This story is for entertainment purposes only, so I didn't write this to make money (like anyone would pay for this anyway). All characters, excluding Mara Jade, belong to Twentieth Century Fox and George Lucas. Mara belongs to Timothy Zahn.
I wrote this story a long time ago. I don't really like how I wrote Mara. Please tell me what you think.
This story comes during "Return of the Jedi," when Mara is supposed to kill Luke in Jabba's palace. This is if Mara was a major part of the movie (which she's not, duh). Now, the story.
Alluring Insurrection
by Rydia Highwind
Mara Jade barely noticed the twin sunsets casting their purple-red splendor all over the darkening sand. She didn't feel the dunes give up their heat quickly and a cool chill settle over the arid desert around her. She didn't even hear the shrieking screech of a small insect as a larger one devoured it hungrily.
She was staring at the large, sandstone building looming in front of her. Terribly foreboding, the shadow cast across the sand danced in the dying sunlight. She shuddered to herself and shrugged her cloak tighter around her chin. Underneath the black robe, she wore barely more than absolutely necessary to be one of Jabba the Hutt's dancing girls.
Of course, that was only a cover. Mara's skills and graceful figure allowed her to pose as many different professions. Her real job was being the Emperor's Hand, which meant basically doing whatever Emperor Palpatine commanded.
You will kill Luke Skywalker.
She shook her head, placing her hands over her ears. Palpatine had obviously sensed her reluctance of accepting this mission and had implanted those five words in her brain to keep repeating themselves in her head until Skywalker was destroyed.
The giant, rust covered durasteel door creaked open slowly a moment later and the crimelord's personal sentry, an ugly, whitish Twi'leck named Bib Fortuna, escorted her past the slimy Gamorrean guards. Mara tried not to breathe through her nose as they walked through the scum- filled hallway, knowing she would smell something she probably didn't want to.
They crossed the hallway toward the main audience chamber and stood off to the side while Mara waited for her turn to dance. The place was completely filled with all kinds of species of aliens and the different smells of them mingled together in Mara's nose and she tried not to wrinkle it up in disgust. After watching two or three other sickening displays of barely clad female bodies--something Jabba relished--Fortuna slurred to her in thick but understandable Basic, "You're next, Miss Arica."
Mara nodded and plastered on a fake smile. She didn't even have to remind herself that Arica was her fake name; she'd had so many, she'd answer to almost anything when she was on a mission. "Thank you, Mr. Fortuna," she said in a voice she hoped was as sing-song as other dancing girls.
The girl before her, a light green and extremely bony Twi'leck, ended her dance as Jabba decided she was unworthy and dropped her into the Rancor pit. As she fell, she screamed at ear splitting levels; there was a horrifying roar and then silence.
A deafening silence. Even with all the members of the crimelord's chamber laughing and discussing how the young dancer deserved death, Mara felt a hollow silence that she filled with rage. True, she had killed many for the Emperor, but they had all done something that deserved death. This Twi'leck had danced wrong.
Danced wrong. And she was dancing next. She knew she was a good dancer; this was not the only time she had been a dancing girl for cover. But she still managed to work herself up. She slipped out of the audience chamber for a moment of peace.
You will kill Luke Skywalker.
"No," Mara said softly. She put her hands over her ears again and shook her head, as if that would rid that horrible message echoing through her brain.
You will kill Luke Skywalker, repeated the voice and Mara could have sworn that it was somewhat mocking this time. She rubbed her forehead and leaned back against a gray-brown wall decoration.
With some horror, she realized that she was leaning against the lifeless form of Han Solo, still frozen in carbonite. She didn't really like the smuggler, especially because he was with the Rebellion, but just the man in general was who she didn't like. But she still felt remorse as she saw the horror and pain frozen there on his face. She backed away from the frozen statue and leaned instead against a grimy wall.
It suddenly occurred to her that no one was talking, there was no music, nothing. Nothing, save the soft incessant beeping of, unless her ears were failing her, a thermal detonator. Mara looked up, seeing now the bounty hunter that had undoubtedly been there for a few moments. He was short, making the already oversized Wookiee standing next to him look even more gargantuan. The Wookiee--Solo's co-pilot, Chewbacca, maybe?--was on a chain connected to the chain the bounty hunter's hand. In his other hand was the thermal detonator that Mara had heard earlier.
Jabba was laughing, that low, hideous huttese laugh. [This bounty hunter,] he was saying in huttese, [is my kind of scum: fearless and inventive. I offer the sum of thirty-five thousand.]
The golden protocol droid, now smudged with green slime, obviously having displeased the crimelord, translated quickly and the bounty hunter replied in his own language. Ubeze, Mara thought. But, although she recognized the language, she couldn't quite make out what he was saying with that odd-looking breathing mask covering his head. But obviously thirty-five thousand was enough for him, for he turned the detonator off. "He agrees!" the translating droid declared excitedly. He was unmistakably as relieved as everyone else in the chamber.
[Another dancer!] Jabba yelled as guards took the Wookiee away and life slowly returned to the main audience chamber.
Mara took that as her cue and dropped her cloak onto the grimy floor. She was now wearing nothing but a short black velvet skirt, a black skimpy top, and a black transparent lacy long sleeved shirt with one button at the middle of her stomach, which was buttoned. And of course she wore black velvet ankle boots. Her red-gold hair was pulled back into an elaborate braid that circled her head.
She stepped out onto the dance floor facing the ugly hutt and bowed deeply to him, smiling as enticingly as she could manage. The music began from somewhere in the corner and Mara began her elegant dance routine. She was good and she knew it. The farther into the dance she got, the more confident she became. Skywalker didn't stand a chance. Even if that slimy slug of a crimelord didn't like her routine, she could take care of that Rancor easily enough.
As her routine ended and creatures from all over hooted and cheered, Jabba pulled Fortuna aside and whispered something to him. In return, the Twi'leck motioned to someone behind her. Confused, Mara turned--
Gamorreans were approaching her with a neck collar connected to a chain, much like the Wookiee had been wearing earlier. They were going to take her as a slave. Well, she wasn't about to let that happen. She ducked underneath the ugly pig-like creatures and somersaulted to the other side of the room. More guards tried to grab her, but she kicked outward at them. Her booted foot connected with one of their necks and she heard a satisfying crack and watched the man fall to the ground. But even so, there were too many of them. They grabbed her arms and brought her back in front of the crimelord.
