He'd only been back on Coruscant for six hours when his wife announced they were going to dinner to help celebrate a friend's achievement. As it was, his internal chronometer was sending him urgent rest warnings, so he had almost told her no. Almost, because the thought of dinner sounded good.

And that was another thing: as tired as he was at the moment, he could tell there was something on her mind. That she was waiting to discuss it, whatever it was.

So, here he was, fresh from an off-planet assignment which had involved working with smugglers and fighting for the same cause, eating a well-cooked meal at a friend's apartment. And listening to... medical talk?

"So it worked?"

His wife nodded solemnly to the lady medic for whom the dinner was for. "Worked so well that Cam gave me a lecture about things one does not do potential brainwashing victims." She glanced at him, noticed the confused expression that clearly had to be on his face, and winced. "Don't look at me like that, Wes."

"Brainwashing?" he wondered.

"It's complicated," Roganda told him, looking away.

The lady medic, whose name he now remembered again was Ailee, snorted in a very unladylike manner. "I'll say. You sent a woman into catatonia with first aide powder."

"Ailee, if you'd like, we could have a long talk about you siccing a neurologist on me. Especially THAT one."

Wes turned and looked at the other male in the room, who was now studiously picking at his food. "There's more to it than that, isn't there?"

Darvis didn't even glance up from his plate. "Depends on if you want to hear about a game of badly-played sabaac that got interrupted by Imperial commandos. And if you go visiting to the Solo's to see the babies, they're in a different apartment now."

Roganda coughed. "Darvis..."

"What? It's all true."

"Didn't say it wasn't."

"But you'd also rather not talk about nightmares, either."

Wes was startled when she glared hard at Darvis, who still hadn't looked up from his plate. If he didn't know better, something was definitely going on between them. The tension in the room was thicker than snow on Hoth.

"Right now? Yes." Then the glare relaxed and so did her posture. Slightly. "And about that other thing? Also yes."

Now Darvis looked up, startled. "What?"

She laughed quietly at his reaction. "Just give me some time to figure out how to go about it and make a weapon of my own. Until then, we'll both be doing a lot of research. Good enough?"

Darvis nodded. "What changed your mind from maybe?"

"A trek through a forest with friends, and a short talk with your mother."

"Really?"

"Really. She seemed to think I should be very hard on you if it's what you really want."

Wes glanced at Ailee to find her holding back laughter, her shoulders shaking with the effort. "What's so funny?"

"Out of context? Not a thing," Ailee answered smoothly. "But in context... we ended up stealing a shuttle from a garrison because his mother put his cover at risk by sending him spare parts to make a lightsaber. Which he did. Twice."

"I love you, too, Ailee," Darvis muttered. "You done?"

"I could call my brother and sister-in-law and embarrass you further, if you'd like. I'm sure they'd love to hear that you want training from a woman had a flashback about a child who had possibly been brainwashed more than once."

Wes simply stared at her, then looked at Roganda. "We have a lot to talk about, don't we?"

"Yes."

"Probably starting with how she-" Darvis paused when Roganda glared at him. "What?"

"You know what. I was upset. In a fair fight, he would have had the upper hand."

"Who?" Wes wondered.

Roganda sighed. "Luke."

"You had some kind of fight with Luke-" here, Darvis tapped him on the shoulder, held up a lightsaber that he'd pulled from somewhere, and nodded at Roganda. "Oh. Who won?"

"Emotional exhaustion," Roganda answered. "Nobody."

"Solo's original idea involved a punching bag," Darvis offered after a moment of silence. "Something about owning up on a promise to let her punch something, I think were his words."

Wes nodded slowly. Oh yes... they were going to have a long tomorrow after he'd gotten some sleep, for he had a pretty good idea of what kind of circumstance such a promise would have been made. And when.

He found her the next morning standing at the cooking unit in their kitchen, preparing the morning meal. "Roganda?"

"Hmmm?" She glanced at him, smiled. "Good morning, Wes. Breakfast?"

"Please." He waited until she was seated with him before saying anything else. "So... how much were you going to tell me before the beans were spilled for you?"

"None of it. It's over and done, and now I have to learn Jedi lore from Luke. What more do you want to know about it?"

He blinked at the defensiveness displayed. There was something beneath this, and it was more than Jedi stuff. "How about what's on your mind, hmmm? And also why you caused someone to go catatonic?"

