Whew, here it is..

Mara pressed herself firmly against his chest, her arms up around his neck. Luke froze unsure of how to proceed. He yearned to comfort her, but didn't want her to withdraw. Her body shook as sobs wracked it. Her words became unintelligible and he knew right then that there was only one choice in this scenario. Throwing his reservations to the wind, he wrapped his arms around her and patted her back, whispering words of comfort and reassurance.

"It's going to be all right, Mara." He murmured. "It's going to be all right."

He wasn't sure if that was the case, but what else could he do. Sometimes people don't need the truth, Luke. He heard his Aunt Beru say. Sometimes they just need to be comforted.

"But it's not..." She denied. "She's dead; she was all I had left….and he killed her."

Luke kept quiet and let her talk.

"She was hiding me, protecting me…and he killed her because she wouldn't' talk." Her hands were now fisting in his shirt, her voice shaking.

He took a chance this time.

"Who?"

Her eyes flashed; the tears shone visibly in them.

"I think you know who….Vader."

A bolt of surprise shot through him.

Vader. Father. He hadn't thought of him in a while. No, that wasn't true. He was always in the back of his mind, when Luke was afraid he'd fail. Himself. His students. His friends. Becoming his father had always been his worst fear.

Mara choked out, "He killed her…and my parents."

She broke away, through her hands still grasping his tunic.

"Not that someone as black-hearted as Vader even gave them a second thought." She said derisively, obviously trying to hold back another sob by biting her lip. Her hands finally dropped as her voice became emotionless, "After all, they were just a drop in the pool, weren't they?"

Luke stared, attempting to keep the bewilderment and confusion off his face.

Mara looked at him through thick lashes then averted, catching a glimpse of something. Luke followed her gaze to where is lightsaber laid against his thigh.

Her eyes widened. "How did you all even survive?" She asked hoarsely.

"Survive?" Luke parroted.

"The Purge."

Purge? Luke pondered this. Purge…

Realization dawned on him.

"You mean the Great Jedi Purge."

She looked at him, the disdain of her face so transparent he swore it was directed at him.

"Is that what they're calling it?" she asked. "I suppose they would."

Mara took a few shaky steps back.

"Their grand master plan…" She snorted. "His Masters' mostly."

The Purge. Vader. Master.

"You mean Palpatine."

She nodded.

"He's responsible. Him and Vader." She eyed him once more. "You still didn't answer my question. How did you survive the Purge?"

The woman spoke as if she was very familiar with the event. Almost as if it was recent to her. A strange feeling wound itself through him. Right now, he had two options: he could tell her the truth and verify this feeling or omit it.

Luke pondered this since he very much disliked lying.

"I was hidden as a baby." He answered truthfully. "My sister and I." It was an easy enough truth.

Her shoulders slumped. "Like I was..." Mara took on a pensive look then smiled sadly. "I thought no one survived except me. When the Emperor put Order 66 in motion…no Jedi survived. Coruscant..." Her words stilled, her gaze dropping.

"Mara?"

She seemed frozen in place.

"You shouldn't be here…none of you should!" She said. "You're in danger. We all are…..we have to get out of here."

"Mara."

Luke reached out to her.

"No. Palpatine won't stop until every last Jedi is dead." She insisted firmly.

He now saw the truth, an admittedly hard truth to swallow, but still the truth. Mara was from that era… He thought about the glass coffin and its magic like properties. Maybe years ago maybe just yesterday. A hard truth infeed.

"That's not going to happen."

"Why not?"

"Because Palpatine is dead..."

"You're lying."

"No, it's the truth. The Purge was over forty years ago."

She shook her head. "That can't be. The Purge happened in 20 BBY; I'm seventeen."

Seventeen. He glanced subtly at her appearance for the second time around. If Luke were to guess, she looked to be in her late thirties.

He paused mid thought.

Though when he'd first woken her, there had been a young girl beneath that glass, not a grown woman. He frowned. Inwardly, his mind wanted to deny it, but he couldn't dismiss the facts. Or that the Force had definitely been at work.

The connection that had hummed between them; their hands touching against the glass. It had happened so instantaneous and the glass had dispersed. He was sure now looking back that it had been some sort of spell.

Only one thing remained at the moment, and that was the question of how long Mara had been dormant. If he guessed her current age correctly and factored in her suspected age (seventeen)….

"What is it?" Mara's voice broke in, trembling. "Why are you so quiet? What aren't you telling me?"