Mara realized her mistake with sudden horror. Hoping fervently that she had not blown her cover, she launched into another act. Instead of glaring angrily at Jabba like she would have done, she hung her head, broke into raking sobs, and collapsed to her knees as best she could in the guards arms.
[Why do you try to break free, slave girl?] Jabba boomed.
Mara wept pathetically. "My little girl," she sniffed in Basic, "she needs me. I can't--" She broke into sobs again, but continued. "I can't leave her with her father."
Jabba was not impressed. [If you are faithful to me, perhaps you will see her again,] the hutt said. Mentally, she cheered. If she was good to him, she would live. He wasn't about to kill her now. [But for now, you are my slave. Come.]
She broke into raking sobs again and had to be dragged over to the crimelord's throne. She was immediately chained to the platform and made to lean against Jabba's fatty flesh, still in tears. Shortly after, she feigned sleep and listened with all her might.
It wasn't long before everyone in the chamber was fast asleep. Without the loud noises to keep her awake, Mara too soon fell into a doze. It must have been a few hours later when she awoke with a start. A presence approaching, she could feel it through the Force. A muffled ringing sound from the chimes that decorated the entrance to the main audience chamber signified someone's entrance.
She opened her eyes and looked to see who it was. Blinking her eyes against the darkness and trying to adjust them to the dim light, Mara peered through the darkness. To her mild surprise, she saw that the figure entering the chamber was the bounty hunter who had brought Chewbacca in earlier that day. She moved nothing but her eyes to watch the entering figure. As the bounty hunter walked across the room, she suddenly had doubts that this was a bounty hunter at all. The way he walked, his breathing pattern....
She understood one minute before the bounty hunter freed Solo from the darkened carbonite freeze. This was Princess Leia Organa, coming to rescue her friend. Mara smirked in the darkness. Where Organa and Solo were, Skywalker was often not far behind.
Solo was sure a sight as he collapsed to the ground, wet and shivering uncontrollably. Organa, still in bounty hunter gear, held his chest. "Just relax a moment," Organa said in Basic, although her voice still clicked and buzzed weirdly through the breathing mask. "You are free from the carbonite. You have hibernation sickness."
"Where am I?" Solo demanded, eyes still squeezed shut.
"In Jabba's palace."
He finally opened his eyes and, blinking, held his hand in front of his eyes for a moment. "I can't see," he declared. Mara felt Jabba stir behind her.
"Your eye sight will return in time," Organa explained.
He put a hand to the face of his rescuer, Organa's breathing mask. "Who are you?" he demanded, his voice suddenly dark with suspicion.
Organa pulled off the mask. "Someone who loves you!"
"Leia!" was the only word that escaped his lips before they were pressed to Organa's. Touching, Mara thought.
When they finally let go of each other, Organa declared, "Come on, I've got to get you out of here." While she was talking, she helped him to his feet.
Just then, Jabba started laughing. Softly at first, but louder and louder until Solo said tentatively, almost like he didn't want to hear the answer, "What's that?" That made the crimelord snicker harder. Before giving Organa a chance to answer, Solo informed her sadly, "I know that laugh..."
Others in the chamber awoke and joined in with the laughing as Organa turned around in horror and saw the crowd gathered around the hutt's throne. Before he could say anything, though, Solo cried out, still facing the opposite wall, "Look, Jabba, I was just on my way to pay you back, but I got a little side tracked..." While he was speaking, Organa turned him around so that he was facing the hutt.
[It's too late for that, Solo,] Jabba boomed in his native language. [You may have been a good smuggler, but now you are bantha fodder. Guards! Take him away.]
Guards grabbed Solo's arms and began dragging him from the chamber. "Jabba, I'll pay you triple! You're throwing away a fortune, don't be a fool!!" he yelled before the guards managed to get him out the door.
With Solo out of the picture, all attention was then focused on Organa, still standing there in the bounty hunter outfit, looking completely mortified. [Bring her to me,] Jabba said softly.
Guards grabbed her arms and held her close to the crimelord's face, all the while her saying, "We have powerful friends! You're going to regret this."
As Jabba's greenish brown tongue flicked out and brushed Organa's cheek and as she pulled back in revulsion, Mara felt a brief pang of sympathy for the Alderaanian princess. Jabba drew his tongue back in and stated matter-of-factly, [I'm sure.]
Organa was made to wear something with even less material than Mara's outfit. The princess was chained up next to her in the same fashion. Mara spoke to her frequently, not only to hide her pure hatred for the Rebellion, but for something to do besides plan Jabba's death in different scenarios. She learned that Organa was not, in fact, alot of the horrible things Palpatine had made her out to be. In fact, the woman was actually quite pleasant to talk to. She learned things about the Rebellion that she knew the Emperor would find useful.
But Mara suddenly had doubts about whether she would tell Palpatine half of this stuff. Whether she liked it or not, she was beginning to respect this brunette beauty that half the galaxy's male population admired. And she was beginning to respect Organa's position and motives for joining the Rebellion. She heard for the first time the princess's account of the destruction of her home world, Alderaan, which was about twelve times different from what the Emperor had told to Mara.
Whether or not she liked it, Mara was beginning to see the negatives of the Empire.
That next night, she slept fitfully, dreaming of her master standing before her. He was talking to her, but she could no longer hear him. Distances between them seemed to expand rapidly and suddenly. She ran, but she could not escape the burden of range between them. It was an uphill battle, one that she was losing miserably. Could she ever measure up to Palpatine's expectations?
Another figure entered her dream. It was Organa. "Come with me, Mara, I'll show you the right way. You can come with us." Mara was compelled to follow, but the Emperor was still there. Beckoning, calling to her...
You will kill Luke Skywalker! The words that the Emperor's Hand dreaded most echoed through her mind as she jerked awake. Another presence, one that was drawing on the Force, was entering the chamber. It was a man, lead by Fortuna, wearing a long black robe much like the one that Mara had been wearing before she had danced. Skywalker! she thought.
Another thought entered her mind simultaneously, a thought that was almost words, like a masculine voice echoing through her brain. That's right, it's me, it said. The only other time she had heard a voice like this was when the Emperor spoke to her over a long distance.
But if Skywalker could read her thoughts wouldn't he know who she was--?
I try not to intrude, came that voice again.
He was really getting on Mara's nerves. If he caught anything about her ties with the Empire, she knew she was in deep, deep trouble. Then how did you catch that? she thought back indignantly.
There was an embarrassed pause. Sorry.