Roganda looked at him for a moment before starting to eat her breakfast. Then she set down her fork. "You really want to know? I had a nightmare that sent me to Mon Mothma to convince her that the palace was going to be invaded by Imperials, and then the palace security team and I moved an entire apartment's worth of furniture and set it all up in another apartment that was safer. Also marked as unoccupied officially to everyone but security personnel. Based on a nightmare I had that was so real I can still taste it."

Wes absorbed that information for a minute as he ate slowly. "And?"

"And what?"

"Don't get defensive with me, woman. I know you too well."

She sighed. "And I was right, the palace was invaded by commandos during a badly-played game of sabaac while I was sitting watch with Darvis. I knew the leader. I'm not allowed anywhere near the secured medical wing at the NRI because I know him, and I don't want to know how their interrogations went either."

"How do you know him?" At the question, her eyes got distant and she resumed eating. Wes studied her as he ate the rest of his breakfast, intrigued beyond words at her reaction to a simple question. There was more there than she was willing to talk about, that much was certain. He'd waited this long for things to really be open, for her to share more about before, he could wait a while longer.

This was one of many stops she'd made for Karrde in a few short weeks, and it was starting to grate on her nerves at how little information she'd been able to turn up. It was starting to seem really pointless... and she didn't much like waiting in cantinas that couldn't even be called dives for people she normally wouldn't be caught dead talking to, either.

A nudge from the Force caught her attention as a man who had identical scars on both cheeks joined her at the table she'd chosen for it's visibility and strategic placement. From here, Mara could see everyone and the door at the same time.

The nudge of her farmboy tapped at her insistently again and she pushed back, smiled wryly at the man, and began to talk with him, all the while noting that it was fairly obvious the man had long needed to visit a dentist. He did, however, have an intriguing accent and an interesting view of things, so it wasn't a complete loss. If only he'd had more information...

On Coruscant, Luke received a mental image of a man with scars and bad teeth and decided that maybe he could wait to find out why she seemed so annoyed.

Hours later, Mara arrived back at her ship, tired and just wanting to be alone for a long while. The dark-haired man hadn't really been any help, and he'd propositioned her no less than six times in varying ways. It wasn't even tempting.

Speaking of... she reached out into the Force, knowing he'd be waiting impatiently. Almost immediately, she was wrapped in a tangible, but invisible hug. Hi.

She jumped a little, startled, when Dark Star hopped up onto her lap, oblivious to the unseen presence in the room. I must be projecting more than I thought if both of you are giving me this kind of attention.

His chuckle echoed around her. Felt your annoyance earlier.

Ah. Everything is fine, Luke.

But you're not going to talk about it.

No. We still on for dinner?

Just as soon as you get back to Coruscant. Soon?

She paused. Could she? More importantly: should she? Looking down at Dark Star, she smiled. Of course she could. Maybe.

Right. Scratch the kitty behind the ears for me.

And with one more hug, Mara was left mostly alone with Dark Star looking up at her expectantly. Chuckling, Mara scratched her behind an ear.

Wes found her seated in front of a monitor, pouring through data on a computer monitor with an intense expression that rivaled Leia Organa Solo at her most focused. He watched her for a minute before waving a hand in front of her face to distract her.

Roganda sat back and stared up at him. "What?"

"Something is bothering you. Tell me?"

She sighed. "I'm just trying to figure out if there's some kind of Sith thing out there that works over long distances. So far... nothing."

Wes pulled up a chair and sat beside her. She'd kicked him awake more than once, so he knew this wasn't a spur of the moment information search. "Is there a reason?"

"Simple words spoken have been setting off memories of times that I heard him speak, or talked to him. If that makes any sense."

He considered that for a moment. "Have you discussed this with anyone but me?"

"No. There didn't seem to be a reason until now." Roganda gestured to the monitor. "And just because there's nothing in the database, doesn't mean such a thing didn't exist."

"And you're hoping it didn't. That it doesn't."

"Yes." She shuddered, frowned a moment, and glanced at the ceiling in puzzlement. "They really need to learn to shield themselves when they do that and aren't on the same planet."

Wes blinked, startled at the subject change. "Roganda..."

"What? They do!" Then she looked at him and seemed to realize he didn't quite know whom she was speaking of. "Oh. You'll love this."

Wes listened intently to her tale of his former squadron commander having finally gotten a girl, and nearly let her make him forget about the information search. Nearly.

