Author: Mara Jade Skywalker, Jedi Knight
Title: More Than He Hoped For
Summary: Luke gets hurt, Mara comes to visit, and they discover their true feelings for each other.
Disclaimer: All of the characters in this story belong to George Lucas. I'm not making any money from this, I don't even know why people would think that I would, because I think it's really bad.
Comments are quite welcome and more than needed. I'm open for changes of the title, too. It was the only thing I could think of. E-mail anything to marajadeskywalkerjediknight@yahoo.com
____________________________________________ Luke and Leia were enjoying a leisurely stroll along the Coruscant sidewalk, talking about Luke's Jedi Academy and the three Solo children.
"I really think they're going to be ready to come soon, Leia," Luke told her.
Leia pressed her lips together, obviously not excited at the prospect of letting her children go. "I know, Luke, I know. I guess I just don't wan them to leave."
Luke smiled. "Of course not. They're you're children, Leia. I'd be worried if you didn't feel this way."
Leia smiled back and put her arm around her brother's shoulders. "Thanks, Luke."
____________________________________________
Above them, on top of one of the shorter buildings, a lone woman lay flat on her stomach, watching Skywalker and his sister through electrobinoculars.
Callista put the binocs down and picked up the sniper rifle at her side. Peering through the scope, she locked on to her target. I only get one shot at him. He reached her targeted area, and she pulled the trigger. A fraction of a second before it hit him, though, he twisted partially out of the way, and the shot missed its mark by mere millimeters.
Blast, Callista thought, and then Skywalker collapsed.
____________________________________________ Leia didn't know what happened. One second Luke was walking next to her, the next he had collapsed onto the ground.
"LUKE!" she screamed, horrified by the scorch mark where the blaster bolt has hit him, Ripping her comlink off her belt, she called a medic team.
Within minutes, the team had arrived, and they loaded Luke onto a stretcher and into the ambulance to be taken to the Med Center.
____________________________________________ For Leia and Han, the two hours spent in the waiting room seemed like an eternity. When the doctor finally came out, Leia was on her feet in an instant.
"Is he." Leia's voice trailed off, and she found herself unable to speak the words.
The doctor shook his head. "No, but it's not looking good. The blaster bolt missed his heart and spinal cord, but he's still in critical condition.
Leia nodded, still unable to speak. "Can we see him?" Han asked.
The doctor hesitated, then nodded. "Follow me."
Leia couldn't hold back the tears when she saw Luke. His skin had a gray cast to it, and there were numerous machines and readouts all around his bed. The doctor left them, and Leia just sat there holding Luke's hand.
As day began to turn to night, Leia turned to Han. "Why don't you go home to the kids?"
Han looked at her carefully. "Are you sure?"
Han nodded back and gave her a hug. "He'll be all right, Leia. I'll see you later.
____________________________________________ Mara Jade stepped into Karrde's office. "What's the matter?" she asked. Karrde had asked to see her immediately, and he almost never did that unless it was an emergency.
Karrde had a stunned look on his face. "I just received a message from Councilor Organa Solo. Her brother was shot yesterday. He's listed in critical condition," he said quietly.
Mara breath caught in her chest. Not Luke. Anyone but Luke. She shook her head, trying to reorganize her thoughts. "I.. I need to go see him," she managed to stammer.
Karrde nodded. "The Fire is waiting for you in the docking bay, fueled and ready to fly.
Mara looked up at him gratefully. "Thank you."
Mara was on her way to Coruscant in a matter of minutes. Don't give up, Luke. Keep fighting. She hit the switch, and the stars blurred into lines.
____________________________________________ Leia was jolted awake when her comlink beeped. "Hello?" she asked groggily.
"Leia, it's Mara. Could you possibly tell these gentlemen out here to let me in?" Mara's voice was tense.
Leia rattled off the clearance code to her, and in a few minutes Mara appeared in the doorway "How is he?" she asked quietly.
Leia shook her head. "He's been unconscious for the past three days. He doesn't seem to be getting worse, though.
Mara bit her lip. If Luke died and she never got to tell him how she felt, she would never forgive herself.