He was talking to Jabba. She had missed half the conversation while Skywalker was sending her those messages. "Nevertheless," Skywalker said calmly, "Captain Solo and his friends are coming with me. You can either profit from this or be destroyed."
Mara resisted the urge to snort derisively. Bold words for someone who had no backup besides a half dressed woman on a chain, a caged up Wookiee, and an imprisoned man blinder than an eyeless gundark.
She had made no attempt to hide this thought from the young Jedi, so she was not surprised when she heard, The Force is my ally and a powerful ally it is--
His thought ended suddenly as his thoughts shifted direction suddenly. He reached toward one of the Gamorrean guards and the blaster in the pig-like creatures hands flew suddenly toward Skywalker's outstretched hand.
It never made it there. Even as it fired randomly in the air, Jabba roared angrily and slapped a fleshy hand down on a button, throwing open the trapdoors underneath Skywalker's feet. The young man fell down, bringing the unfortunate Gamorrean down with him, into the Rancor pit. Mara peered over the edge of the now closed trapdoor, kneeling next to Organa. The other occupants of the chamber crowded around the pit and Mara couldn't see exactly what was going on. She soon enough heard gasps of surprise and, reaching out clumsily with the Force, felt that Skywalker was still alive. Apparently, he had killed the hideous beast.
Jabba was angrier than anyone and declared that Skywalker, Solo, and the Wookiee would all die for the Rancor's death. He had them taken out in front of him where he declared their fate: they would be cast into the pit of Carkoon, the nesting place of the appalling Sarlecc. Mundane, Mara that sardonically. I could have thought of something better.
I'm glad you're on my side then! came Skywalker's reply almost instantly.
She quickly put up a mental barrier just as the Emperor's voice yelled, You will kill Luke Skywalker! That was the last thing she needed him to hear.
As she was being brought on to Jabba's sail barge, she thought about Skywalker's words. I'm glad you're on my side then! Was she on his side? The last thing she wanted to admit was that she was on the same side of something as Luke Skywalker. Oh, well. He'd get her out of Jabba's clutches and, in return, she'd let him live for as long as it took to escape.
The ride out to the pit of Carkoon was short and mostly uneventful. Mara stood next to Organa at one of the sail barge's plentiful windows to stare out at the two skiffs riding escort to them. "Do you have a plan?" she whispered to Organa.
The young princess didn't look at her. Instead, keeping her eyes on the skiff with her friends on it, she nodded fractionally. "You're welcome to join us if you wish, Miss Arica," she said, her deep voice barely heard over the barge's loud engines. "We'll make sure you see your daughter again."
Mara fought the smirk that threatened. Sooner or later, they'd have to find out who she really was, but she had no idea that her pity story would work so well. She let a small smile through, making it as rueful as possible.
The three repulsor-lift vehicles stopped above a nasty looking hole in the ground that actually seemed to breathe as a hot breeze drifted lazily past. In the distance, the sandy dunes rippled in the Tatooine noon heat. The twin suns made the climate unspeakably hot, but Skywalker had actually grown up on that forsaken world and looked completely used to it. At least as far as Mara could tell.
Jabba's throne rolled over to one of the windows. [Victims of the mighty Sarlecc,] he started, having the golden protocol droid translate a moment later, [I hope you will die honorably. But,]--the hutt probably couldn't help himself--[if any of you wish to beg for mercy, I'll hear your pleas now.]
The droid faithfully translated and even from twenty meters away, Mara could see the look of disgust on Solo's face. "Threepio!" he yelled back. "You tell that piece of worm-ridden piece of filth, he'll get no such pleasure from us...right?" The last word was a bit more tentative than the rest of the sentence, but they could hear it easily. The Wookiee grunted something that was probably agreement.
Skywalker stepped forward. "Jabba, this is your last chance," he shouted. Mara could feel the hutt's amusement at the situation. "Free us or die."
The crimelord ended the conversation by simply waving a fatty arm and saying, [Put them in.]
One of the guards prodded at Skywalker's back. He stepped to the edge of the platform, gave a somewhat relaxed salute, and stepped off the edge of the plank. Before Mara could even wonder at the stupidity of the action, before Organa could even gasp in surprise, Skywalker performed a half turn in mid-air and caught the edge of the platform. He reversed the momentum and was suddenly somersaulting through the air back onto the skiff. He reached his hand up just in time to catch a silvery object hurtling through the air toward him. Mara didn't know what the object was or where it had come from, but obviously Skywalker did as the silver thing grew into a long green-white glowing beam of light--his lightsaber.
As he started sweeping the deadly blade back and forth, chopping guards and sentries in two and sending them tumbling into the Sarlecc's open mouth, Organa grabbed her arm and led her back to the enraged hutt. The princess grabbed a hydrospanner sitting randomly on the electricity panel and smashed the tool into it, cutting the lights. Then she grabbed her chain tossed it around Jabba's neck. Mara caught on quickly and did the same on the other side. "One, two, three!" Organa yelled as they began pulling with all their might.
At first, Mara was doubtful that they were even choking the hutt, but when she opened her eyes and looked at him, she was rewarded be seeing him grabbing at the chains frantically and his hideous tongue hanging out limply.
This was going to take a bit more than pulling. Mara let some slack go on her chain, but still yelled to Organa, "Keep pulling!" Without waiting for assent, she jumped on the side of the throne, buried her boot in Jabba's upper stomach (at least, she thought that's what it was--it was hard to be sure on a hutt), and yanked his hands from his throat. He wasn't too weak to fight back, however, and with one arm, sent her reeling back onto the floor. Undaunted, she was on him again in a minute, this time abandoning the hands and pressing her boot straight into his throat as hard as she could manage.
She kept it there until the crimelord's head rolled to one side limply and his tail stopped its spasmodic twitching. She jumped down, looking for Organa for the next part of the plan. She found the princess studying the lock on her chain. "Your R2 unit," Mara suggested. "Most astomechs can melt metal like this easily."
"Nice thinking," Organa said even as the droid rolled toward them. "My guess is that he already had that in mind. By the way, nice job on the space slug back there." She nodded at the dead hutt. "Are you hurt?"
Mara looked down at the slimy green stuff that was now all over her top. "No, just slightly disgusted."
Organa smiled as the droid cut them both loose. They ran to the front of the sail barge to see Skywalker taking care of the guards up there. He saw them approaching and yelled something that Mara couldn't hear. He yelled again, and this time, a stray blaster bolt hit him in his right hand. He made a surprised sound, but strangely, Mara felt no pain from his sense. In her mind, as she picked up a blaster from a dead sentry, she heard Skywalker yell, Get the gun and point it at the deck. She relayed the message to Organa and shot two guards off of Skywalker's back.
