Luke woke up to a blaster pressing against his temple and a female voice growling, "Luke Skywalker, great hero of the Rebellion, killed in his sleep - what an exceptionally embarrassing way to die."

"Mara," he said in a sleepy voice. He blinked a few times and sure enough there she was, her pale face hovering over his. "What are you doing here?"

"Questioning your sanity," she answered, putting the blaster back in its holster and sitting down on the ground next to him. "Why are you sleeping in the middle of the woods, when you've got spaceships and houses around?" Her voice betrayed her low opinion of the Ewok's tree houses.

"I guess I just needed some space," Luke answered and got up into a sitting position himself. After burning his father's corpse he had joined the celebrations for a while, but he had grown more and more uneasy with every moment that had passed, so he had finally taken off into the woods, sitting down in a clearing, watching the stars, trying to come to terms with his conflicted feelings. Somehow he must have fallen asleep, until Mara had found him.

"You need to be more careful." Mara moved a little and put more space between them without looking at him. "You killed the Emperor, but that doesn't mean you're save now. People are going to try and take revenge."

He could tell that there was something off about her. Ever since their first meeting there had been a – well, not friendship, but an understanding between them. At least they had trusted each other, but now she seemed nervous, as if she was expecting an attack at every moment. Or rather, as if she was planning an attack.

"Mara, what's wrong?" He touched her arm lightly.

That was a mistake.

She grabbed her blaster and pointed it at his face again, finger on the trigger. Out of pure instinct Luke grabbed both of her wrists and pushed her to the ground, holding her beneath him with his body and the force.

"What in all the seven Corellian hells is wrong with you?" He spat out, looking in her emerald green eyes filled with anger and – hate?

She blinked and those feelings were gone, now she seemed only frightened.

"I saw you kill Palpatine."

"You weren't on the Death Star."

"No, but I still saw you." She turned her face away. Her voice was coarse. "You and Vader were fighting and then you turned on Palpatine and killed him together. I saw it and I... heard him."

YOU WILL KILL LUKE SKYWALKER! The command sounded through her thoughts and Luke picked it up with his mind too. He felt shaken.

Suddenly Luke realized that he was still holding her down, pressing his body against her, his lips barely a few centimetres away from her cheek, his breath moving some stray hairs that had escaped her long braid and fallen into her face.

He sat up.

"That's not what happened," Luke said, pulling Mara into a sitting position too. "I was already down, lying on the floor. Palpatine was slowly killing me with force lightning when Vader turned on him and killed him."

Mara gazed in his blue eyes, then down at his hands, holding her shoulders. But she didn't free herself of his grip.

"Why would Vader save you?"

"Because he was my father."

The words had barely passed his lips as he felt Mara's mind pushing into his. He opened himself willingly, showing her what he had learned on Bespin, what had really happened on the second Death Star.

Mara gasped and broke the contact. "That's not what he showed me – showed the other inquisitors. And if I got the message, even though I removed myself from his influence a year ago, they will have gotten it too. And they will heed his command, hunting you down and killing you."

"I am more powerful than twelve inquisitors combined."

"You are too full of yourself," Mara said, finally shrugging off his hands and getting on her feet. "But that's your problem. Anyway, try not to get yourself killed, will you, Skywalker?" She stalked away.

"Hey, where are you going?"

She stopped and looked back over her shoulder. "Putting some light-years between you and myself, because I'm feeling an even greater urge to kill you than usually."

"What? No! Mara! We need to talk about this. You can't just go."

"Watch me," she said and disappeared between the trees.

Luke sighed with exasperation. He had never met anyone more stubborn in his life. And considering that his sister was Leia Organa, that really meant something.