These Five Words, a star wars fanfic

Title: These Five Words

Author: mavjade

Genre: romance/Mush/tragedy, song fic, AU

Timeline: From before the Hand of Thrawn to the not quite so far future.

Characters: Luke/Mara

Summary: Several glimpses into the love of Luke and Mara throughout their lives.

Disclaimer: Star Wars is owned by George Lucas and Thank You for Loving Me is owned by Bon Jovi, not me! I look to make NO money off this!

Authors Note: Sept. 10th was my third anniversary on the TF.Nboards and I asked in my sig for someone to send me a challenge and Jade.eyes sent me this...

Please write a L&M or J&J songfic with a mushy ending--pick your most gooey favorite love ballad

So, one of my very favorite love songs is Thank You For Loving Me by Bon Jovi, and I think it fits Luke and Mara perfectly!

I also used it for my entry into the September version of Monday Mush Maina on TF.N

Thanks to my fiance, as always for the beta!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

It's hard for me to say the things I want to say sometimes

There's no one here but you and me and that broken old street light

Lock the doors we'll leave the world outside

All I've got to give to you are these five words tonight

Luke had been unable to sleep and decided to take a walk. He enjoyed walking in the middle of the night in the public ship births looking at all the different types of ships when no one else was around; there was security but they payed no mind to the Jedi Master. Seeing lights on in one of his favorite ships he decided to visit her captain. Approaching the Jade's Fire he heard no noise but the boarding ramp was down so he decided to just walk aboard. Not far into the ship he saw the person he was looking for, half of the person at least.

All he could see was the lower half of Mara Jade's body covered in loose black pants.

"You look like the ship is trying to eat you," Luke chuckled.

The next thing he heard was a loud bang and an exclamation of pain, and a muffled yet angry, "Skywalker!" the tone making him rethink his idea of surprising his friend.

She shimmied out of the access in the console and looked at Luke with an expression that would make most men cower, though there was some hint of amusement behind the fire in her eyes, if you knew where to look. Luke didn't see any of that, all he saw was how some of her hair was plastered to her forehead from sweat and the small streak of grease above her right eye. In that moment she looked more beautiful than ever.

Of course she always looked beautiful--especially when she was dressed up for some event that Karrde had drug her to--but here in her element, where she wasn't trying to impress, she was a goddess.

"... hello? You alright farmboy?" Mara was waving her hand in front of Luke's face.

Luke blinked rapidly trying to rid his mind of his current train of thoughts, "Yes, sorry. What were you saying?"

Mara laughed at the typical Luke, who always was off somewhere else. "Since you made me tear out the wire to the display you can help me get it back." She opened the console right beside the one where she was working and patted the deck in front of it.

Luke got on the deck and crawled into the console right beside her, both of them now being eaten by the ship. Inside, they were right beside each other, heads inches apart, shoulders just barely touching. They always worked well together, each usually anticipating what the other needed, handing parts before the other asked.

They continued to work mostly in silence, with occasional barbs and teasing. Mara was trying to loosen a bolt when her spanner slipped and hit her in the head.

"Kriff!" Mara hissed as she put her hand to the hairline above her left eye.

Luke turned onto his side as much as he could in such an enclosed space and pulled her hand away from her head. "Let me look."

At first Mara pulled her hand away from Luke, but as she pulled her elbow hit a divider behind her. "Ow! Kriffing..."

Luke smiled and placed his hand on her head. "You are just uncharacteristically clumsy tonight. Let me look."

She had a small cut, but nothing too bad. "I think you'll live," he teased. Luke wiped away the little bit of blood with his thumb and then placed a kiss on the cut. As he pulled back he was once again struck by how beautiful she looked. He leaned in again and this time his lips brushed hers, very softly. At first there was no response and Luke was already cursing himself for doing something so spontaneously when Mara's lips began to respond to his.

Thank you for loving me

For being my eyes when I couldn't see

For parting my lips when I couldn't breathe

Thank you for loving me

Mara was startled by Luke's kiss, but it was not unwelcome. She responded with a fervor that surprised even herself. It had been so long since she had felt anyone's lips on her own that was not part of a cover. She forgot how much emotion could be shared through such a simple task, how little you could hide and how vulnerable you became when you allowed someone to be so close. She could feel passion and love through his lips, something that momentarily frightened her causing her to hesitate, but she pushed those thoughts down.