You will kill Luke Skywalker! You will kill Luke Skywalker! yelled the voice suddenly. Now was the perfect opportunity, now as he and Organa were getting ready to swing to safety onto the next skiff.
Better get down here if you want to come, said Skywalker's voice. She dropped the blaster to avoid unnecessary exemption and ran toward the edge of the sail barge. Mara noticed that he hadn't set the gun to go off yet, so, as he swung back on the rope to get her, she set it off.
As he swung toward her, she realized that he wasn't going to make it all the way back. He realized it too. Ready? his thoughts asked. JUMP!
Mara obeyed, somersaulting through the air and landing perfectly in his outstretched arm. His arm closed around her waist tightly and she wrapped her arms around his neck. She had no doubt in her mind that she could trust him not to drop her, but she still clung to him unrelentlessly until they landed on the relatively undamaged skiff seconds later.
"Thanks," she said breathlessly as he put her down.
He smiled at her and she suddenly felt like she could trust him. "No problem, Miss...uh--"
"Jade," she said softly, not entirely believing she was telling him her real name. "Mara Jade."
"Miss Jade, then." He turned to a dark skinned man that Mara hadn't seen around earlier but quickly identified as Lando Calrissian. "Let's go and don't forget the droids."
"We're on our way," Calrissian declared, taking the controls. Suddenly, the control panel he was working at fizzled and shorted out. The gambler bit out a couple of curses and the Wookiee wandered over to help him fix it.
You will kill Luke Skywalker!
The voice was so loud this time, she was sure that everyone on the skiff had heard it. But no one even looked up. Calrissian, Chewbacca, and the droids were looking at the broken control panel and Organa was sitting next to Solo, talking to him.
And Skywalker was staring straight at her, taking a few steps away and looking very confused. "No," she tried to explain, knowing he had heard that one, "it's not what you think, really it isn't."
YOU WILL KILL LUKE SKYWALKER!
The Emperor's voice was so deafening that Mara abruptly doubled over in pain, holding her head in her hands. "No!" she yelled suddenly. "Stop it! Stop it!"
You have betrayed me, Mara Jade! the Emperor screamed. You will pay, Mara Jade! You will pay for that!
Skywalker was hearing this all, she knew. The only thing she could do was lay there, on the floor of the skiff, listening to the others question what was wrong, and wait for Palpatine to kill her. Soon after, the jabs of agony seared through her body, sending anguish from one end of her to the other like a deadly fire. She tried to fight it, but she was too weak from the attacks already. The jabs didn't stop, but instead, grew more frequent.
Another presence entered the small world she had created, a light presence chasing away the darkness of the Emperor. They fought for a time while Mara watched in wonderment, half aware of what was going on.
When she finally opened her tear stained eyes, she found herself cradled in Skywalker's arms, her head on his shoulder, sitting in his lap, and crying. She made no effort to move; she somehow knew he was using his Jedi skills to heal her.
She could feel that he was tired, having just fought that battle with the Emperor, but he still reached out to her to try and heal her. "He's gone," Skywalker whispered, seeing that she was awake. "You don't have to worry anymore. I won't let him get you."
Why was this man trying to save her? The man she was supposed to kill? He had saved her life, and yet she was here, determined to kill him. But now she recognized Palpatine's deceit and lies and knew she could never respect the Empire again.
"Is she all right?" asked Calrissian's voice. "What happened?"
She felt Skywalker shift slightly as he diverted some of his concentration on his friends. "I'm not sure exactly, but I think the Emperor was attacking her. She's strong with the Force, and I think Palpatine wanted that. I think she'll be okay. She doesn't seem seriously hurt, but I think we'll have to ask her on that one."
Mara felt all thoughts turn to her expectantly, but for some reason, it frightened her and she cowered back deeper into Skywalker's protective embrace. "He can't get you now," Skywalker said softly, rubbing her arm reassuringly. "I won't let him. I promise."
Who are you? his voice asked in her mind. I mean really. Why does he want you so badly?
Her instincts instantly told her to clam up. If there was one thing she was drilled on early into her life, it was never tell anyone what you're up to. But something else told her that she could trust this man. This man who had saved her from the Emperor's wrath even when she didn't deserve it. I worked for the Empire, sort of a spy, she began. I don't anymore, I guess, but the Emperor took me away when I was young and brought me up as his Hand. I was the Emperor's Hand.
And he sent you here to kill me? Skywalker's thoughts asked. You're a very capable young lady. Why am I still alive?
She was slightly surprised that he didn't just drop her off the skiff right then and there, which, she discovered upon looking around tentatively, would hurt since the skiff was moving again. Lucky, I guess.
"Are you okay?" he said out loud.
"I--I think so," she said softly. "My head hurts."
Organa was leaning over them suddenly. "We should try to get her out of the sun, shouldn't we?" she said softly.
"Yeah, maybe," Skywalker replied. "Can you stand?"
"I can try," Mara replied as he lifted her to her feet. She held on to his arm a moment to get oriented with the floor of the speeding skiff, but after that, she seemed fine. "I think I'm okay." A sudden wave of nausea hit her and abruptly knocked her off balance back into Skywalker's steadying arms.
"Are you sure?" Organa said doubtfully, removing the blanket from around her own shoulders and handing it to Mara, who took it gratefully. They were both still wearing the clothing Jabba had had them wear.
Just then, Calrissian and the Wookiee brought the skiff to a halt just outside of an old crumbling sand structure that looked like it had been abandoned for some time. Mara noticed two camouflage netting covering mounds in the sand that were shaped oddly like two spaceships just behind the building. So that's where they hid their ships, she thought.
"I'm just a little dizzy yet," she told Organa. "I'll be fine in a couple of minutes."
Even amid her avid protesting, Skywalker was set on carrying her to the recently uncovered ship--which turned out to be Solo's ship, the Millennium Falcon, surprise, surprise--and placing her in one of the bunks. As she settled into the slightly uncomfortable mattress, Skywalker said, "I would like to stay here and make sure that the Emperor doesn't go after you, but I, uh, have some other business to attend to. I'm pretty sure that he won't go after you again."
She really didn't want him to leave, in case Palpatine did attack her again, but she just nodded.
He leaned over and took her hand and, to her surprise, she didn't pull it back. "You're a very brave woman, Mara," he said softly, "and I admire that. I will come back as soon as I can, all right? Besides, I really think that you can fend for yourself."