Luke didn't speak for a moment, but instead searched deep inside himself. He felt a swarm of emotions whirring around, with despair, suspicion, fear…

He looked up and stared into her deep green eyes. Out of all those emotions, he could sense no deception.

"Mara…I don't know how to tell you this, but…It's been twenty years."

"That's not possible."

"It's true." He searched her eyes. "I know you don't believe me, and you don't have any reason to trust me, but I'd like to try. Will you let me?"

Mara was silent for a long while, her cheeks stained with tears as she glanced at him wryly. She bit her lip. He could tell she was turning his words over in her head, debating whether she should believe him or not.

She looked at him directly in the eye and murmured, "Try not..."

It was clearly a challenge.

Luke's eyes went steely. "Do or do not. There is no try."

Instead of looking please like he thought she would, Mara's face took on a confused look. She frowned and pressed a hand to her head.

"Where did that come from? I feel like I should know …" She blinked, her mouth dropped open. "I know it… it was something Gizelda use to say. She once told me she learned it from my parents. They were Jedi…"

"How did they learn it?" he asked cautiously.

"They… they said it was an old Jedi proverb. My parents were Corellian Jedi, but some things were sort of universal." Mara pursed her lips. "A wise old creature named Yoda; that was its source."

Her voice was almost trance-like, as if recalling the memories.

"Do you know who he was?"

She snapped out of it.

"You ask an awful lot of questions." Mara observed. "Why do you want to know about that?" Her tone was cautious.

"I'm not here to hurt you, Mara. I thought perhaps we'd reached a kinship of sorts. That proverb is very timeless…there isn't a student of mine that doesn't know it."

Her eyes, which had narrowed, relaxed.

"Student of yours?"

He contemplated his next words, then took a deep breath.

"The Jedi live on. Despite what the Emperor did, their light was never truly extinguished from the universe." He touched his chest. "You have the Force within you, Mara, reach out and seek. DO you sense any deception in my words?" He paused. "Any darkness?"

Mara studied him with discerning eyes as if searching out for any evil that lurked within him. He could feel her clumsy Force probes, poking around inside him. She met he wall that was his conscious.

"It's blocked." She stated, scowling.

"Any Jedi knows how to put walls up around their mind. All you have to do is ask and I'll lower them."

"Why?"

"Excuse me?"
"Why would you lower your walls if I asked?"

"Because I have nothing to hide."

She tried once more. "What if I'm not who I claim to be?"

He got her meaning perfectly.

"You are. There is no evil in you anymore than there is in me. So I ask again, will you trust me?"

Mara gazed up at him, marveling at his eyes. Those eyes….They were so earnest, so tranquil. In them there was a hint of yearning, but as they yearned, at the same time, they did not plead. She had a feeling he would never plead. He simply would wait despite everything.

She sighed. Damn those eyes

"Let's say I did believe you." She finally said, crossing her arms over her chest. "Where would that leave us?"

He squared his shoulders.

"You'll come back with us to the Temple." He stated simply. "We'll find you a room, get you clothes, and a goodnight's sleep for once." He looked over back to the residence behind them. "I suspect that you haven't slept well in a while."

She caught a glimpse of sadness in his eyes.

"Why would you do that for me? You hardly know me" She pointed out.

It was odd. Here she was still questioning his motives, but not for the same reasons. It was almost if she feared for him instead of herself,

He sighed as if distressed. "Let me ask you something, what other options do you have presently?"

Anyone else would have taken this as a ruthless jab. Would have immediately gotten angry at the man's presumptuous nature. She would have been flustered at being put on the spot like this, but Mara could tell he meant his words only in the most compassionate way.

"The decision will always be yours, Mara." He added, as if noticing her countenanced. "I'd like you to agree, but if you choose not to I will respect your decision."

His neck craned backwards and Mara followed his gaze. She could see the faint light pouring into the darkness.

"Dawn." She murmured.

"Looks like it. I'm going to wake the others," He started for the apartment. "Start packing up. I'll leave you to think about it." Saying that, he disappeared beyond the doorway.

Mara watched him leave and stood still for a moment. Feeling a chill, she shivered and looked around for the discarded robe. It lay in a heap two feet behind her and she quickly scooped it up and donned it on.

Her choice.

It was her choice, he said. But did she really have any?

Mara examined the facts she knew at present:

She was currently on Coruscant (fact).

It was different from the Coruscant she remembered (fact).

Her physical body had changed a great deal (fact).