She turned her head to look at Leia. Three days by Luke's side had taken their toll on her. "Why don't you go home, take a shower, and get some rest? I'll call you if anything happens," Mara suggested.
Leia hesitated, and nodded. "All right. I'll see you soon," she said, giving Mara a hug and heading out the door.
Mara waved half-heartedly, then sat down next to Luke and took his hand. "You have to get better, Luke, you just have to," Mara whispered tearfully. "Please."
____________________________________________ Over the next twelve hours, Mara was constantly at Luke's side. The doctor came in to run his tests and told Mara there was still no change.
Leia came back in and looked at Luke. "Any changes?" she asked hopefully.
Mara sighed. "No."
Leia sighed and sat down on the other side of the bed, putting her head in her hands.
Mara looked at her. "They found out why he's having such a hard time beating this."
Leia's head shot up "Why?"
"Whoever shot him laced the blaster bolt with poison," Mara said through clenched teeth.
Leia looked back down, stunned. "Did- did they find out who did it yet?" she stammered.
Mara shook her head. "Not that I know of, but-" She stopped abruptly as Luke stirred slightly. "Leia!" she whispered urgently.
Luke stirred again, and his eyes slowly blinked open. He stared at the ceiling for a moment, then turned his head to look at Leia. "Leia? Where am I?" he asked hoarsely.
"Shh, Luke. You're in the hospital because you were shot, remember?" Leia told her brother.
Luke closed his eyes briefly and nodded. "Yes." He turned his head to look at the other side of the bed. "Mara."
Mara nodded and gave him a small smile. "Hey, farmboy, long time, no see," she said, squeezing his hand. She looked at him for a moment and took a deep breath. She wasn't sure if she wanted to tell him this in front of Leia, but this could be her only chance. "I need to tell you something, Luke."
"What?"
"I love you," she said softly.
Luke gazed up at her for a moment, then smiled. "I love you, too."
Leia smiled at the two of them. "Why don't you get some rest, Luke? You need it."
Luke closed his eyes. "See you soon."
____________________________________________ Leia was starting to doze off when the security officer walker in, but she quickly revived herself and shot out of the chair. "Yes, officer?"
The officer looked them both over. "We found the shooter," he informed them.
Mara and Leia exchanged glances. "Who was it?" Leia asked.
The officer offered them a picture. " A woman by the name of Callista. She's being questioned as we speak."
Both Mara and Leia were stunned. Leia could sense Mara's anger overcoming the shock, though, and laid a hand on her arm. "Thank you, officer."
As soon as the officer had left the room, Mara let loose with a string of curse words. "Why, that back-stabbing, body-snatching, little-,"
"Mara!" Leia admonished. "That's not going to help at all!"
Mara closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. "I know, you're right. I'm sorry." She opened her eyes again. "What are we going to do?"
Leia shrugged. "Who knows? We can't do anything about Callista. I guess all we can do is sit here and hope Luke finds it within himself to get better."
____________________________________________ The next few days were tense for Mara and Leia. Luke remained unconscious, although the doctor said that he had improved slightly.
Leia glanced up at the chronometer on the wall. "I'm going to get something to eat. Do you want anything?"
Mara shook her head. "No, thanks."
After Leia left, Mara turned back to Luke. She reached a hand up and gently brushed a few strands of stray hair away from his forehead. "Keep fighting, Luke," she whispered. "You have to get better." She rested her head on the edge of the bed, and suddenly tensed when she felt a hand stroking her hair. She looked up to find Luke conscious.
"Hey," he whispered.
Mara took his hand. "Hey," she answered. "Feeling better?"
"A little. How long have I been in here?"
"About a week. The doctor says you're improving, though," Mara replied.
Luke looked around the room. "Where's Leia?"
"She went to get something to eat." She reached for her comlink. "Try to stay awake until she gets here, okay?"
Leia came running into the room. "Luke!" She came to the side of the bed and took his hand. "How are you feeling?"