"Thank you," she whispered.
What do you think? Should I write more?
I wrote this story a long time ago. I don't really like how I wrote Mara. Please tell me what you think.
This story comes during "Return of the Jedi," when Mara is supposed to kill Luke in Jabba's palace. This is if Mara was a major part of the movie (which she's not, duh). Now, the story.
Alluring Insurrection
by Rydia Highwind
Mara Jade barely noticed the twin sunsets casting their purple-red splendor all over the darkening sand. She didn't feel the dunes give up their heat quickly and a cool chill settle over the arid desert around her. She didn't even hear the shrieking screech of a small insect as a larger one devoured it hungrily.
She was staring at the large, sandstone building looming in front of her. Terribly foreboding, the shadow cast across the sand danced in the dying sunlight. She shuddered to herself and shrugged her cloak tighter around her chin. Underneath the black robe, she wore barely more than absolutely necessary to be one of Jabba the Hutt's dancing girls.
Of course, that was only a cover. Mara's skills and graceful figure allowed her to pose as many different professions. Her real job was being the Emperor's Hand, which meant basically doing whatever Emperor Palpatine commanded.
You will kill Luke Skywalker.
She shook her head, placing her hands over her ears. Palpatine had obviously sensed her reluctance of accepting this mission and had implanted those five words in her brain to keep repeating themselves in her head until Skywalker was destroyed.
The giant, rust covered durasteel door creaked open slowly a moment later and the crimelord's personal sentry, an ugly, whitish Twi'leck named Bib Fortuna, escorted her past the slimy Gamorrean guards. Mara tried not to breathe through her nose as they walked through the scum- filled hallway, knowing she would smell something she probably didn't want to.
They crossed the hallway toward the main audience chamber and stood off to the side while Mara waited for her turn to dance. The place was completely filled with all kinds of species of aliens and the different smells of them mingled together in Mara's nose and she tried not to wrinkle it up in disgust. After watching two or three other sickening displays of barely clad female bodies--something Jabba relished--Fortuna slurred to her in thick but understandable Basic, "You're next, Miss Arica."
Mara nodded and plastered on a fake smile. She didn't even have to remind herself that Arica was her fake name; she'd had so many, she'd answer to almost anything when she was on a mission. "Thank you, Mr. Fortuna," she said in a voice she hoped was as sing-song as other dancing girls.
The girl before her, a light green and extremely bony Twi'leck, ended her dance as Jabba decided she was unworthy and dropped her into the Rancor pit. As she fell, she screamed at ear splitting levels; there was a horrifying roar and then silence.
A deafening silence. Even with all the members of the crimelord's chamber laughing and discussing how the young dancer deserved death, Mara felt a hollow silence that she filled with rage. True, she had killed many for the Emperor, but they had all done something that deserved death. This Twi'leck had danced wrong.
Danced wrong. And she was dancing next. She knew she was a good dancer; this was not the only time she had been a dancing girl for cover. But she still managed to work herself up. She slipped out of the audience chamber for a moment of peace.
You will kill Luke Skywalker.
"No," Mara said softly. She put her hands over her ears again and shook her head, as if that would rid that horrible message echoing through her brain.
You will kill Luke Skywalker, repeated the voice and Mara could have sworn that it was somewhat mocking this time. She rubbed her forehead and leaned back against a gray-brown wall decoration.
With some horror, she realized that she was leaning against the lifeless form of Han Solo, still frozen in carbonite. She didn't really like the smuggler, especially because he was with the Rebellion, but just the man in general was who she didn't like. But she still felt remorse as she saw the horror and pain frozen there on his face. She backed away from the frozen statue and leaned instead against a grimy wall.
It suddenly occurred to her that no one was talking, there was no music, nothing. Nothing, save the soft incessant beeping of, unless her ears were failing her, a thermal detonator. Mara looked up, seeing now the bounty hunter that had undoubtedly been there for a few moments. He was short, making the already oversized Wookiee standing next to him look even more gargantuan. The Wookiee--Solo's co-pilot, Chewbacca, maybe?--was on a chain connected to the chain the bounty hunter's hand. In his other hand was the thermal detonator that Mara had heard earlier.
Jabba was laughing, that low, hideous huttese laugh. [This bounty hunter,] he was saying in huttese, [is my kind of scum: fearless and inventive. I offer the sum of thirty-five thousand.]
The golden protocol droid, now smudged with green slime, obviously having displeased the crimelord, translated quickly and the bounty hunter replied in his own language. Ubeze, Mara thought. But, although she recognized the language, she couldn't quite make out what he was saying with that odd-looking breathing mask covering his head. But obviously thirty-five thousand was enough for him, for he turned the detonator off. "He agrees!" the translating droid declared excitedly. He was unmistakably as relieved as everyone else in the chamber.
[Another dancer!] Jabba yelled as guards took the Wookiee away and life slowly returned to the main audience chamber.
Mara took that as her cue and dropped her cloak onto the grimy floor. She was now wearing nothing but a short black velvet skirt, a black skimpy top, and a black transparent lacy long sleeved shirt with one button at the middle of her stomach, which was buttoned. And of course she wore black velvet ankle boots. Her red-gold hair was pulled back into an elaborate braid that circled her head.
She stepped out onto the dance floor facing the ugly hutt and bowed deeply to him, smiling as enticingly as she could manage. The music began from somewhere in the corner and Mara began her elegant dance routine. She was good and she knew it. The farther into the dance she got, the more confident she became. Skywalker didn't stand a chance. Even if that slimy slug of a crimelord didn't like her routine, she could take care of that Rancor easily enough.
As her routine ended and creatures from all over hooted and cheered, Jabba pulled Fortuna aside and whispered something to him. In return, the Twi'leck motioned to someone behind her. Confused, Mara turned--
Gamorreans were approaching her with a neck collar connected to a chain, much like the Wookiee had been wearing earlier. They were going to take her as a slave. Well, she wasn't about to let that happen. She ducked underneath the ugly pig-like creatures and somersaulted to the other side of the room. More guards tried to grab her, but she kicked outward at them. Her booted foot connected with one of their necks and she heard a satisfying crack and watched the man fall to the ground. But even so, there were too many of them. They grabbed her arms and brought her back in front of the crimelord.
Mara realized her mistake with sudden horror. Hoping fervently that she had not blown her cover, she launched into another act. Instead of glaring angrily at Jabba like she would have done, she hung her head, broke into raking sobs, and collapsed to her knees as best she could in the guards arms.
