Week 10: Leia/Mara
Water
Half-dragging, half-carrying Luke into the medical bay, Mara Jade deposits his unconscious body on the cot, arranging his head and legs in what would appear to be a comfortable position. This is not the first time she has brought my brother back to me after some mission gone wrong, but it is the first time she has not set an amount for payment. It's not like her to work for free and, as far as I know, she doesn't owe Luke for any unpaid debts. She wipes sweat from her brow and I offer her a bottle of water...again.
Wine
She stands against the back wall of the banquet parlor, taking in everyone and everything around her with a practiced glance. I grew up around Imperial operatives and I can tell that Luke's new friend is a good one. She holds a glass of wine loosely in her hand and greets the socialites who approach her with an air of dignity that reveals nothing of her intent.
A human male enters and she disregards him with a look I recognize too well. I don't know who he is or what he did, but his time has just run out.
Ale
I think this is the first time I've seen Mara laugh. Not grin or smirk, but really laugh. Gathered with the crew of the Wild Karrde, she rocks back in her seat, downing a mug of ale. The blue-haired slicer leans forward, speaking with animated gestures, and laughter erupts around the table. Mara beckons the waitress, signaling for another round of drinks.
She waves to me across the room and I wave back. I wouldn't have guessed that, beneath the steely professional exterior and wickedly dry sense of humor, was a woman who snorts when she laughs.
Tea
I never heard the whole story of how Mara and Mirax met, but the former assassin was immediately welcomed into the Horn household without reservation - and subsequently conjured to a Corellian tradition called a "baby shower."
On a spacious veranda, we sip an exotic tea as Mirax opens gifts for her soon-to-be-born first child and several of the other women eye Mara warily, as if still not sure what to think of her. Mirax ignores them, winking at me and and teasing our new friend mercilessly about the fact that she has no clue what a Diaper Danny does.
Juice
It's impossible to know when Mara will or will not be at the Jedi Academy, so I really shouldn't be surprised to see her here. She arrives and departs at random and it drives Luke crazy because she never stays for long.
If she senses me standing behind her in the library, she gives no indication as she stares straight ahead, absently fingering a cup of juice. Abruptly, she stands and walks away, leaving a lone holocron in the middle of the table. When she is gone, I step forward and activate it. A single phrase appears: Order 66.