Luke was woken out of a sound sleep by a sudden lack of air. He panicked at first, opening his eyes to find that his Force senses were not lying, and then relaxed into the kiss that lasted long moments, and even when Mara finally pulled away, it felt like she hadn't. He blinked up at her. "Hi."

Mara smiled down at him as she joined him on the bed. "Mind if I join you?"

Luke scooted over and made more room for her. "Please. How goes it out there?"

Her only response was a snore, causing Luke to blink in surprise. How had she fallen asleep that quickly?

Mara awoke to find Luke watching her intently and smiled brightly. "Good morning."

"Closer to mid-day, really. You went to sleep awfully fast."

"Was awake far too long." At his surprised but also concerned expression, she frowned. "What? Old habits are hard to break and I came straight to Coruscant after my last stop."

"And you got all over me for claiming I was fine when I clearly wasn't?"

Mara sat up and smiled at him. "Of course. Takes one to know one."

"How'd you keep me from feeling your exhaustion, hmmm?"

"Trade secret," she told him as she got out of the bed and looked down at her outfit for a moment. It was passable. Then she looked at him. "I left Dark Star alone last night on the ship. What say I go and tend to her and meet you back here for breakfast?"

Luke nodded. "Sounds good." He watched her go and suddenly wondered when he'd given her the entry codes for his apartment.

It was mid-morning when Han answered the door to find Mara standing there with Dark Star in a pet carrier. "Oh. Hi."

Mara hesitated, but only for a moment. "Could you watch Dark Star for me until tomorrow?"

Han frowned. What did she need him to do that for? Studying her, he decided there would be much avoidance of the subject if he did ask, so instead he held out a waiting hand. "Sure." She handed the carrier to him and turned to leave. "And Mara?"

"Yes?"

"Whatever it is... have fun."

Mara turned back to him, smiled lightly. "That's the plan."

Han watched her leave for a moment or two before closing the door and looking down at an apparently grumpy cat. When he let her out, she proceeded to ignore him outright and curled up on the couch. Shrugging, he went to check on the twins.

Luke had almost expected her to return with Dark Star in hand and was slightly perplexed when she returned with Dark Star in hand half an hour after leaving. In that that time, he'd taken a shower, gotten dressed, and begun to prepare breakfast for them both. It had also given him time to wonder just what she'd been doing meeting with seedy people.

"None of your concern," Mara said from behind him, where she was seated at the small table in what passed for a kitchen.

Luke glanced back at her. "What isn't?"

"My meetings. You know, the one like yesterday that you tried to talk to me during."

He glanced back at her again. Had he been projecting that much?

Her lips quirked into a small smile. "Yes and no. I saw a flash of the man I met with yesterday from you. The rest was a guess."

Luke returned his focus to the pan. "Oh. Mara, that's somewhat disconcerting when I didn't ask you."

A low chuckle made his insides churn. "Taste of your own medicine, then." She watched as he moved their breakfast onto plates and waited as he set the plates on the table. Then she stood up and embraced him so fast he didn't even have time to blink. "But, disconcerting or not, I wouldn't have it any other way."

He was so startled at the closeness that he nearly forgot about the food.

"So what is this place we're going to?" Luke wondered as he watched her pilot the shuttle gracefully through Coruscant's high atmostphere. "And why couldn't we have taken an air speeder instead?"

"It's too far for a speeder," Mara told him curtly. "And as for what it is... that's a surprise."

"So not even a hint?"

"No."

The building had looked like any other building in the district around it. Uniform. Ordinary. Warehouse-like... which was why the inside surprised him so much. There were exhibits of all kinds of animals and plant life, both extinct and not.

Finally, after passing an impossibly large skeleton of an undersea creature from Naboo and wondering how something like that could go unnoticed even under water, Luke couldn't stop himself from turning to Mara in curiosity. "What is this place?"

Mara smiled wryly. "This is the Republic Exobiology Institute and Museum. When the Imperial government took over, the scientists on staff here just kept right on working. I don't recognize the few we've seen today, but I was only ever here once at night when there were far less people around."

Luke nodded as they continued to stroll through the long corridors, looking at exhibits and stopping once in a while to inspect the more interesting ones. That was how they stumbled upon another giant skeletal exhibit, only this creature was marked as extinct. When he saw where the undersea mammal was from, Luke winced. Alderaan.

Mara leaned into his shoulder. "It's very... big."

"Yes," Luke replied after a moment or two. "Back at the apartment, when you said 'lets go look at animals', I thought you meant live ones."