[Why do you try to break free, slave girl?] Jabba boomed.
Mara wept pathetically. "My little girl," she sniffed in Basic, "she needs me. I can't--" She broke into sobs again, but continued. "I can't leave her with her father."
Jabba was not impressed. [If you are faithful to me, perhaps you will see her again,] the hutt said. Mentally, she cheered. If she was good to him, she would live. He wasn't about to kill her now. [But for now, you are my slave. Come.]
She broke into raking sobs again and had to be dragged over to the crimelord's throne. She was immediately chained to the platform and made to lean against Jabba's fatty flesh, still in tears. Shortly after, she feigned sleep and listened with all her might.
It wasn't long before everyone in the chamber was fast asleep. Without the loud noises to keep her awake, Mara too soon fell into a doze. It must have been a few hours later when she awoke with a start. A presence approaching, she could feel it through the Force. A muffled ringing sound from the chimes that decorated the entrance to the main audience chamber signified someone's entrance.
She opened her eyes and looked to see who it was. Blinking her eyes against the darkness and trying to adjust them to the dim light, Mara peered through the darkness. To her mild surprise, she saw that the figure entering the chamber was the bounty hunter who had brought Chewbacca in earlier that day. She moved nothing but her eyes to watch the entering figure. As the bounty hunter walked across the room, she suddenly had doubts that this was a bounty hunter at all. The way he walked, his breathing pattern....
She understood one minute before the bounty hunter freed Solo from the darkened carbonite freeze. This was Princess Leia Organa, coming to rescue her friend. Mara smirked in the darkness. Where Organa and Solo were, Skywalker was often not far behind.
Solo was sure a sight as he collapsed to the ground, wet and shivering uncontrollably. Organa, still in bounty hunter gear, held his chest. "Just relax a moment," Organa said in Basic, although her voice still clicked and buzzed weirdly through the breathing mask. "You are free from the carbonite. You have hibernation sickness."
"Where am I?" Solo demanded, eyes still squeezed shut.
"In Jabba's palace."
He finally opened his eyes and, blinking, held his hand in front of his eyes for a moment. "I can't see," he declared. Mara felt Jabba stir behind her.
"Your eye sight will return in time," Organa explained.
He put a hand to the face of his rescuer, Organa's breathing mask. "Who are you?" he demanded, his voice suddenly dark with suspicion.
Organa pulled off the mask. "Someone who loves you!"
"Leia!" was the only word that escaped his lips before they were pressed to Organa's. Touching, Mara thought.
When they finally let go of each other, Organa declared, "Come on, I've got to get you out of here." While she was talking, she helped him to his feet.
Just then, Jabba started laughing. Softly at first, but louder and louder until Solo said tentatively, almost like he didn't want to hear the answer, "What's that?" That made the crimelord snicker harder. Before giving Organa a chance to answer, Solo informed her sadly, "I know that laugh..."
Others in the chamber awoke and joined in with the laughing as Organa turned around in horror and saw the crowd gathered around the hutt's throne. Before he could say anything, though, Solo cried out, still facing the opposite wall, "Look, Jabba, I was just on my way to pay you back, but I got a little side tracked..." While he was speaking, Organa turned him around so that he was facing the hutt.
[It's too late for that, Solo,] Jabba boomed in his native language. [You may have been a good smuggler, but now you are bantha fodder. Guards! Take him away.]
Guards grabbed Solo's arms and began dragging him from the chamber. "Jabba, I'll pay you triple! You're throwing away a fortune, don't be a fool!!" he yelled before the guards managed to get him out the door.
With Solo out of the picture, all attention was then focused on Organa, still standing there in the bounty hunter outfit, looking completely mortified. [Bring her to me,] Jabba said softly.
Guards grabbed her arms and held her close to the crimelord's face, all the while her saying, "We have powerful friends! You're going to regret this."
As Jabba's greenish brown tongue flicked out and brushed Organa's cheek and as she pulled back in revulsion, Mara felt a brief pang of sympathy for the Alderaanian princess. Jabba drew his tongue back in and stated matter-of-factly, [I'm sure.]
Organa was made to wear something with even less material than Mara's outfit. The princess was chained up next to her in the same fashion. Mara spoke to her frequently, not only to hide her pure hatred for the Rebellion, but for something to do besides plan Jabba's death in different scenarios. She learned that Organa was not, in fact, alot of the horrible things Palpatine had made her out to be. In fact, the woman was actually quite pleasant to talk to. She learned things about the Rebellion that she knew the Emperor would find useful.
But Mara suddenly had doubts about whether she would tell Palpatine half of this stuff. Whether she liked it or not, she was beginning to respect this brunette beauty that half the galaxy's male population admired. And she was beginning to respect Organa's position and motives for joining the Rebellion. She heard for the first time the princess's account of the destruction of her home world, Alderaan, which was about twelve times different from what the Emperor had told to Mara.
Whether or not she liked it, Mara was beginning to see the negatives of the Empire.
That next night, she slept fitfully, dreaming of her master standing before her. He was talking to her, but she could no longer hear him. Distances between them seemed to expand rapidly and suddenly. She ran, but she could not escape the burden of range between them. It was an uphill battle, one that she was losing miserably. Could she ever measure up to Palpatine's expectations?
Another figure entered her dream. It was Organa. "Come with me, Mara, I'll show you the right way. You can come with us." Mara was compelled to follow, but the Emperor was still there. Beckoning, calling to her...
You will kill Luke Skywalker! The words that the Emperor's Hand dreaded most echoed through her mind as she jerked awake. Another presence, one that was drawing on the Force, was entering the chamber. It was a man, lead by Fortuna, wearing a long black robe much like the one that Mara had been wearing before she had danced. Skywalker! she thought.
Another thought entered her mind simultaneously, a thought that was almost words, like a masculine voice echoing through her brain. That's right, it's me, it said. The only other time she had heard a voice like this was when the Emperor spoke to her over a long distance.
But if Skywalker could read her thoughts wouldn't he know who she was--?
I try not to intrude, came that voice again.
He was really getting on Mara's nerves. If he caught anything about her ties with the Empire, she knew she was in deep, deep trouble. Then how did you catch that? she thought back indignantly.
There was an embarrassed pause. Sorry.
He was talking to Jabba. She had missed half the conversation while Skywalker was sending her those messages. "Nevertheless," Skywalker said calmly, "Captain Solo and his friends are coming with me. You can either profit from this or be destroyed."
