I'll Come With You

Chapter 2

When Mara woke again it was late afternoon. She stopped in the busy cafeteria for a bite to eat and then made her way back to her ship.

She brought up the ship's computer and sure enough there were several new message alerts. All from Karrde. With a flash of irritation, she flicked the screen away and initialized a full systems diagnostic which, judging by the red warning messages already filling up, was long overdue.

She was about an hour into a painstaking manual realignment of the starboard deflector array when a chime alerted her to a visitor loitering near the ship. Mara reached over to a nearby console and pulled up the surveillance feed. Skywalker.

She tapped the command to lower the boarding ramp and picked up her tools again.

"Mara?" that familiar voice called.

"Over here!" she called over her shoulder.

Mara replaced a series of bolts as she listened to his footsteps grow closer.

"Hey," he said by way of greeting, "You know, for a moment I was afraid you were going to leave without saying goodbye."

Mara shot him a look. "I wouldn't do that."

"I know…" he said, a little taken aback.

"Well you can relax. I'm just making repairs," Mara said in a kinder tone.

Luke was visibly relieved.

"I'm ashamed to say it but even if I wanted to leave I don't think I'd get far. The poor girl's had a brutal couple months," Mara sighed, patting the decking affectionately, "The deflector shields are the least of my problems."

"That bad, huh?" Luke said.

Mara took a reading before sparing him a glance. He clearly wanted to ask something and she had a feeling it wasn't concerning her maintenance tasks. She let the silence draw out until he broke. It didn't take long.

"Mara…" he started.

"What is it this time?" Mara snapped at him.

"What?" Luke blinked.

So much for keeping her cool. Mara groaned internally. First Karrde and now Skywalker. Why couldn't anyone let her have a moment of peace to sort things out for herself without having to answer a hundred questions and expectations?!

"Aren't you here to convince me to stay and complete my Jedi training? It's the only way to fulfill my potential. The Republic needs my help. The Force is leading me here. It's my destiny," Mara counted each one off on her fingers, "I've heard it all. So what's the reason this time?"

Luke broke her gaze, leaned back against the bulkhead and turned his head to look at her, "Why do I need a reason? Can't I just want you to stay?"

The honesty in his voice and the open vulnerability in his eyes surprised Mara. He started to smile, like he'd won a point against her.

"What are you doing?" she questioned.

"What?" he said, innocently, smile still in place.

Mara raised an eyebrow, "I see what you're doing. You've run out of strategies and now you're trying to use that farm boy charm to get me to stay."

Luke's smile grew wider, "So…you're saying you think I'm charming?"

"No, I'm saying you think you're charming!" Mara didn't hesitate to correct him, but she couldn't help a smile of her own. She'd forgotten how much fun it was to tease him. She felt like it was only in these rare moments when they weren't arguing or fighting for their lives that she really saw him.

Luke laughed, "Well, I had to try! Nothing else has worked!"

Mara laughed with him, her earlier anxieties dissipating.

"Hey, if you're going to stay here, make yourself useful and hand me that hydrospanner, will you?"