Luke smiled wearily. "Tired, mostly. There's still some pain, but I'm guessing they're pumping enough medication into me to mask most of it." He closed his eyes briefly. "I'm going to try putting myself into a healing trance for a few days." He smiled up at Mara. "You know what to say to bring me out of it," he said, giving her hand a small squeeze.
Mara nodded, smiling. Luke closed his eyes, and Mara could feel him gathering the Force to himself. His breathing slowed and his presence faded as he fell unconscious.
Mara looked up at Leia. "Any word on what they're going to do about Callista?"
Leia shook her head. "No. The trial's scheduled for next week. They did find the sniper rifle she shot him with, though."
"And?"
"With the amount of poison she pumped into the power pack, we're lucky he survived more than three hours," Leia said grimly.
____________________________________________ The doctor's were amazed at Luke's sudden progress. To have someone lie in bed for almost a week with almost no progress heal almost completely in three days seemed to be a miracle. But then, they didn't have many Jedi as patients.
Mara and Leia sat next to Luke's bed, listening to the doctor. "I can't believe how fast he's healed. I wish we could put all of our patients into healing trances like Master Skywalker has. It would simplify many things for us. For now though, all we can do is wait for him to wake up." The doctor's comlink buzzed. "If you'll excuse me, I have other patients to attend to now," he said with a smile.
"Thank you, Doctor," Mara said.
After the doctor left, Leia and Mara exchanged glances. "Should we wake him up now?" Mara asked.
Leia nodded. "Go ahead."
Mara reached over and took Luke's hand. "I love you, Luke."
Luke's eyes opened, and he looked around the room for a moment before he got his bearings. "I love you, too."
____________________________________________ When Leia went home later that night, she was immediately pounced on by all three of her children.
"How's Uncle Luke, Mommy?" Jacen asked.
Leia smiled down at her children. "He's doing much better." Looking up at the chrono, she addressed them again. "And if you want to see him tomorrow, you all need to get to bed now."
After multiple protests, Jacen, Jaina, and Anakin were all in bed. "Good night, Mommy! Good night, Daddy!" they chorused.
Back out in the living space, Han pulled Leia into a hug. "So you're planning on taking them to the medcenter tomorrow??
Leia shook her head. "He's coming home. Mara's bringing him."
"He's feeling that much better already?"
Leia smiled up at her husband. "Jedi healing trances can work wonders, you know."
"Yeah, yeah," Han grumbled. He didn't like to be reminded that he was the only one in the family not Force-sensitive.
Leia laughed and kissed him. "You do just fine without it.
____________________________________________ Mara was waiting outside the medcenter as Luke came out, and met him with a hug a few steps from the door.
"I'm so glad you're okay," she murmured.
Luke gently kissed her forehead and smiled. "Come on, let's get over to Han and Leia's."
____________________________________________ When Luke and Mara walked through the door, Jacen, Jaina, and Anakin all dropped what they were doing. "Uncle Luke!"
Luke grinned and crouched down so he could hug all three of them at once. "Hey, guys!"
After a few minutes, Leia intervened. "Okay, give Uncle Luke some room to breathe," she told them.
So instead, the three ran to an unsuspecting Mara. Almost knocked over, she managed to regain her balance and bent to give them all a hug.
"Why don't you all go play so your uncle and I can talk to your mom and dad?" she suggested.
The three went back to their building and Mara wandered into the kitchen, where Han, Leia, and Luke were already talking.
"So did I miss anything while I was gone?" Luke asked.
Han shook his head. "No, minus the little incident where Jacen and Jaina used the Force to have a water battle," he said wryly. "And guess who their target was?"
Luke shook his head. "I'll have to talk to them about that," he laughed. "They really will be ready to come to the academy next year."
Mara went over to Luke and put her arm around him. "I'd watch it if I were you. I heard that the last time you tried to talk about that, you got shot," she warned.
Luke grew suddenly serious and fell into silence. After a moment, he spoke. "They found out who tried to kill me, didn't they?"
Mara glanced over at Leia, who nodded. "Yeah. Callista," she answered quietly.
She felt a wave of shock roll off of him, although he tried to smother it. "I thought you were the one who wanted to kill me," he joked.