Mara resisted the urge to snort derisively. Bold words for someone who had no backup besides a half dressed woman on a chain, a caged up Wookiee, and an imprisoned man blinder than an eyeless gundark.
She had made no attempt to hide this thought from the young Jedi, so she was not surprised when she heard, The Force is my ally and a powerful ally it is--
His thought ended suddenly as his thoughts shifted direction suddenly. He reached toward one of the Gamorrean guards and the blaster in the pig-like creatures hands flew suddenly toward Skywalker's outstretched hand.
It never made it there. Even as it fired randomly in the air, Jabba roared angrily and slapped a fleshy hand down on a button, throwing open the trapdoors underneath Skywalker's feet. The young man fell down, bringing the unfortunate Gamorrean down with him, into the Rancor pit. Mara peered over the edge of the now closed trapdoor, kneeling next to Organa. The other occupants of the chamber crowded around the pit and Mara couldn't see exactly what was going on. She soon enough heard gasps of surprise and, reaching out clumsily with the Force, felt that Skywalker was still alive. Apparently, he had killed the hideous beast.
Jabba was angrier than anyone and declared that Skywalker, Solo, and the Wookiee would all die for the Rancor's death. He had them taken out in front of him where he declared their fate: they would be cast into the pit of Carkoon, the nesting place of the appalling Sarlecc. Mundane, Mara that sardonically. I could have thought of something better.
I'm glad you're on my side then! came Skywalker's reply almost instantly.
She quickly put up a mental barrier just as the Emperor's voice yelled, You will kill Luke Skywalker! That was the last thing she needed him to hear.
As she was being brought on to Jabba's sail barge, she thought about Skywalker's words. I'm glad you're on my side then! Was she on his side? The last thing she wanted to admit was that she was on the same side of something as Luke Skywalker. Oh, well. He'd get her out of Jabba's clutches and, in return, she'd let him live for as long as it took to escape.
The ride out to the pit of Carkoon was short and mostly uneventful. Mara stood next to Organa at one of the sail barge's plentiful windows to stare out at the two skiffs riding escort to them. "Do you have a plan?" she whispered to Organa.
The young princess didn't look at her. Instead, keeping her eyes on the skiff with her friends on it, she nodded fractionally. "You're welcome to join us if you wish, Miss Arica," she said, her deep voice barely heard over the barge's loud engines. "We'll make sure you see your daughter again."
Mara fought the smirk that threatened. Sooner or later, they'd have to find out who she really was, but she had no idea that her pity story would work so well. She let a small smile through, making it as rueful as possible.
The three repulsor-lift vehicles stopped above a nasty looking hole in the ground that actually seemed to breathe as a hot breeze drifted lazily past. In the distance, the sandy dunes rippled in the Tatooine noon heat. The twin suns made the climate unspeakably hot, but Skywalker had actually grown up on that forsaken world and looked completely used to it. At least as far as Mara could tell.
Jabba's throne rolled over to one of the windows. [Victims of the mighty Sarlecc,] he started, having the golden protocol droid translate a moment later, [I hope you will die honorably. But,]--the hutt probably couldn't help himself--[if any of you wish to beg for mercy, I'll hear your pleas now.]
The droid faithfully translated and even from twenty meters away, Mara could see the look of disgust on Solo's face. "Threepio!" he yelled back. "You tell that piece of worm-ridden piece of filth, he'll get no such pleasure from us...right?" The last word was a bit more tentative than the rest of the sentence, but they could hear it easily. The Wookiee grunted something that was probably agreement.
Skywalker stepped forward. "Jabba, this is your last chance," he shouted. Mara could feel the hutt's amusement at the situation. "Free us or die."
The crimelord ended the conversation by simply waving a fatty arm and saying, [Put them in.]
One of the guards prodded at Skywalker's back. He stepped to the edge of the platform, gave a somewhat relaxed salute, and stepped off the edge of the plank. Before Mara could even wonder at the stupidity of the action, before Organa could even gasp in surprise, Skywalker performed a half turn in mid-air and caught the edge of the platform. He reversed the momentum and was suddenly somersaulting through the air back onto the skiff. He reached his hand up just in time to catch a silvery object hurtling through the air toward him. Mara didn't know what the object was or where it had come from, but obviously Skywalker did as the silver thing grew into a long green-white glowing beam of light--his lightsaber.
As he started sweeping the deadly blade back and forth, chopping guards and sentries in two and sending them tumbling into the Sarlecc's open mouth, Organa grabbed her arm and led her back to the enraged hutt. The princess grabbed a hydrospanner sitting randomly on the electricity panel and smashed the tool into it, cutting the lights. Then she grabbed her chain tossed it around Jabba's neck. Mara caught on quickly and did the same on the other side. "One, two, three!" Organa yelled as they began pulling with all their might.
At first, Mara was doubtful that they were even choking the hutt, but when she opened her eyes and looked at him, she was rewarded be seeing him grabbing at the chains frantically and his hideous tongue hanging out limply.
This was going to take a bit more than pulling. Mara let some slack go on her chain, but still yelled to Organa, "Keep pulling!" Without waiting for assent, she jumped on the side of the throne, buried her boot in Jabba's upper stomach (at least, she thought that's what it was--it was hard to be sure on a hutt), and yanked his hands from his throat. He wasn't too weak to fight back, however, and with one arm, sent her reeling back onto the floor. Undaunted, she was on him again in a minute, this time abandoning the hands and pressing her boot straight into his throat as hard as she could manage.
She kept it there until the crimelord's head rolled to one side limply and his tail stopped its spasmodic twitching. She jumped down, looking for Organa for the next part of the plan. She found the princess studying the lock on her chain. "Your R2 unit," Mara suggested. "Most astomechs can melt metal like this easily."
"Nice thinking," Organa said even as the droid rolled toward them. "My guess is that he already had that in mind. By the way, nice job on the space slug back there." She nodded at the dead hutt. "Are you hurt?"
Mara looked down at the slimy green stuff that was now all over her top. "No, just slightly disgusted."
Organa smiled as the droid cut them both loose. They ran to the front of the sail barge to see Skywalker taking care of the guards up there. He saw them approaching and yelled something that Mara couldn't hear. He yelled again, and this time, a stray blaster bolt hit him in his right hand. He made a surprised sound, but strangely, Mara felt no pain from his sense. In her mind, as she picked up a blaster from a dead sentry, she heard Skywalker yell, Get the gun and point it at the deck. She relayed the message to Organa and shot two guards off of Skywalker's back.
