Title: Obsessed With Flowers
Author: DaenaBenjen42
Characters: Luke, Mara, Ben, Leia, Han, Mara's OC Family
Time frame: AU
Genre: humor/drama/angst
Disclaimer: I only borrowed them, patted them on the head, and sadly returned them to the great flannelled one. (In other words? No, I do not own Star Wars.)

It was a bright and sunny day on Coruscant when Mara Jade Skywalker finally suspected that something was off. She frowned, considered all the options, and turned her senses inward. It took exactly ten seconds for her to confirm it to herself. Yep. No question about it.

What happened next only confused everybody.

~*~*~*~

Luke was just coming in the door of their apartment when he smelled the peculiar odor. He frowned and sniffed again. It was a sort of pungent, but sweet, smell.

Wondering what it could be, Luke closed the door and silently followed the smell to the source.

Slowly, very slowly, he looked into the living room to see something that made his eyes widen in surprise.

Where did all those flowers come from?

Then his mouth dropped open in shock. Sitting in the midst of the flowers was his wife, wearing a flower-print sundress and reading a book on flowers. She also had an expression of utter happiness on her face, and in her hair were flower-shaped barrettes.

He stared for another moment before deciding to enter the living room. "Mara?"

Mara looked up at him, and smiled some more. "Hi."

"Where did all the flowers come from?" Luke asked, motioning to the flora that was all over the place.

Mara stared blankly at him. "Huh? We always have flowers." What was he talking about? She liked the flowers. They were pretty.

Luke stared at her, not certain what to say. "Uh... right. I'll go check on Ben."

Mara watched as he left, then went back to reading her book. "Pretty." She traced over the picture on that page, then flipped to the next one and studied it.

The names at the bottom in the small print were familiar to her. "Hmm..."

Five year old Mara Jaden was helping her mother to set the table when the doorbell sounded.

Widia, Mara's mother, turned and looked down at her daughter. "Go and see what daddy is doing in the greenhouse, sweetie. Dinner will be ready shortly."

Mara smiled, nodded, and went.

Widia watched her go, then sighed and went to answer the door as the person rang the doorbell again.

~*~*~*~

Mara approached her father, who was looking at a plant and taking notes on a note pad. "Daddy?"

Temaru looked away from the plant to see his daughter standing there with an inquisitive expression on her face. "Hi there, Mara. Wanna see?"

Mara nodded and came closer as her father pulled a stool over. She giggled as he picked her up and sat her on the stool so she could see the flowering plant better. "It's pretty, Daddy."

Temaru smiled. "Yes it is."

Then suddenly, Widia appeared in the doorway of the green house with a panicked expression.

Temaru frowned. "Widia?"

"We need to talk," Widia said in a stiff voice as she came in hurriedly and lifted Mara off the stool. She bent down painfully with her stiff back and was able to peer into her daughter's eyes. "I want you to stay in here, Mara. Okay? Stay in here."

Mara nodded, slightly baffled at her mother's behavior. "Okay." She watched her parents leave the greenhouse, then turned to look at the flowering plant again. It was indeed very pretty.

Mara blinked the memory away and looked down at the book in her hands. It was the same plant, with the same blossoms that were so pretty.

Sighing, she closed the book, held it to her chest, and closed her eyes.

~*~*~*~

Luke wondered what was going on as he looked in on his three-year-old son to see him coloring in a coloring book. He entered the room and moved to sit down. "Ben?"

Ben looked up from the picture of the flower that he was coloring and smiled. "Daddy! Hi! Want to color?"

Luke moved closer to see, and frowned slightly. What was it with flowers today? "Sure, I'll color with you." He picked up a crayon and began to color where Ben pointed.

"Ben?"

"Yes, daddy?"

Luke took a deep breath to steady himself. "Why are you coloring flowers?"

"Momma gave."

"Ah. Okay." Luke shrugged and went back to coloring. That was all the answer he needed.

"Flowers pretty," Ben said idly.

Luke nodded. "Yes. Yes they are... You want the stem to be red?"

"Like red. Look like Momma."

Luke smiled. He couldn't argue with Ben on that point.

*****

They were coloring a little while when Luke heard music coming from the living room.

Luke glanced at Ben, who was still happily coloring, and got up to go find out what was going on.

"Daddy? Where you going?"

Luke turned and smiled at his son. "To talk to your mother. I'll be right back, son." Ben nodded and went back to his coloring. Luke smiled some more and then made his way to the living room.