"Hey, that was a long time ago!" she protested.
Just then, they were interrupted by squeals coming from the bathroom. "Mommy! Daddy! Jacen and Jaina are throwing water again!" Anakin yelled.
Leia rolled her eyes. "Come on, Han. We'd better go stop them before they flood the whole building."
Mara laughed and shook her head as Leia pulled Han from the room. She turned back to Luke. "You okay?" she asked softly.
"Just a little surprised, that's all." He smiled at her and pulled her into a tight embrace. "Other than that, I couldn't be better."
Mara felt a tap on her leg and looked down, smiling when she saw who it was. "Yes, Jaina?"
"I was just wondering- Are you and Uncle Luke going to get married?"
"Uhh." Mara's voice trailed off, but luckily Luke rescued her.
"Jaina, why don't you let us talk about this for a few minutes, okay?" he suggested, smiling at her. "Besides, aren't you supposed to be helping clean up all that water?" Jaina nodded and grinned sheepishly before running back down the hall to the rest of her family.
Luke turned back to Mara. "So what do you say?" he asked. "Will you marry me?"
Mara smiled. "There's nothing I'd like more," she answered softly.
Luke smiled back, and Mara saw all the love in his eyes. He bent his head down to hers, and their lips met for the first time in a soft kiss.
____________________________________________ Later that night, Luke and Mara stood, arm-in-arm, on the small balcony of Luke's apartment, watching the sunset.
Luke looked down at Mara lovingly. "Thank you," he said softly.
Mara looked up, slightly confused. "For what?"
"For coming back." He reached a hand up to stroke her cheek. "I seriously doubt if I would've come out of that alive if you hadn't, Mara."
"Could I have done anything less?" Mara asked softly. She reached up and wrapped her arms around Luke's neck. "I love you."
Luke smiled. "I love you, too, Mara." For a moment, it seemed as if the only thing in the galaxy that mattered was the woman he held in his arms. His thoughts rested solely on her and the life they would share together. And that was more than he could ever have hoped for.
Title: More Than He Hoped For
Summary: Luke gets hurt, Mara comes to visit, and they discover their true feelings for each other.
Disclaimer: All of the characters in this story belong to George Lucas. I'm not making any money from this, I don't even know why people would think that I would, because I think it's really bad.
Comments are quite welcome and more than needed. I'm open for changes of the title, too. It was the only thing I could think of. E-mail anything to marajadeskywalkerjediknight@yahoo.com
____________________________________________ Luke and Leia were enjoying a leisurely stroll along the Coruscant sidewalk, talking about Luke's Jedi Academy and the three Solo children.
"I really think they're going to be ready to come soon, Leia," Luke told her.
Leia pressed her lips together, obviously not excited at the prospect of letting her children go. "I know, Luke, I know. I guess I just don't wan them to leave."
Luke smiled. "Of course not. They're you're children, Leia. I'd be worried if you didn't feel this way."
Leia smiled back and put her arm around her brother's shoulders. "Thanks, Luke."
____________________________________________
Above them, on top of one of the shorter buildings, a lone woman lay flat on her stomach, watching Skywalker and his sister through electrobinoculars.
Callista put the binocs down and picked up the sniper rifle at her side. Peering through the scope, she locked on to her target. I only get one shot at him. He reached her targeted area, and she pulled the trigger. A fraction of a second before it hit him, though, he twisted partially out of the way, and the shot missed its mark by mere millimeters.
Blast, Callista thought, and then Skywalker collapsed.
____________________________________________ Leia didn't know what happened. One second Luke was walking next to her, the next he had collapsed onto the ground.
"LUKE!" she screamed, horrified by the scorch mark where the blaster bolt has hit him, Ripping her comlink off her belt, she called a medic team.
Within minutes, the team had arrived, and they loaded Luke onto a stretcher and into the ambulance to be taken to the Med Center.
____________________________________________ For Leia and Han, the two hours spent in the waiting room seemed like an eternity. When the doctor finally came out, Leia was on her feet in an instant.
