped up two handfuls of mud. "You're too clean. Too pale." She moved silently towards him. "Don't fight it." She quickly smeared mud all over him, hoping desperately that he would not notice her running her fingers over and through his hair. Not that she'd ever thought about doing that, of course. He did, but showed no sign of it.

Then she settled back down into silence, next to him.

They had hoped that they had been ignored, or at least not yet missed, but it soon became apparent that that wasn't so.

Long before the tramping boots came close, she pushed him down on his back and draped herself across him, lightly pinning him to the forest floor in the interminable drizzle that had blighted them since their initial escape. It made sense at the time. In this situation, darker was better. She was still covered in far more mud than he, and could currently match him in the black wardrobe department.

He didn't object. Despite being so tired, he was simply happy to entrust his freedom to his friend. He found himself playing the numbers game, the one that, in some ways, she was naturally better at.

"One group of six."

She tilted her head for a moment. "No", she whispered, "Two groups. Four in each. Maybe." She looked a little confused for a moment, but then she caught his gaze with conviction. "Group one is our only concern." He nodded in agreement. He had only just started to feel the second group, but they were already moving away. He tapped her arm six times though. This he was sure of. She got it. She too resorted to hand signals. "Stay down, stay quiet". He didn't need to be told, but understood that she did this automatically. He also appreciated her concern. He nodded again.

And so there they were.

They waited. And pretended they didn't see each other. But they did. They just couldn't help it.

She saw him. She saw his absolute trust. She saw his lips, pushing air in and out, at a higher rate than she would have expected, all the time fooling herself into thinking that that was because of the stress of their situation, and not about their physical proximity.

He saw her. He saw her determination. He saw her eyes. Two sharp, intelligent, bright points of green, in a field of mud and freckles. He genuinely tried to find that unattractive. He wouldn't admit to himself that he'd failed, or, in fact, that he had even considered the matter at all.

They waited some more.

And eventually their hunters moved off.

They waited for some minutes more.

Then it became slightly uncomfortable, as their awareness of each other started to override their thoughts of the danger they were in.

Somebody had to break the silence. He did, and tried to with levity.

"So. Do you want to get off me or are you just…"

She interrupted him by placing a lingering finger over his lips and rocking her hips gently down towards his. "Oh, Farmboy, I'm just getting comfortable", she whispered. She winked, without pause, and leapt up to her feet. In the space of a mere second, she was already peering out through the foliage, physically looking for possible scouts…not seeing that he was, for a few seconds, almost immobilized in sudden state of erotic shock. He slammed his mental shields into place and drew in a few deep breaths to steady himself.

She truly didn't notice at all, her attention flicking intensely around the surrounding forest. "They're gone." She glanced back towards him, only then taking in his still prone form and somewhat alarmed state. She broke into a wide grin and offered him her hand. "Luke Skywalker, Jedi Master, hero of the Rebellion, destroyer of the mighty Death Star…" she pulled him up to his feet, "…but still a man. And one of the easiest marks I have ever met." She wrinkled her nose in amusement, tapped him lightly on the end of his, turned, and went to move away. "Come on, Farmboy. You can clean yourself up when we get to the Fire. I'll even take you back to pick up your X-wing. We're only a short jump away." He made no attempt to walk forward, so she looked back, her face the very picture of cheer, her voice an almost uncharacteristic sing-song. "Are you going to stand there all day? Time's a-ticking and normal rates apply."

He shook himself into motion and fell into step behind her, chuckling. "I'll bet they do."

/-/-/-/

It was an hour or so later, after his endless questions about how she had found him, his inevitable lecture on the Force, and his not exactly surprising talk about feelings that things took a turn for the worse.

"No. You don't get to do that. This wasn't about feelings…well, it was, but it was more about survival. Your survival. And luck. Don't you get that? It is sheer fluke that we have these abilities. More so that we ever even met." He went to speak, but she glared at him. "Don't you dare tell me that the Force brought us together." The glare became more challenging, even as her voice fell to a hiss. "Don't you dare."