As he rounded the corner from the hallway, Luke stopped and stared, dumbfounded at what he saw:

Mara had cued up music on the sound system and was dancing to it... in her underwear. In her... flowered underwear? Adding to his confusion, she was tossing flowers around as she sang: "Flowers! Flowers! I love flowers all day long! Give me flowers in the morning, flowers in the evening, flowers at supper time!"

"Mara?" Luke asked when the music finally stopped and he found his voice.

Mara turned to him, regarded his outfit for a moment, and frowned. "What?"

"Are you all right?" he asked as she came over to him.

"Of course I am." She dragged him into the living room and smiled at him. "Dance with me?"

Luke stared at her. She really wasn't all right, but he wasn't going to broach the subject again. "Sure. And then I'll start dinner, okay?"

Mara nodded. "Sounds good. But first, we dance." She reached out with her senses and cued up another song. Instead of what she had on before, this song was slow and perfect for dancing.

Luke smiled and held her closely as they danced. Whatever was wrong, he could wait until she was ready to tell him.

Dinner was, save for the flowers displayed prominently on the dinner table; a quiet affair that night in the apartment.

~*~*~*~

"Mara?" Luke asked the next morning as he looked in the closet at his clothes.

"Yes?" Mara said, as she came to stand beside him. She smiled at the pretty patterns.

"Where are my Jedi blacks?" He turned and looked at her in question.

Mara pulled a shirt and a pair of pants off the hangers and handed them to him. "Wear these."

Luke just looked at her funny. "But... those aren't mine. Where are my Jedi blacks?"

Mara's eyes widened. "Black? You can't wear black! You must wear flowers!" she said, and thrust the clothes at him. She glared at him for a moment, then went back to getting herself ready for the day.

Not wanting to upset her any further, Luke took the clothes. If she was going to insist on the flowered clothing, then he wasn't going to argue with her. He did wonder just where his clothes went, however.

Luke glanced at Mara again, wondering again what was wrong.

~*~*~*~

Mara was looking through the cabinets for something to make for breakfast, when a box of pudding mix caught her eye. She looked at it, wondering. Why was she so drawn to the idea of making pudding for breakfast?

Then she remembered: It was the only relatively good memory she had of Palpatine when she was a child.

Palpatine smiled as he watched the little girl eat her snack. It was the first thing she asked for upon their arrival in the palace, so he complied with the request.

Little Mara smiled guilelessly at him, got a heaping spoonful of pudding on her spoon, and flung it at him when he looked away for a moment.

Startled, Palpatine stared at the child. "What was that for?"

"Fun," Mara said impishly as she continued to eat her pudding.

Mara blinked the memory away and considered the pudding another moment. Yes. That would do.

~*~*~*~

"Mara?"

"Yes?"

A sigh. "Why pudding for breakfast?"

"Because I wanted it."

A pause. "Ah."

~*~*~*~

Han opened the door to find his brother-in-law standing there... in the most ridiculous outfit he ever saw him wear. Naturally, Han did the only thing he could do: stare.

"Han? Can we come in?" Luke asked patiently, having expected that reaction.

Wordlessly, Han stepped aside and allowed Luke and Ben entry. Han closed the door and slowly turned around to face Luke again. "How? Why?"

Luke rolled his eyes. "Mara wanted me to wear it. If I knew why, I'd tell you. But I don't."

Han's eyebrows went up. "What?"

"She did something with my clothes." He shrugged. "Anyway, can you watch Ben tonight?"

Han looked down at Ben, who smiled at him.

"Daddy looks pretty," Ben said brightly.

Luke wasn't the least bit surprised when Han suddenly burst out laughing. At least someone was getting enjoyment out of it.

Ben frowned suddenly and pulled at Luke's pant leg urgently.

Luke looked down at his son. "What is it, Ben?"

"Momma. Momma hurt."

Luke stared at him. "Hurt, how?"

"Luke?" Han asked, concerned.

"Just a minute, Han." Luke got down on his knees and looked Ben in the eyes. "How is she hurt, Ben?"

Ben considered his father for a long moment. "In the dark, she's scared. Of the bad man."

Luke hugged Ben to himself. That made sense. "It's okay, Ben. Mara's going to be fine. Thank you for telling me that."

"The bad man?" Han wondered as Luke let go of Ben and stood back up. At Luke's raised eyebrow, he got it. "Oh."

Luke nodded. "Yeah. Is it really okay if he stays here?"

"Yes, now go already. Ben will be fine." Han looked at Ben. "Won't you, Ben?"

Ben looked up at his uncle. "Color flowers?"

Luke snorted in laughter, causing Han to look at him in question. "Long story."

