Anna Skywalker: Thank you! :D

Jade the Sith: I take things much too seriously? And yes, Anakin and Mara are cute. And hey, why wouldn't Mara find children intimidating? ;) I don't know how many there will be, but at least a few more. ;) And thanks. :D

Aniamifan1988: Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed, even though there wasn't much L/M-ness in it. ;)

LisaQT3: Thank you! I'm not that familiar with homestarrunner, but yep, some of my readers are. I knew once I got a plot bunny that actually went with the title I had to do it. ;) And yep, there will be more, and I'll keep writing.

Hewgleymom: Thank you! And of course . . . I'm the youngest sibling myself, so yep, I get revenge. :p And I'm a firm believer in Mara having a sense of humor. ;)

Important Author's Note: Here are all the stories (including this one) in chronological order (not the order they were written): Breaking the Ice, The Blanket Incident, It Was Cold, If You Can't Stand the Heat, Warming Up, It Got Too Hot, Kindling the Flame, and Mara the Burninator. So, this story is set between It Was Cold and Warming Up.

Feedback as treasured as ever. :)

~*~*~

"It's a sauna, Mara, not a death chamber," I said, leaning back against the hard, stone wall with my eyes shut. The heat sank into my bones, and I sighed as my muscles relaxed. I had hated the heat on Tatooine, but it admittedly did have its advantages.

Her voice floated over to me magically, coming from nowhere and everywhere, in the empty, large sauna. "Shut up, Skywalker."

I opened my eyes, and looked up at her. She cautiously took a few more steps closer to me, glancing around warily with narrowed green eyes. She seemed to view everywhere as a possible place of attack. Well, considering I didn't know if there were any secret passages in the Imperial Palace's sauna, there very well could be. I wondered why she was so skittish, though. Not to mention, we had agreed to see each tomorrow as both of us had a busy day.

I looked her over, noting that she looked impeccable in her green pants and tunic, except for the fact that the humid heat was beginning to make her hair frizz and curl. The heat was pressing against my skin, and I could feel myself sweating, but you wouldn't think Mara was experiencing the same conditions by looking at her.

"What is it?" I asked. "It must be important, if you came in here." I raised my eyebrows. "You know, women aren't really supposed to be in here," I added cautiously.

She gave me a testy look, taking a tentative step forward, and then taking another, longer one when she noticed how tentative the first had been. "What are you doing in here?"

"I came here to relax," I replied calmly, sure she would get to her point sometime. "After sparring with Leia, and practicing some on my own."

"Oh."

She looked, I thought, rather flummoxed. As if she had been hit with something she hadn't expected. "Mara . . ."

She nodded. "Yes. Right. Well, I was wondering something. About a possible . . . problem," she said vaguely, looking at me, then looking away, and then looking back again. Her eyes were flitting everywhere.

Mara being vague about her problems? It had to be personal. "Something wrong? Are you okay?" I leaned forward, and got up.

"Uh . . ." She shook her head. "I'm fine. Um . . ." Looking away again.

I finally got it. "Perhaps I should go get dressed first," I suggested.

She nodded. "That'd be good," she replied, narrowing her eyes, and then walking away – and shooting me the occasional backward glance full of interest. "It's too hot in here," she muttered.

Then it really hit me. I, of course, hadn't even thought about it, but we were a man and a woman. And dating. Viewing each other in that way was only natural. I hadn't thought about the fact that I was sweaty and wearing only a towel, though I certainly would have if our positions were reversed. And that gave me all kinds of other thoughts.

It was oddly encouraging, too, since our relationship after that kiss in the cold – with us both on the bunk – had pretty much stalled with Mara's nervousness. We spent time together, and we both enjoyed it, but we didn't discuss anything beyond two weeks in the future. And when or whether to tell Leia and Han. That we both wanted a relationship, neither of us questioned. How to have one, well, that was another matter. And . . . Mara, nearly stumbling over her words at the sight of me? It was too much to pass up.

So I followed her as she made her way out of the sauna. "Can't stand the heat, then?" I asked, teasing.

She whirled. "I'm not from Tatooine, farmboy," she said tartly, eyes flashing. She would make you pay for even an insinuation of weakness, and this was more than that.