That's where the facts ended and the speculation began. It wasn't as though she entirely disbelieved the rest of what she had been told, but she was still suffering from other realities. Like the fact that Gizelda was dead, and Vader had killed her. Just like he had initiated the death of her parents.

She didn't remember; she'd just been a baby when they were killed. She only knew what she'd been told by her mentor. She knew that her parents were Corellians as she had told Luke. Corellian Jedi were more often than not burden by the rules of the central Jedi Order—which was why she had remained with them instead of being given over to the Order.

Then there was the fact that the Purge had taken place over forty years ago, and that Palpatine himself was long dead. She didn't know what to make of any of it. Just the idea that Emperor was gone was too surreal for her. It seemed like a distant dream, a wishful thought. It was a good one though.

Her denial was stronger, because deep down she was afraid it was all a lie. She was afraid to believe. Only to have something so wonderful ripped away from her.

That's why she felt it so hard to trust Luke.

Even then Mara knew that her options were very few. If she chose to reject his offer, what were her alternatives? She had no nowhere to go and most importantly no money or identification. It would be as if she didn't even exist.

A well of frustration bubbled up inside her as she realized these limitations.

"Stang!" she cursed aloud.

Mara sighed heavily, squaring her shoulders.

"I'm not giving in." She refuted quietly. "Just going with the current."

A well of frustration bubbled up inside her as she realized these limitations.

"Stang!" she cursed aloud.

Mara sighed heavily, squaring her shoulders.

"I'm not giving in." She refuted quietly. "Just going with the current."

Her mentor always told her to choose her battles wisely. Well, this was a battle she couldn't afford to wage. She had to choose the option that would help her the most.

She took a deep breath.

"I need to just ride the wave, that's all."

Luke entered the residence. "Time to wake up," He announced. "I want to make it back to the Temple by breakfast."

The other Jedi stirred, with Saba already to her feet since she'd been wide awake. Kirana Ti climbed out of her sleeping roll immediately started rolling it back up. She flicked a glance over to Kyle Katarn who was doing a few neck rolls and shoulder movements.

"Come on, Katarn. Up and rise." She called out.

"I'm up." He muttered. "Just got a kriffin' kink."

She looked on him with a bemused smirk then turned back to her gear.

"So, did what's going on?" Corran asked, watching Luke stomp out the small fire. He looked around. "Where is she?"

By 'she' Corran meant Mara.

"She has a name, Corran. It's Mara." He said, raising his gaze to meet Corran's.

Corran frowned and Luke flinched at the brief sharpness in his own voice. Where the stang had that come from?

"She's outside. I gave her a few minutes to think it over. "Things have changed for her. She's having a hard time adjusting."

Corran shook his head. "I don't know about this, Luke. All this is too strange…"

"I know, but she…there's something there about her and I intend to find out."

He stomped out the last embers and was about to turn his attention to his pack when a lithe shadow fell across the open doorway. Luke turned back and looked up, his gaze falling upon Mara Jade standing still. His eyes found hers and he noted the resolute look; one which barely concealed the unease she was feeling. Luke couldn't help but admire her courage in the face of such uncertainties.

"I'm coming with you." She sad with great finality.

He nodded. "I'm glad to hear that." He finished off his packing and slung the pack to his shoulder.

Mara took a step inside, her chin raised. "I figure I'm better off with a group then by myself. Strength in numbers and all."

Luke didn't say anything, but simply looked around to the other Jedi. All had decided to remain silent, even Corran.

Kyle stretched his shoulders. "Well, now that that's settled. Let's head out. I'd really like to have some nerf patties when we get back."

"I agree." Kirana Ti concurred. "We're way past normal eating schedule."

"It was unavoidable." Luke commented, noticing one member of his group had been oddly silent; the strong headed Barabel. "Saba?"

Saba raised her head, flicking her tongue out. She'd been intently focused on Mara, a fact which was now becoming apparent to the woman herself. The young woman threw back her shoulders as if trying to erect a barrier between herself and the Barabel's gaze.

"It is nothing." She said dismissively.

Luke frowned and she could see Mara noticed it as well.

Before Luke could open his mouth, Mara spoke:

"I know you question me. I find myself questioning all of this too, but this is my only option." She bit her lip. "I believe in Luke, though I'm not entirely certain why…but I feel like can. I'll come with you if only to find out what's going on with me." She scanned the room as if waiting for someone to challenge her.

The room was silent.

Saba raised her clawed hand up to scratch her head.

"Thiz one does not entirely understand, but….thiz one believes that every being must find out where they come from."

"Thank you." She turned back to Luke. "I'm ready to go."