"Is he." Leia's voice trailed off, and she found herself unable to speak the words.
The doctor shook his head. "No, but it's not looking good. The blaster bolt missed his heart and spinal cord, but he's still in critical condition.
Leia nodded, still unable to speak. "Can we see him?" Han asked.
The doctor hesitated, then nodded. "Follow me."
Leia couldn't hold back the tears when she saw Luke. His skin had a gray cast to it, and there were numerous machines and readouts all around his bed. The doctor left them, and Leia just sat there holding Luke's hand.
As day began to turn to night, Leia turned to Han. "Why don't you go home to the kids?"
Han looked at her carefully. "Are you sure?"
Han nodded back and gave her a hug. "He'll be all right, Leia. I'll see you later.
____________________________________________ Mara Jade stepped into Karrde's office. "What's the matter?" she asked. Karrde had asked to see her immediately, and he almost never did that unless it was an emergency.
Karrde had a stunned look on his face. "I just received a message from Councilor Organa Solo. Her brother was shot yesterday. He's listed in critical condition," he said quietly.
Mara breath caught in her chest. Not Luke. Anyone but Luke. She shook her head, trying to reorganize her thoughts. "I.. I need to go see him," she managed to stammer.
Karrde nodded. "The Fire is waiting for you in the docking bay, fueled and ready to fly.
Mara looked up at him gratefully. "Thank you."
Mara was on her way to Coruscant in a matter of minutes. Don't give up, Luke. Keep fighting. She hit the switch, and the stars blurred into lines.
____________________________________________ Leia was jolted awake when her comlink beeped. "Hello?" she asked groggily.
"Leia, it's Mara. Could you possibly tell these gentlemen out here to let me in?" Mara's voice was tense.
Leia rattled off the clearance code to her, and in a few minutes Mara appeared in the doorway "How is he?" she asked quietly.
Leia shook her head. "He's been unconscious for the past three days. He doesn't seem to be getting worse, though.
Mara bit her lip. If Luke died and she never got to tell him how she felt, she would never forgive herself.
She turned her head to look at Leia. Three days by Luke's side had taken their toll on her. "Why don't you go home, take a shower, and get some rest? I'll call you if anything happens," Mara suggested.
Leia hesitated, and nodded. "All right. I'll see you soon," she said, giving Mara a hug and heading out the door.
Mara waved half-heartedly, then sat down next to Luke and took his hand. "You have to get better, Luke, you just have to," Mara whispered tearfully. "Please."
____________________________________________ Over the next twelve hours, Mara was constantly at Luke's side. The doctor came in to run his tests and told Mara there was still no change.
Leia came back in and looked at Luke. "Any changes?" she asked hopefully.
Mara sighed. "No."
Leia sighed and sat down on the other side of the bed, putting her head in her hands.
Mara looked at her. "They found out why he's having such a hard time beating this."
Leia's head shot up "Why?"
"Whoever shot him laced the blaster bolt with poison," Mara said through clenched teeth.
Leia looked back down, stunned. "Did- did they find out who did it yet?" she stammered.
Mara shook her head. "Not that I know of, but-" She stopped abruptly as Luke stirred slightly. "Leia!" she whispered urgently.
Luke stirred again, and his eyes slowly blinked open. He stared at the ceiling for a moment, then turned his head to look at Leia. "Leia? Where am I?" he asked hoarsely.
"Shh, Luke. You're in the hospital because you were shot, remember?" Leia told her brother.
Luke closed his eyes briefly and nodded. "Yes." He turned his head to look at the other side of the bed. "Mara."
Mara nodded and gave him a small smile. "Hey, farmboy, long time, no see," she said, squeezing his hand. She looked at him for a moment and took a deep breath. She wasn't sure if she wanted to tell him this in front of Leia, but this could be her only chance. "I need to tell you something, Luke."
"What?"
"I love you," she said softly.
Luke gazed up at her for a moment, then smiled. "I love you, too."
Leia smiled at the two of them. "Why don't you get some rest, Luke? You need it."
Luke closed his eyes. "See you soon."