"They have those, too. Just not on this floor." Or, if she remembered right, not in this building. The campus of the complex spanned for five city blocks.

"This doesn't get out of explaining what you've been doing for the past several weeks, you know."

Mara sighed inwardly. He just wasn't going to drop that, was he? "Information hunt. That's all I am telling you about it." She pulled his arm, guiding him down the hall. "More to see. Come on."

"Something alive?"

She smiled. "If you like."

The creatures were small and white, with big ears, tapered noses, and cord-like tails. They almost reminded Luke of rodents on Tatooine, but these were far more cute and fuzzy than anything, aside from Ewoks, he'd come across to date. "I was expecting something..."

"Not so small and fuzzy?" Mara prompted after a moment's pause.

"Yes. But small and fuzzy works." He glanced at the identifying tag on the cage, frowning as he remembered a long ago language lesson from Leia. "My grasp on Chandrilan isn't all that great. Is that a color?"

Mara inspected the I.D. tag. "It... might say 'pinky.' But that can't be right, can it?"

"That's his name," a nearby scientist told them with a smile. "Pinky. I'm Doctor Eden. Can I help you both? We don't often get visitors this far from the senatorial district."

Mara shook her head. "Thank you, Doctor Eden. And no. We're just visiting, and Luke wanted to see something alive after looking at all the exhibits." She motioned to the small creature in the cage that they'd been observing. "What is this one?"

"It's a Chandrilan mouse."

"Thank you." She turned back to Luke. "Seen enough?"

Luke nodded absently as he frowned at the identification plate on the next cage over. "Does this say something about neural tissue? And where is the one that's supposed to be in there?"

"Roughly translated, it means 'Brain,' and he's hiding. Again," Doctor Eden explained.

"Ah." Luke turned to Mara and offered her his arm. "Lead the way?"

"With pleasure."

Doctor Eden was left watching them go, all the while wondering why anyone would come to a research complex on what was very obviously a date.

Calmly enjoying the repast, he watched her from across the table. He'd booked an at-will reservation at this restaurant after she'd left with Karrde weeks ago. Luke had wanted to be prepared for anything, but had not expected it to be this soon. "You've been quiet since we left the institute."

Mara swallowed the bite she had in her mouth and looked at him. "Just thinking."

"Oh?"

"About what you said on the roof. A small step think about a bigger one?"

He paused in the middle of taking his next bite. "And?"

"And if we're on the same page in our meanings, I wouldn't be opposed to that next bigger step."

He was suddenly very glad she'd waited until he had nothing in his mouth to say that. "What?"

"Just so." Then she batted her eyelashes at him and resumed eating. Eat your food, Luke. It's way better than that awful hospital food we endured for the sake of enduring it.

She had him there. It most certainly was.

Leia arrived home from a council session ready to tell her husband to begin packing, and was stopped in her tracks when she saw the dozing black animal on their couch. Blinking in surprise, she entered their kitchen to find him cooking at the stove. "What is Dark Star doing here?"

"We're pet sitting until tomorrow," Han told her as he moved the pot to the table where food was waiting. "And you're right on time." Leia glanced out into the living room through the open adjoining door, wondering why Mara would have wanted them to pet sit. "Leia?"

"Hmm?"

"Wondering why will just lead to unanswerable questions."

Leia nodded, knowing he was right, and sat down to enjoy a nice meal with her husband.

"There's something you want to tell me, isn't there?" Han asked suddenly, studying her tense posture.

"Other than Imperials rushing to fill the void that Thrawn left? No."

"I'll do some prep work on the Falcon tomorrow, then."

Leia smiled inwardly, glad she didn't have to voice the obvious.

They'd been back at his apartment for ten minutes before Luke finally broke the companionable silence that had existed between them since the end of dinner.

"Did you mean it?" he asked as they sat together on the couch, leaning against the cushions.

Mara smiled at him thoughtfully. "Of course. I wouldn't have said it otherwise."

Luke sat up and reached for her hand. "I wasn't prepared to ask this tonight, so I don't have any of the normal things a person would have when asking."

"Doesn't matter," Mara told him sincerely. "Ask anyway."

Luke took a deep breath and looked her in the eyes. "Will you marry me, Mara Jade?"

"Yes," she answered and leaned in to seal her answer with a kiss. The kiss grew and deepened until both forgot they were on his couch. Somehow, though neither could later remember exactly how, they eventually made it to his bed, and... said nothing else for the rest of the evening.