"Ah." Han smiled comfortingly down at Ben. "Maybe not flowers. Let's go see what there is in the play room, hmm?"

Ben nodded enthusiastically and took his uncle's hand.

Luke watched as Han led Ben to the play room, then quietly let himself out and rushed home to his wife.

~*~*~*~

Luke was just closing the front door of the apartment when it hit him so hard he nearly blacked out. A wave of emotion cascaded over him, jangled his nerves and caused him to stumble back into the door jam.

He stood there for a moment, to let the sensations of fear and terror roll over him. Once the moment passed, he shook his head to get his senses under control and frowned.

"Mara?" he called out.

The answering silence was deafening, and the roiling emotions didn't cease or calm.

Slowly, Luke began to search the apartment a room at a time, looking for her.

As he got closer to their bedroom, Luke's senses suddenly boiled over with a strong and urging feeling that that was the place to look. He looked in and saw... an empty room?

Luke entered the bedroom and stood there, puzzled as could be. Where is she? he thought.

Then he heard it. The sound was so faint that he would have missed it, if it hadn't been so quiet one could hear a pin drop and be startled.

It was the sound of harsh, terrified breathing, and the longer he stood there, the more certain he was that the sound was coming from the walk-in closet.

Luke stretched out with the force into the vast unknown behind the closet door. Suddenly, his fingertips grew cold, and the hair on the back of his neck stood and iced over; he found her. In the closet.

He went to the door of the closet and opened it slowly, almost fearful of what he might find behind the door.

"Mara?" he whispered.

There she was, sitting in the far corner, turned away from him in an effort to hide. "Go away."

Luke stared, astonished. She sounded like a child, just with those two words. "I'm not going away, Mara." Slowly, he entered the closet and sat down on the floor so as not to startle her. "What's wrong?"

"No. Go 'way. He'll hurt me. Go away!" Mara started to rock back and forth while hugging her knees, shaking her head violently. "Go away! Please!"

"No one is going to hurt you," Luke said soothingly, wondering what she was talking about.

"He's going to find out! He will!"

"Find out what?" Luke asked as he inched closer to her.

And then, without warning, an image of a disfigured, angry man in a dark robe flashed through his mind.

Luke blinked several times, but the image refused to leave. And the more he saw it, the more he recognized who the man was. Palpatine.

"Go away," Mara cried again, bringing his attention back to her. "I'm not supposed to remember! He'll hurt me!"

[Remember what, Mara?] Luke asked silently. [Tell me. I won't tell him. I promise.]

Mara stopped rocking back and forth and listened. "You won't?"

[No. I won't. You can tell me. Please tell me.]

Mara raised her head off her knees and stared off into the distance.

"Mara?"

The answer he got was an image of a flower. And then, like the current of a river, memory after memory washed over him. A man helping a woman obviously with child down into a chair at the dinner table. A child, presumably Mara, being locked in a dark room by a disfigured man in a dark robe. Flashing lightning and pain. A man taking notes while studying a plant. Laughter. Terror. The child sneaking out of the house, hearing a noise, entering a greenhouse, looking at the flowering plant, being grabbed from behind, a funny smell, darkness. The man frowning at the dinner table. The child throwing food at the dark man, to bond.

Pain. Anger. Longing. Loneliness. Isolation. Loyalty.

As the waves of memory subsided, Luke shook his head and crawled closer to Mara. He put his hand on her arm.

"He made me forget," Mara whispered at the contact of his hand to her arm. "Over and over again, until I just let myself forget they ever existed."

Luke sighed and took her in his arms. "It's okay, now. I'm here, Mara."

"I know, Luke. I know." She lifted her head and smiled tiredly at him. "Never leave me?"

"I never will." Now that he was holding her, Luke felt something both odd and familiar. He raised an eyebrow at her. "Mara?"

"Yes?"

"Are you?"

Her smile was answer enough. "I was going to tell you."

"Before or after you made me wear this outfit?"

"Huh?" She pulled away slightly and looked at what he was wearing. "I really dressed you in that?"

Luke smiled wryly. "Yes. You really did."

She put a hand to her head. "Gosh, it's all a blur right now." Mara studied the outfit, and then smiled. "Well, I like it. Really brings out your eyes."

Luke groaned. "Mara, I am not wearing this all the time."

"I'm not saying you have to. Just that I like seeing you in colors every once in a while."

With that, Mara snuggled back into his arms.

They stayed there like that until Mara drifted off to sleep.

Luke glanced down at her, smiled, and then moved to get up. He picked her up, carefully exited the closet, laid her down on the bed, and tucked her in.

They would talk in the morning.