Luke felt her hesitation and pulled back. Mara looked at him with a smile that truly reached her eyes as she reached to grab the back of his head and pull him back into her, kissing him with all the passion she could muster.

I never knew I had a dream until that dream was you

When I look into your eyes the sky's a different blue

Cross my heart

I wear no disguise

If I tried, you'd make believe that you believed my lies

Mara was walking down the aisle with all eyes in the galaxy on her. The marriage of Jedi Master Luke Skywalker and former Imperial Mara Jade was looked upon as a healing of the galaxy and they had pretty much been forced to make public such a private event. But as everyone was watching her walk towards her soon-to-be husband, she was watching him.

He stood tall and proud with his brother-in-law standing beside him, his eyes shining with happiness and pure love; she knew her eyes were showing the same thing for him. She never dreamt that she could ever feel this way, that she could be so happy that she felt like her heart would burst right out of her chest: he had taught her to love. Being with Luke made her see the galaxy in a whole new light, not everything was bad and not everyone was out to get her: he had taught her to trust. When she put up her walls, keeping anyone out, to keep anyone from seeing the real her, he broke them down and showed her it was alright to be who she was: he taught her how to live.

Thank you for loving me

For being my eyes when I couldn't see

For parting my lips when I couldn't breathe

Thank you for loving me

Luke watched as Mara walked towards him and all the other people in the large ballroom faded into the background. He couldn't believe the most beautiful woman in the galaxy was a few feet away from becoming his wife. He smiled at her and the smile she returned made his heart hammer in his chest. When he had asked her to marry him, he had thought she made him the happiest man in the galaxy, but he knew now that wasn't true. Standing here, beginning the rest of their lives together, he realized it was only going to get better. Mara once told him that he had taught her so much, but it was she that was teaching him.

You pick me up when I fall down

You ring the bell before they count me out

If I was drowning you would part the sea

And risk your own life to rescue me

Throughout the years, Luke and Mara were an inseparable and unstoppable team. Where one failed the other succeeded. When one was weak the other was strong; there wasn't anything they wouldn't do for each other. When their lives were spinning out of control they held on to each other with every fiber of their being.

Lock the doors

We'll leave the world outside

All I've got to give to you

Are these five words tonight

Luke sat beside his beloved wife as her breaths were becoming more shallow and his heart felt as though it were literally breaking. His chest was tight and it was hard for him to breath; the pain just made it too hard. He brushed some gray hair off her forehead and was reminded of their first kiss all those years ago inside the Jade's Fire. His Mara was just as beautiful this day as she had been then, as she had been her entire life.

He had summoned a medic several minutes before and he started to go call them again, wondering what was taking so long. He had just to walk out of the room when a hand reached out and grabbed his wrist.

"No one else, please." her voice rasped.

Luke understood. They both knew she was dying and she didn't want to spend her last moments with anyone other than Luke. He nodded and quickly put an override lock to keep even the emergency medical team out --at least for a while-- and returned to his wife. He climbed into the bed with her and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her as close as he dared.

They had lain like this for a few minutes when Mara lifted looked into Luke's eyes, "Thank you," she whispered.

"For what, love?" Luke asked, a little confused.

"Thank you for loving me."

As she finished, Luke pressed his lips to hers, trying to pass on to her all the years of love and passion they had shared. He wanted her to know how much she meant to him and how he wouldn't give up one second of their time together. As their lips parted, Luke felt Mara gasp and then go limp in his arms. He crushed her against him as tears wracked his body and his chest burned with the need to hear his beloved call him farmboy one last time.

Thank you for loving me

For being my eyes

Oh, when I couldn't see

You parted my lips when I couldn't breathe

Thank you for loving me

When I couldn't fly

Oh, you gave me wings

You parted my lips when I couldn't breathe

Thank you for loving me

When the medical team finally found someone to slice their way into the lock and rushed into the Skywalker apartment, what they found surprised them to say the least.

They found the Masters Skywalker laying on a bed, arms wrapped tightly around each other, both completely still. As one of the medics approached the bed, both Luke and Mara started to glow blue and soon there was nothing but their clothing left.

They were doing what they had always done since they had found each other, they were facing a new and unknown territory not as individuals, but together, as one.

Thank you, for loving me.

-- end