This is my first SW fic and as such, please be kind. It is not strictly canon nor am I as educated as I should be about some of the SW universe particulars. I just love the Luke/Mara dynamic and I was inspired while watching Take the Lead. That being said, please enjoy it as fluff.

Mara Jade wiped the thin sheen of sweat from her brow and let out a whoop of triumph. Smiling broadly, she regarded her long-time friend, Luke Skywalker, groaning in obvious pain on the training mat.

She tilted her head to the side as she observed him, "Have a boo-boo Master Jedi?"

A pair of blue eyes peeped at her warily.

Feeling generous, Mara offered him a hand up. Luke studied the proffered hand cautiously but accepted her assistance getting to his feet. He walked over to the bench where his water bottle and towel lay, sitting down heavily while still nursing his ribs, "Do you want to call it a day?"

Mara arched an eyebrow, "Do you?"

Luke scowled at her, "I thought we had plans to go out tonight. I'd like to head back to my apartment and get cleaned up before it gets too late."

She rolled her eyes, "Can't have you out past your bedtime? No good tonight, farmboy, I've got plans."

"Since when?"

"Since your sister asked a couple weeks ago for a favor."

Luke looked skeptical, "Leia asked you for something?"

Mara bristled, "She did actually, so as I said, I am busy."

Luke held his hands up in a mock gesture of defeat, "Fine by me, we'll catch that holo-romance another time I suppose."

"You don't actually enjoy that genre do you?"

"I go for the popcorn."

She snorted, "We'll try for tomorrow night, I'm not due to leave for another week."

He gave her a warm smile, "Sure thing Jade, com me tomorrow and tell me how it goes."

*End Paragraph*

Mara cautiously placed a pin into her intricately arranged chignon at the nape of her neck. With a sigh, she regarded herself in the mirror with a critical eye.

The black material of her dress clung in all the right places, held together by laces across her back and criss-crossing over the valley of her breasts. Her red-gold hair was plaited but bound in a series of knots, with a few errant curls caressing her shoulder.

With a huff, she strapped on her dainty black heels and picked up her cloak. Pulling up her hood, she left her apartment and made for her destination.

This was being done as a favor, for the high clearance codes she received as a gift apparently had strings attached.

Leia Organa Solo had better be eternally grateful for this stunt. And Mara hoped that Palpatine was suffering a horrible afterlife for that extensive ballroom program he insisted her instructors implement.

*End Paragraph*

Mara frowned as she shrugged her cloak off and handed it to the attendant at the grand doors of the opulent ballroom. The whole affair was a general crush of dancers, musicians, and gaiety.

Disgusting.

She scanned the room, her eyes coming to rest on an ethereal white figure moving thru the crowd of peacocks. Leia reached up and removed the delicate feather mask that completed her swan costume, giving Mara a warm smile of welcome.

The latter sighed with resignation, "Where is he?"

Leia started visibly, "Luke? He opted not to join the crowd . . ."

Mara snorted indelicately, "I meant, where is my partner?"

Leia paused before answering, "I believe he went to adjust his mask."

"Vain is he?"

"Just careful about the company we are in tonight. This particular Alderaanian dance is rather . . . passionate. Would you have performed without your own mask?"

Mara raised a delicate eyebrow, "I have no qualms about it, no. How is it that this individual knows a rare dance form?"

"He is another friend of mine who volunteered to learn," Leia allowed.

"From the Royal House of Organa itself?"

Leia regarded her coolly, "A few dance instructors of the Old Republic are still available if one knows where to look. I ensured he was tutored by the best."

"For how long?" Mara challenged.

"A few months now, he has picked it up remarkably fast."

Mara studied the serene princess for a few moments before asking, "Why is it so important for you to have this dance performed?"

Leia smiled sadly, "To remind me of better days and to remind others of what Alderaan was, a place of beauty."

"And why would you want the former Emperor's Hand to perform?"

It was then that Leia gave a wide grin that was characteristic of her brother, "You are someone who can do the dance justice. And your partner was just an added bonus."

Mara gave her own cat-like grin, "Well then. Let us see if manages to not trip over his feet."