There was a heavy pause.

He couldn't help but remember the way they had first met. Well, perhaps he didn't remember, as such, but he knew the details and knew, as she did, that there was frankly no other explanation.

He was completely calm when he answered. "Are you sure about that, Mara?"

She began fiercely. "The Force is no explanation. Never is, never was." Her voice dropped. "Don't tell me that everything that has happened in my life has been out of my control." She ended on a near broken whisper. "Please."

It all became so very clear. He suddenly understood. She didn't want to believe that the Force, pretty much her sole companion for so many years, had damned her to a lifetime of loneliness, soul-scarring servitude and guilt. That she had forever been without free will. He couldn't blame her. "Okay. Whatever you need, Mara."

She turned on him, fierce once more. "I don't need you, Skywalker."

He held his hands out, passive in the face of her familiar ire. "Never said you did."

"Good." She stalked away from him.

The rest of the long trek back to her ship was made without incident and in silence.

/-/-/-/

She had clearly decided to forgo her shower to ensure their swift escape into hyperspace. He felt the transition as he arrived at the cockpit and leaned heavily against the doorframe.

There was mud everywhere, covering both the captain and the normally spotless captain's seat.

He pointed vaguely in her direction. "You missed a bit."

"Shut it, Farmboy." She sighed wearily. All her previous anger seemed to have drained from her though, so she simply gave up on it. She shrugged, a little meekly. "I think you have to agree that I look better than you in mud though."

He smiled warmly. "No arguments here."

He watched for a couple of minutes as she checked through various ship systems, flicking a button here or there when necessary. But then he had to ask. He couldn't resist.

"So what was that? Back there?" She looked at him quizzically. He raised a finger to his lips, ever so slowly.

She was a little dismissive. "Oh, that. Needed you quiet. Worked, didn't it?" She would never admit that she was relieved she could write off a moment of clear madness in this manner. Not that either of them were convinced, anyway, given that at the time there had been no reason for such a distraction.

Nope, that was something she would certainly never admit.

Never.

Well, maybe not for a couple of years or so, but she didn't know that yet.

She refused to process the look of utter disbelief that crossed his face for a moment or two. And was relieved when he spoke no further of the matter. "How long 'til we hit port?"

"A little more than a day."

He grimaced, and she fancied she got a glimpse of the bored kid from Tatooine that he had, for the most part, long since left behind. She smiled and took pity on him. Sort of. "Would the poor, recently freed Jedi Master like a nice drink?"

He pretended to consider it…for about a half a second. His grimace turned into a grin. "The poor, recently freed Jedi Master would love a drink, Captain Jade."

She hauled herself out of her chair, making towards the doorway. She desperately needed to shower. She narrowed her eyes at him as she passed him by. "A drink?" she huffed at him.

He gave her a look purposely smothered with Jedi superiority. "Is that a challenge?"

She snorted in derision. "If it is, it's a challenge I'll win."

He pointed at himself with a great deal of confidence. "Founder of the Rogues."

She tapped her own chest sharply and spoke as if to a small child. "Emperor's Hand."

They both paused as they tried and failed to work out which of these positions would allow for the greatest stamina in a drinking contest. It was not, after all, a question that had ever really been asked before. By anybody. Ever.

She gave up and started to head off down the corridor. "You know where the goods are, Farmboy. Go get 'em. But please, don't start drinking before I do. I don't want to come back in a few minutes and find you under the table already. Okay?"

"Never gonna happen, Mara!" he called after her.

"Whatever, oh great hero of the masses." She got to the door of her quarters, opened it and then pointed back at him, beaming. "I'm looking forward to taking you down, Skywalker!"

He stood stock still for a beat, but then went to fetch the Whyren's, all the while stoically ignoring the small portion of his brain that was simply screaming out for her to do so.