____________________________________________ Leia was starting to doze off when the security officer walker in, but she quickly revived herself and shot out of the chair. "Yes, officer?"
The officer looked them both over. "We found the shooter," he informed them.
Mara and Leia exchanged glances. "Who was it?" Leia asked.
The officer offered them a picture. " A woman by the name of Callista. She's being questioned as we speak."
Both Mara and Leia were stunned. Leia could sense Mara's anger overcoming the shock, though, and laid a hand on her arm. "Thank you, officer."
As soon as the officer had left the room, Mara let loose with a string of curse words. "Why, that back-stabbing, body-snatching, little-,"
"Mara!" Leia admonished. "That's not going to help at all!"
Mara closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. "I know, you're right. I'm sorry." She opened her eyes again. "What are we going to do?"
Leia shrugged. "Who knows? We can't do anything about Callista. I guess all we can do is sit here and hope Luke finds it within himself to get better."
____________________________________________ The next few days were tense for Mara and Leia. Luke remained unconscious, although the doctor said that he had improved slightly.
Leia glanced up at the chronometer on the wall. "I'm going to get something to eat. Do you want anything?"
Mara shook her head. "No, thanks."
After Leia left, Mara turned back to Luke. She reached a hand up and gently brushed a few strands of stray hair away from his forehead. "Keep fighting, Luke," she whispered. "You have to get better." She rested her head on the edge of the bed, and suddenly tensed when she felt a hand stroking her hair. She looked up to find Luke conscious.
"Hey," he whispered.
Mara took his hand. "Hey," she answered. "Feeling better?"
"A little. How long have I been in here?"
"About a week. The doctor says you're improving, though," Mara replied.
Luke looked around the room. "Where's Leia?"
"She went to get something to eat." She reached for her comlink. "Try to stay awake until she gets here, okay?"
Leia came running into the room. "Luke!" She came to the side of the bed and took his hand. "How are you feeling?"
Luke smiled wearily. "Tired, mostly. There's still some pain, but I'm guessing they're pumping enough medication into me to mask most of it." He closed his eyes briefly. "I'm going to try putting myself into a healing trance for a few days." He smiled up at Mara. "You know what to say to bring me out of it," he said, giving her hand a small squeeze.
Mara nodded, smiling. Luke closed his eyes, and Mara could feel him gathering the Force to himself. His breathing slowed and his presence faded as he fell unconscious.
Mara looked up at Leia. "Any word on what they're going to do about Callista?"
Leia shook her head. "No. The trial's scheduled for next week. They did find the sniper rifle she shot him with, though."
"And?"
"With the amount of poison she pumped into the power pack, we're lucky he survived more than three hours," Leia said grimly.
____________________________________________ The doctor's were amazed at Luke's sudden progress. To have someone lie in bed for almost a week with almost no progress heal almost completely in three days seemed to be a miracle. But then, they didn't have many Jedi as patients.
Mara and Leia sat next to Luke's bed, listening to the doctor. "I can't believe how fast he's healed. I wish we could put all of our patients into healing trances like Master Skywalker has. It would simplify many things for us. For now though, all we can do is wait for him to wake up." The doctor's comlink buzzed. "If you'll excuse me, I have other patients to attend to now," he said with a smile.
"Thank you, Doctor," Mara said.
After the doctor left, Leia and Mara exchanged glances. "Should we wake him up now?" Mara asked.
Leia nodded. "Go ahead."
Mara reached over and took Luke's hand. "I love you, Luke."
Luke's eyes opened, and he looked around the room for a moment before he got his bearings. "I love you, too."
____________________________________________ When Leia went home later that night, she was immediately pounced on by all three of her children.
"How's Uncle Luke, Mommy?" Jacen asked.
Leia smiled down at her children. "He's doing much better." Looking up at the chrono, she addressed them again. "And if you want to see him tomorrow, you all need to get to bed now."
After multiple protests, Jacen, Jaina, and Anakin were all in bed. "Good night, Mommy! Good night, Daddy!" they chorused.
