Chapter 10

For the next two weeks the senate was on their mid-cycle break giving Luke a much-needed holiday from political discussions and much more time to devote to Mara and her recovery.

They spent most of their mornings together often going to the gym for a light workout or doing meditation exercises. This was usually followed by a quiet lunch back at the apartment or a local restaurant. In the evenings Luke kept Mara occupied by touring a museum or attending a show at the theatre.

She would ask him questions during their quiet moments together and Luke tried to answer them truthfully, but not heartlessly. When Mara finally asked him what she did during the war, he told her a watered down version of the truth.

'The Emperor would call on you when he had certain political situations he wanted resolved.' He had explained to Mara. 'You specialized in…um…' Luke tried to grasp for the right words, 'aggressive negotiations with personnel falling under the leadership of the Emperor. And, well, if deliberations didn't work you would often have to terminate that person… that person's employment with the Empire.'

Luke knew it was a load of bantha poodoo, but As old Obi-Wan would say, 'What I told you is true…from a certain point of view.'

Luke didn't like being elusive in his answers. He knew he should tell Mara the whole truth. It would probably be easier for her and safer for him if he warned her of what she would soon remember…but he loved seeing her smile. For a short time she had her childhood that the Emperor stole from her. He couldn't take that away. He wanted to make the next few weeks the happiest times of her life. Hopefully her new enjoyable memories would be so strong they would obscure some of her darker recollections when they did reappear.

Luke truly wanted to make her happy, but he also knew his actions weren't entirely selfless. He loved being with Mara and the fact that she openly enjoyed his company warmed Luke's heart tremendously. He soon realized that with each passing day he was becoming more and more enamored with this captivating woman that was now his temporary roommate.

'Temporary.'What a gut-wrenching thought.

He had become so accustomed to seeing her everyday he couldn't imagine not being this close to her always. He only hoped that when her memories returned she would still want to be around him.

Although Luke was anxious about the outcome of her memory restoration, he still wanted it to happen sooner than later. He longed to have his old Mara back. No matter how much fun they had together since the accident, it didn't feel right. To Luke it was like he was out with Mara's clone…albeit a very happy-go-lucky and outgoing clone. But Luke knew in his heart that nothing beats the real thing. He wanted Mara back whole.

In the meantime, he was going take Dr. Defel's advice and make sure his exuberant roommate stayed out of trouble. To Luke's dismay, this was easier said than done. In the last couple weeks it had become very apparent that Mara had not only lost her memory, but also much of her previous inhibitions. She was young, happy, and wanted to enjoy life to the fullest.

Luke tried to acquiesce to most of Mara's requests. They even went clubbing...once. That particular evening could go down in the record books as one of the most challenging nights of his life. Luke had never been to a nightclub of that nature before. It was loud, extremely crowded and to Luke's mortification it appeared that every dance routine involved body gyrations that mimicked the act of procreation. He was so happy when Mara finally said she was ready to go home.

The next day was one he would never forget. While watching the morning HoloNet broadcast, Luke was shocked to see his face in the news. Apparently, another patron in the club shot a holo of Luke and Mara in a very seductive embrace and rushed it off to the press. In the holo Mara was facing away from the camera, but you could clearly see Luke and in the picture it appeared that the Jedi had both hands firmly clasped over Mara's derrière. The headline was Jedi Master Caught in Cheeky Cover-up!

Immediately his comm-unit started buzzing.

'Leia, I was trying to hold down her dress,' Luke had tried to explain to his sister that morning. 'She was wearing that short, short outfit you helped her buy, and I think she was only wearing a thong underneath! Why she suddenly decides that particular night that thongs were the way to go, I have no idea! She was overexposing herself! If I didn't do something she probably would have caused a stampede of would-be suitors. You should have seen the men gaping at her!'

Leia was no help. She burst out laughing and reminded the Jedi that she offered to care for Mara during her recovery. In the background he heard Han shout, "Hey Luke, tell Mara we have a metal bikini she can borrow the next time you to go out!"

Despite the occasional embarrassing moment, Luke was terribly disappointed when the senate returned to session and Jedi business once more got in the way. He found himself being pulled away more often in the following days to attend long and tedious meetings with the NR finance department concerning the Jedi Academy.

Today was no different. He was able to spend a little time with Mara in the morning, but the afternoon was bogged down in meetings. It was way past dinnertime before Luke was able to break away from the mind-numbingly boring Bothan senator who headed the NR Accounting Advisory Board.

Luke hastily drove his speeder home, anxious to get back to Mara. Over the past weeks he discovered he relished the feeling of coming home to her.

Usually she greeted him when he came in the door, but today Mara was nowhere to be found. Luke stretched out with the Force and realized she was not in the apartment, or the building.

"Artoo!"

The little droid rolled around a corner and stopped in front of Luke whistling frantically and rocking back and forth.

Luke looked at the datapad he had hooked up on R2D2 to facilitate communication between the two. His eyes narrowed as the words scrolled across the pad.

"So Lando came and took Mara out for dancing and dinner."

Luke was surprised at how irritated this made him. She was his responsibility. Luke went to the 'fresher and opened the medicine cabinet. He was relieved to see that Mara had taken her anti-seizure medication with her.

Still, he didn't like the idea of Lando being with her. Mara was not herself and Luke was sure the smooth-talking entrepreneur knew it and was taking full advantage of the situation. Luke realized that even if the rumors about the two once having a relationship were true, he was sure it was long over. Mara's actions toward Lando on the day of the accident told him that much. When Mara got her memory back, she would never forgive him if he let her get into a situation with Lando that she wouldn't normally be involved in. Or, at least, that was the story Luke was telling himself. He didn't want to admit he was a little jealous.

