Out of the Shadows

by Ash Darklighter

Post Bakura AU LM. Luke Skywalker struggles to come to terms with the legacy he's been given and the destiny he must have and leaves the Alliance to continue his training.

25. Chapter 25

Out of the Shadows 25

This story is mainly for my beloved Mona because I could not do without her and also for all my friends on the SSB list especially Jedi Knight. The characters all belong to Lucasfilm and I am only playing with them for my own pleasure. If you are looking for the established timeline (?) and character continuity…forget it. This is a very alternative universe albeit still a Star Wars one. My thanks to Rhea Jedi Knight for her encouragement and help with the title and for Michele for taking the time to read.

Dagobah

Mara found it became all too easy for her to entangle herself in the nothingness of the routine Skywalker called his life. He had offered to help her with a few Force-related things while she was on Dagobah if she wanted to stay for a couple more weeks and she was never one to turn down an offer like that. It wasn't as if she was undertaking full Jedi training. Increasing her general skills would be useful and she wasn't betraying anyone by doing that.

"No pressure," he'd said, his blue eyes apparently guileless. "It's up to you. Stay as long as you want to."

"Sure, I can spare a couple more days," she'd answered casually. "But Karrde will be expecting me to return at some point in the near future. I do work for him."

He'd looked as if he was about to say something but hesitated, thinking better of it, and nodded. "A few more days," he echoed. "It's a start."

Surprisingly, Skywalker was a good teacher and she had to admit that she was learning so much, things that no-one had taught her before – lightsaber techniques, philosophy, Jedi history, telekinesis, basic healing practices and ways of maintaining and increasing her fitness. She'd already thought she was in peak condition but not according to Skywalker's Jedi standards and after he'd accompanied her on several runs through the jungle vegetation she had to agree with him. All the information was delivered from his warped Jedi perspective but still, all knowledge was useful. The few days more that she'd planned weren't nearly enough. A week passed and then another. This wasn't just one or two things. Skywalker was indeed training her to become a Jedi and Mara wasn't entirely certain how she felt about that. She knew that she was changing; she was fitter, more grounded within herself and beginning to accept that perhaps Palpatine hadn't always been right – that he had, on more than one occasion, lied to her.

Okay, she admitted finally. The subject had been gnawing away inside her brain for a lot longer than even she suspected. How could the master she'd worshipped more than her own life, who had raised her and taught her everything she knew, get something so wrong?

And if he had gotten this wrong, what other falsehoods and mistakes had he perpetrated? All leaders had to do things they found unpleasant but still… Nevertheless she stubbornly held onto the belief that Luke had killed her master even when the evidence was beginning to stack up to the contrary. He was ultimately responsible.

However, Skywalker was turning out to be the most honourable and decent man she'd ever met, if a trifle rigid in his way of thinking, and so annoyingly naïve that he could have been from a tenth rate farm on a fourth rate planet. 'Wait! Of course,' she groused irritably to herself – 'he was.' She'd never met anyone who still believed that there was so much good in people and that even the worst of them could be redeemed if you had enough faith. She knew that for a fallacy. He was turning her into someone she was not and she didn't like it. She'd only agreed to improve her skills – learn one or two new tricks. Mara Jade was quite happy the way that she was – at least, that was what she told herself. She had to leave before this Jedi corrupted her permanently.

But for the first time in her life, something felt right. She didn't know how to explain it but the certainty of the feeling was there. If Skywalker ever lied to Mara, she would know it. She believed that she knew the young man who patiently tutored her while ignoring the epithets she hurled at his sandy head on a daily basis. A sliver of dark amusement twisted across her lips. She would never have dared to curse the Emperor. Afraid was the wrong word to use, she thought, but there was a measure of fear in her devotion. If she had disobeyed Palpatine's orders, she would not have lived to tell any tales.

She'd been here long enough, she argued silently. She had to leave Dagobah for the simple reason that she couldn't stay forever or she would turn out to be as misguided and sentimental as the rest of the idealists and traitors who had formed the rebellion. She suppressed a groan and swiped wildly with her lightsaber at the sudden blast from the training remote. Even she saw that as a half-baked excuse. The rebels had won the war and none of her wishes would change that fact. She had people who depended on her to do the job she was paid to do. She liked working for Karrde and she had to get back to him. He trusted her to do that. But still, something kept her with the blue-eyed young Jedi on Dagobah. She reasoned that his lessons were important because there was nothing else to stay on Dagobah for. The social scene was pathetic. She rubbed the stinging area of her anatomy where the remote had scored a direct hit. "Ow!"