You will kill Luke Skywalker! You will kill Luke Skywalker! yelled the voice suddenly. Now was the perfect opportunity, now as he and Organa were getting ready to swing to safety onto the next skiff.
Better get down here if you want to come, said Skywalker's voice. She dropped the blaster to avoid unnecessary exemption and ran toward the edge of the sail barge. Mara noticed that he hadn't set the gun to go off yet, so, as he swung back on the rope to get her, she set it off.
As he swung toward her, she realized that he wasn't going to make it all the way back. He realized it too. Ready? his thoughts asked. JUMP!
Mara obeyed, somersaulting through the air and landing perfectly in his outstretched arm. His arm closed around her waist tightly and she wrapped her arms around his neck. She had no doubt in her mind that she could trust him not to drop her, but she still clung to him unrelentlessly until they landed on the relatively undamaged skiff seconds later.
"Thanks," she said breathlessly as he put her down.
He smiled at her and she suddenly felt like she could trust him. "No problem, Miss...uh--"
"Jade," she said softly, not entirely believing she was telling him her real name. "Mara Jade."
"Miss Jade, then." He turned to a dark skinned man that Mara hadn't seen around earlier but quickly identified as Lando Calrissian. "Let's go and don't forget the droids."
"We're on our way," Calrissian declared, taking the controls. Suddenly, the control panel he was working at fizzled and shorted out. The gambler bit out a couple of curses and the Wookiee wandered over to help him fix it.
You will kill Luke Skywalker!
The voice was so loud this time, she was sure that everyone on the skiff had heard it. But no one even looked up. Calrissian, Chewbacca, and the droids were looking at the broken control panel and Organa was sitting next to Solo, talking to him.
And Skywalker was staring straight at her, taking a few steps away and looking very confused. "No," she tried to explain, knowing he had heard that one, "it's not what you think, really it isn't."
YOU WILL KILL LUKE SKYWALKER!
The Emperor's voice was so deafening that Mara abruptly doubled over in pain, holding her head in her hands. "No!" she yelled suddenly. "Stop it! Stop it!"
You have betrayed me, Mara Jade! the Emperor screamed. You will pay, Mara Jade! You will pay for that!
Skywalker was hearing this all, she knew. The only thing she could do was lay there, on the floor of the skiff, listening to the others question what was wrong, and wait for Palpatine to kill her. Soon after, the jabs of agony seared through her body, sending anguish from one end of her to the other like a deadly fire. She tried to fight it, but she was too weak from the attacks already. The jabs didn't stop, but instead, grew more frequent.
Another presence entered the small world she had created, a light presence chasing away the darkness of the Emperor. They fought for a time while Mara watched in wonderment, half aware of what was going on.
When she finally opened her tear stained eyes, she found herself cradled in Skywalker's arms, her head on his shoulder, sitting in his lap, and crying. She made no effort to move; she somehow knew he was using his Jedi skills to heal her.
She could feel that he was tired, having just fought that battle with the Emperor, but he still reached out to her to try and heal her. "He's gone," Skywalker whispered, seeing that she was awake. "You don't have to worry anymore. I won't let him get you."
Why was this man trying to save her? The man she was supposed to kill? He had saved her life, and yet she was here, determined to kill him. But now she recognized Palpatine's deceit and lies and knew she could never respect the Empire again.
"Is she all right?" asked Calrissian's voice. "What happened?"
She felt Skywalker shift slightly as he diverted some of his concentration on his friends. "I'm not sure exactly, but I think the Emperor was attacking her. She's strong with the Force, and I think Palpatine wanted that. I think she'll be okay. She doesn't seem seriously hurt, but I think we'll have to ask her on that one."
Mara felt all thoughts turn to her expectantly, but for some reason, it frightened her and she cowered back deeper into Skywalker's protective embrace. "He can't get you now," Skywalker said softly, rubbing her arm reassuringly. "I won't let him. I promise."
Who are you? his voice asked in her mind. I mean really. Why does he want you so badly?
Her instincts instantly told her to clam up. If there was one thing she was drilled on early into her life, it was never tell anyone what you're up to. But something else told her that she could trust this man. This man who had saved her from the Emperor's wrath even when she didn't deserve it. I worked for the Empire, sort of a spy, she began. I don't anymore, I guess, but the Emperor took me away when I was young and brought me up as his Hand. I was the Emperor's Hand.
And he sent you here to kill me? Skywalker's thoughts asked. You're a very capable young lady. Why am I still alive?
She was slightly surprised that he didn't just drop her off the skiff right then and there, which, she discovered upon looking around tentatively, would hurt since the skiff was moving again. Lucky, I guess.
"Are you okay?" he said out loud.
"I--I think so," she said softly. "My head hurts."
Organa was leaning over them suddenly. "We should try to get her out of the sun, shouldn't we?" she said softly.
"Yeah, maybe," Skywalker replied. "Can you stand?"
"I can try," Mara replied as he lifted her to her feet. She held on to his arm a moment to get oriented with the floor of the speeding skiff, but after that, she seemed fine. "I think I'm okay." A sudden wave of nausea hit her and abruptly knocked her off balance back into Skywalker's steadying arms.
"Are you sure?" Organa said doubtfully, removing the blanket from around her own shoulders and handing it to Mara, who took it gratefully. They were both still wearing the clothing Jabba had had them wear.
Just then, Calrissian and the Wookiee brought the skiff to a halt just outside of an old crumbling sand structure that looked like it had been abandoned for some time. Mara noticed two camouflage netting covering mounds in the sand that were shaped oddly like two spaceships just behind the building. So that's where they hid their ships, she thought.
"I'm just a little dizzy yet," she told Organa. "I'll be fine in a couple of minutes."
Even amid her avid protesting, Skywalker was set on carrying her to the recently uncovered ship--which turned out to be Solo's ship, the Millennium Falcon, surprise, surprise--and placing her in one of the bunks. As she settled into the slightly uncomfortable mattress, Skywalker said, "I would like to stay here and make sure that the Emperor doesn't go after you, but I, uh, have some other business to attend to. I'm pretty sure that he won't go after you again."
She really didn't want him to leave, in case Palpatine did attack her again, but she just nodded.
He leaned over and took her hand and, to her surprise, she didn't pull it back. "You're a very brave woman, Mara," he said softly, "and I admire that. I will come back as soon as I can, all right? Besides, I really think that you can fend for yourself."
"Thank you," she whispered.
What do you think? Should I write more?