Mara took her time the next morning and well into the afternoon. She didn't see much of Luke while she did her normal routine of issuing directives and having various conferences via holovid with her subordinates. She finally made up her mind to go find Luke and make some excuse about not wanting to spar today when he and Chin came up the bridge toward her.

"We found a suitable identity for Master Skywalker." Chin said. "Just wanted you to approve it and we'll make the changes." He handed her a thin datapad.

Fin Ulder, a human male of the same height, weight and build with a light criminal record in most of the galaxy. Luke would have to lose the blond hair and blue eyes for brown and green. "It'll work" She said. "No one's going to look at our new crewmember twice. Come on, I'll take you to get your new makeover." She got up gracefully and exited the bridge. Luke followed.

"Do you still have time to do a little sparring?" He asked when they were alone in the corrider.

"Actually I think tomorrow would be better I have a lot of paper work that's piled up." Mara said, hoping he wouldn't call her out.

"Is it that, or have I made you uncomfortable?"

Mara grinned. "Always so direct. What happened to the shy farm boy?"

Luke smiled back. "He got brave and kissed you." Mara's eyes skittered away from him and Luke sobered. "If you want me to go, I will."

"No," Mara forced herself to meet his gaze. "It's okay"

"Well then why don't we see how rusty your saber skills are?" Luke asked. "We still have a few days in hyperspace for me to get in disguise."

Mara hesitated then blew out a short breath and abruptly switched directions. "Sure, give me a minute to change and I'll meet you in the exercise room."


Mara entered the exercise room and saw that Luke was already there, stretching. She hit the controls on the wall to make the viewing window opaque. Word of a lightsaber duel would draw an audience which she didn't want because she was likely to lose. She walked over to Luke and dropped to the floor next to him and started stretching.

The started slowly and went through several scenarios. Each time Mara was amazed at how much faster Luke was and how well he anticipated her moves. Pretty soon it was just annoying to always be blocked. They were both breathing hard after an hour with no break. Mara was tired of playing by the rules to when Luke countered her attack and knocked the lightsaber from her grip he step back and shut his off as well. Instead of picking up the handle and starting again Mara punched at Luke. He barely blocked her and stepped back quickly. She kicked hard at his chest but somehow he caught her foot and flipped her, but she used the Force to keep her balance and landed on her feet. She dropped low and swept his legs out from under him, but he wrestled her onto her back as she tried to damage him with her elbows and knees. He let his body press into her to hold her down and pinned her arms above her head. "Do you yield?" Luke asked amused. Mara growled inarticulately and strained with all her might but he didn't move. And then she tried a different tack. She let her body relax and melted into him. For a moment she let herself enjoy the way his body felt against hers. She ran her foot over the back of his calf and licked her lips. She almost laughed as she saw Luke's expression change from one of complete self possession to dazed. He lowered his head to hers. "You're doing this on purpose" he accused.

"Yes," She admitted. "Is it working?" His face inched closer and she tilted her chin to run her tongue over his bottom lip, but still he was motionless.