I drew my finger down condensation on the wall. "Don't have this at home," I replied with a smile.

She looked from the wall to me. "Don't test me, Skywalker."

"I like testing you, Jade. I get interesting results."

She raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And what kind of results would that be?"

"Oh . . . well . . ." I leaned forward, grasping her wrist, and kissed her cheek.

Her eyes narrowed, her cheeks flushed, and her eyes sparkled with remembrance. She tried to yank her wrist out of my grip. I resisted, and pulled it to my cheek. "Stop teasing me, Skywalker," she snapped, face tense, and then relaxed as I let her hand fall to my shoulder.

"I love you, you know," I whispered as I took a step closer, close enough to feel the fabric of her shirt against my skin. She jerked. I had never told her that before. I thought of the past few weeks, her skittishness then, too. "Now, tell me what's bothering you."

She exhaled roughly, twitching in my grip, and then fully relaxing. "Just . . . I heard a rumor about us," she admitted.

"What kind of rumor?" I asked curiously, feeling a shard of worry rise up in me.

"About us." A slight shrug. She sighed as her hand slid across the skin of my back. Well, 'about us' could only mean one thing.

"What are you so afraid of?" I tried to look into her eyes, but their intensity was muted as she kept looking away. "This is really worrying you, isn't it? You just stormed in here –"

She drew her head back, to look into my eyes, and I absently noted that her bright green eyes were speckled with forest green. "How far do we want this relationship to go? Just dating?" A significant pause, and her hands dropped from my back to my waist, running up my stomach. I shivered. "Marriage?"

"All the way," I replied instantly, no thought required.

"If we can," she instantly added, then stopped. "Well, I knew that for myself," she replied with a little grin, "but I didn't know you wanted to. Not for sure. And now – with it getting out – well." She shook her head. "I just . . . it's stupid, you know? I keep doing this to myself." I didn't answer, sure – for once – that she didn't want an answer.

She put her other arm around my shoulders. "I feel like this is decision time," she whispered.

"My decision is long made," I replied, tracing the curve of her ear.

She gave a cross between a sigh and a snort. "Naturally," she muttered, rolling her eyes.

I shrugged slightly, smiling down at her, taking tendrils of her rapidly curling hair into my fingers. "It'll be interesting."

Mara closed her eyes, a smile touching her lips, then opened them again, looking fully into my eyes. "Can you imagine when Leia finds out? I know she hardly thinks I'm appropriate material." She moved in closer, and it took only a slight movement for her to kiss my neck. I shuddered, unable to think of a response. "Or the Empire. Or anyone, for that matter, my Jedi Master."

"I can take the heat," I said, finally remembering my ability to speak. She hadn't said she wanted to take it as far as I did, but I let it pass. If she was letting me say it, she was, at the very least, amenable to the idea. I smiled, and she looked up at me inquisitively.

"I guess I can, too, then," she said, hardly more than a breath to her words. "After all, if you can . . ." she whispered with a twinkle in her eye.

"So that's it, then?" I replied just as softly, more seriously.

"Hmm," she said, wrinkling her nose and then smoothing it out with a full smile.

She started to release me, but I wasn't about to let it go at that. Taking a fistful of hair, I kissed her roughly, and I felt her nails rake my back in response. "Mine," I said, very softly. I'm not letting this go without a fierce fight, and don't you forget it, I thought. Her eyes flashed for a moment, and I wondered if she had indeed heard my thought – our bond was deepening by the day.

She raised her eyebrow, just one, and there wasn't a hint of anger in her eyes. Just something like joy and something else suspiciously like naughtiness. "Just so you remember . . . that this is mine," she said, and was out of my grip in an instant – with my towel.

She ran away, laughing. She went a few meters, then stopped, holding it up and grinning mischievously. Her face was flushed, but I could see her determination to tease me as I had teased her. I could feel myself going red, and resisted the urge to fidget, or . . . whatever.

"I'm not arguing," I said, smiling calmly, while I tried to think of suitable means of revenge. "Can I have it back now?"

She looked me up and down with a critical eye, something besides laughter dancing in her eyes. "I'll think about it . . . my farmboy."

"Mara!"

[fin]