"Artoo, did they say where they were going?"

Luke reached out with the Force and tried to feel Mara's presence in the densely packed nightclub. Although it was hard to separate the various Force signatures he was sure Mara was not at the Club that they told Artoo they were heading to, and, unfortunately for Luke, they didn't mention which restaurant they would go to afterwards.

Luke's ears were ringing as he exited the loud and smoky establishment. He walked across the street to a quiet park and sat down on a bench. He closed his eyes and reached out with the Force looking for Mara. After a few minutes of searching he found her. He jumped into his speeder and drove quickly toward the source. Soon he found himself at an upscale apartment complex. Luke scowled as he recognized the address.

"Lando's apartment," he whispered as he used the Force to override the security lock on the front entrance and quickly made his way up to his old friend's flat where he depressed the door chime button and held it until Lando opened the door looking irritated over the interruption.

"Luke?" Upon seeing who was leaning on the doorbell he gave Luke a confused smile. "Come on in, Mara and I were just finishing dinner. I was about to offer her dessert."

"I bet you were," Luke said under his breath as he unceremoniously brushed by Lando and into his apartment. Just as Lando stated, they were having dinner. Mara was sitting at a large and ornate dinner table decked out with what looked like the remains of a 7-course meal.

When she saw Luke a smile burst across her face. "Luke," she said cheerfully, "I see you got the message I left with your droid. Lando came by and was nice enough to show me around town and treat me to dinner tonight."

"How very nice of him," Luke said with a tight smile. He turned to Lando who had followed him into the dining room. "Lando, Can I talk to you for a minute, privately?" Luke whispered the last word as he put an arm around his shoulder and led him into the kitchen. "What are you doing Lando?" Luke asked sharply as soon as they were out of earshot of Mara.

"What do you mean, we are just having dinner." Lando said defensively.

Luke shook his head in disbelief and scoffed. "You mean to say you didn't bring her here in the hopes of getting her into bed?"

Lando gave a look of shock and Luke could feel his outrage through the Force. "Mara's my friend Luke, I have to admit that normally I would jump at the chance to seduce her, but I know she's not herself. And I also know that if I did have sex with her she would cut off all protruding parts of my body with her lightsaber when she did recover her memory... and some of those parts I have become quite fond of." Lando gave Luke a look of disgust as he went to the cooling unit and pulled out bottled ale not bothering to offer Luke any.

He took a long sip and then glared at Luke. "I can't believe you came running over here to accuse me of something so despicable. I will have you know that Mara is the one who asked me out! I simply came by your place to drop off some of Mara's personal items from the Wild Karrde. She was bored and wanted to get out of the apartment for a while. Her doctor had told her she shouldn't go out alone so she asked me to be her escort. She asked me out!" Lando dragged-out the last sentence for emphasis.

Luke immediately felt ashamed for insinuating his friend had ulterior motives, but now it was Lando's turn to be angry.

"I can't believe you would have the audacity to accuse me of taking advantage of Mara. You burst into my apartment like a jealous..." Lando stopped suddenly and gave Luke an amazed look. "You are jealous! Aren't you? You are interested in Mara!" He said with a smug smile.

"What? No..." Luke sputtered, "I just feel responsible for Mara's health. She got hurt saving my life."

Lando acted like he didn't hear the Jedi. "Oh man, Luke, I never knew, but now that I think about it, I can see the signs."

Luke shook his head slightly. "Lando, that's not it..." he trailed off weakly.

"Luke, you old dog." He said as he nudged the Jedi in the shoulder and then gulped down the remainder of his beer. "Hey, I think that's great. I don't mind a little competition. We both like Mara, so let the best man win." The dark skinned man said confidently.

Luke balked of the idea of competing for Mara's affection like she was a prize to be won.

"This is not a game, Lando," Luke said sharply.

Calrissian gave the Jedi a serious look. "I don't see it as a game, Luke. I really like Mara and even though I am going to be the perfect gentleman until her memory is restored, I don't see any harm in showing her a good time as a platonic friend in meantime. This way, when her memory does return, maybe she will soften her stance towards me." He cocked his head to the side and gave Luke a smile, "Unless you intend on keeping her to yourself, locked up in your apartment. That doesn't seem quite fair to her."

Luke shook his head, "No, Mara can do as she pleases. I just want to make sure her health is not at risk or she falls prey to people trying to take advantage of her memory loss. Can I trust you not to take advantage of the situation?"

Lando smiled as he wrapped an arm around Luke's shoulder in a friendly hug, "Sure, Luke old buddy, I swear I won't betray your trust."

"Is everything alright?"

Both men startled at the sound of Mara's voice. Lando dropped his arm off Luke's shoulder and turned to give the redhead a warm smile. "Hey Mara, Luke was just a little worried about you." The gambler smiled at Luke and then turned back to Mara. "Worried about your health, that is."

"Oh," Mara said as she looked first to Luke, then to Lando, then back again.

"If you are ready Mara, I can give you a ride back home." Luke said.

"Oh, okay," She said tentatively.

"Thank you Mara for a lovely evening," Lando said as he took her hand and pressed it lightly to his lips. To Luke's astonishment Mara giggled and blushed slightly at Lando's touch.

"The pleasure was all mine," she assured him, then turned to Luke offering him her arm.

Luke led her out of Lando's apartment, but not before looking back and giving a warning glare to his grinning friend.