Back out in the living space, Han pulled Leia into a hug. "So you're planning on taking them to the medcenter tomorrow??
Leia shook her head. "He's coming home. Mara's bringing him."
"He's feeling that much better already?"
Leia smiled up at her husband. "Jedi healing trances can work wonders, you know."
"Yeah, yeah," Han grumbled. He didn't like to be reminded that he was the only one in the family not Force-sensitive.
Leia laughed and kissed him. "You do just fine without it.
____________________________________________ Mara was waiting outside the medcenter as Luke came out, and met him with a hug a few steps from the door.
"I'm so glad you're okay," she murmured.
Luke gently kissed her forehead and smiled. "Come on, let's get over to Han and Leia's."
____________________________________________ When Luke and Mara walked through the door, Jacen, Jaina, and Anakin all dropped what they were doing. "Uncle Luke!"
Luke grinned and crouched down so he could hug all three of them at once. "Hey, guys!"
After a few minutes, Leia intervened. "Okay, give Uncle Luke some room to breathe," she told them.
So instead, the three ran to an unsuspecting Mara. Almost knocked over, she managed to regain her balance and bent to give them all a hug.
"Why don't you all go play so your uncle and I can talk to your mom and dad?" she suggested.
The three went back to their building and Mara wandered into the kitchen, where Han, Leia, and Luke were already talking.
"So did I miss anything while I was gone?" Luke asked.
Han shook his head. "No, minus the little incident where Jacen and Jaina used the Force to have a water battle," he said wryly. "And guess who their target was?"
Luke shook his head. "I'll have to talk to them about that," he laughed. "They really will be ready to come to the academy next year."
Mara went over to Luke and put her arm around him. "I'd watch it if I were you. I heard that the last time you tried to talk about that, you got shot," she warned.
Luke grew suddenly serious and fell into silence. After a moment, he spoke. "They found out who tried to kill me, didn't they?"
Mara glanced over at Leia, who nodded. "Yeah. Callista," she answered quietly.
She felt a wave of shock roll off of him, although he tried to smother it. "I thought you were the one who wanted to kill me," he joked.
"Hey, that was a long time ago!" she protested.
Just then, they were interrupted by squeals coming from the bathroom. "Mommy! Daddy! Jacen and Jaina are throwing water again!" Anakin yelled.
Leia rolled her eyes. "Come on, Han. We'd better go stop them before they flood the whole building."
Mara laughed and shook her head as Leia pulled Han from the room. She turned back to Luke. "You okay?" she asked softly.
"Just a little surprised, that's all." He smiled at her and pulled her into a tight embrace. "Other than that, I couldn't be better."
Mara felt a tap on her leg and looked down, smiling when she saw who it was. "Yes, Jaina?"
"I was just wondering- Are you and Uncle Luke going to get married?"
"Uhh." Mara's voice trailed off, but luckily Luke rescued her.
"Jaina, why don't you let us talk about this for a few minutes, okay?" he suggested, smiling at her. "Besides, aren't you supposed to be helping clean up all that water?" Jaina nodded and grinned sheepishly before running back down the hall to the rest of her family.
Luke turned back to Mara. "So what do you say?" he asked. "Will you marry me?"
Mara smiled. "There's nothing I'd like more," she answered softly.
Luke smiled back, and Mara saw all the love in his eyes. He bent his head down to hers, and their lips met for the first time in a soft kiss.
____________________________________________ Later that night, Luke and Mara stood, arm-in-arm, on the small balcony of Luke's apartment, watching the sunset.
Luke looked down at Mara lovingly. "Thank you," he said softly.
Mara looked up, slightly confused. "For what?"
"For coming back." He reached a hand up to stroke her cheek. "I seriously doubt if I would've come out of that alive if you hadn't, Mara."
"Could I have done anything less?" Mara asked softly. She reached up and wrapped her arms around Luke's neck. "I love you."
Luke smiled. "I love you, too, Mara." For a moment, it seemed as if the only thing in the galaxy that mattered was the woman he held in his arms. His thoughts rested solely on her and the life they would share together. And that was more than he could ever have hoped for.