The remote hovering above her made a darting move to her right and she swirled around to face it. "Oh no, you don't," she muttered and brought up the humming blue blade in front of her. The whole situation was just too damned irritating. With a grunt and a final thrust she speared the annoyance that had been taunting her for weeks. There was a bang and a flash and the remote crashed to the ground, finally dying in a sputter of angry sparks.

"Hey!"

"What?" Mara turned around at the sound of booted feet running towards her and glared at Luke, the blue lightsaber blade still buzzing in front of her.

"What did you do that for?" Luke stared in dismay at the fragments of his faithful training remote lying inertly on the ground. He'd had it long before the Battle of Hoth - in fact, before Yavin - and now it had been rendered useless. It had been Han's practice remote from the Falcon which Obi-Wan had borrowed for Luke's lightsaber training He'd never returned it and Han had never asked."You were supposed to parry the shots, not kill the thing. It'll never work again, by the looks of it."

Mara's lips curved into a satisfied smile that sent a jolt into the region of Luke's heart. "I've spent enough time playing around with this remote." She closed down her weapon but kept the reassuring feel of the hilt in her hand. It no longer felt alien to her anymore – it belonged to her.

"Oh! Maybe you have but…" Luke picked up a small fragment, shaking his head slowly.

"Why are you so upset?" she asked curiously. "It was only a training remote."

"It was my only remote and I've had it for a long time," he muttered. "You get…attached to things."

"It's a remote. How can you get attached to that?" She couldn't believe what she was hearing. This man had brought down the first Death Star, had defeated many in battle, was reputed to be one of the greatest pilots in the galaxy and was supposed to be cruel and uncaring. Yet he missed his sister and his friends desperately, spoke to his droid as if he was a treasured friend and was attached to his training remote. Luke Skywalker still didn't add up in Mara's opinion.

"How do you think I practise?" Luke said, a little lamely.

"With that remote?" Her mouth flattened at the corners.

"Yes. With that remote. I've had it since I began my training…originally belonged to Han." He nudged another piece with the toe of one black-booted foot. "So you think you are finally ready to fight others…ready to kill?" He lifted his head to look at her, his gaze searching.

Mara's smile disappeared. "Killing is the easy part," she whispered. "I've done it before – many times."

"No, I disagree. It's not easy at all – I have never found it to be so and I don't believe you can find it so either. Maybe the killing part seems easy when it's just a faceless, nameless enemy," he conceded reluctantly. "You raise your blaster and pull the trigger and wham…someone doesn't breathe any more. But the telling yourself that it doesn't mean anything and that particular life deserved to be snuffed out, is the really hard part because you lose part of yourself to the inhumanity of killing. You have destroyed a life – someone with a history, a family but now – no future. It's not a game."

"I never thought it was a game, Skywalker." Mara held his gaze. "It is what I was trained to be."

"No, you can be more," he said earnestly. "I don't want that inhumanity to happen to you, Mara Jade. You've lost so much already."

"No… I haven't lost anything," she denied automatically. "What I did, I did in service to my master. These people were traitors and deserved what happened to them."

"Did they really?" Luke's eyes were sad but wise and kind. "Every single one of them?" Mara looked away unable to answer him. "I know you better than that, Mara Jade. You didn't always follow orders did you? Don't fool yourself that I believe you didn't care what you were doing," he said. "

"I'm not." She lifted her chin and stared directly into his eyes. She could lose herself in their blue depths – they seemed so old for someone so young. "Sometimes I didn't obey him as I should. There were occasions when I did find it hard to do what he asked of me. I even let some of them go." She sighed. "I couldn't…"

"Was that when he punished you?"

"'Punished!' How did you…?" Mara's head dropped, almost appearing too heavy on her slim shoulders, revealing the vulnerability of her slender neck.

"I know you," Luke said. "You are not evil." Indeed she was not. Whatever Mara Jade had done in the Emperor's name had left her untouched by the dark side, though the anger she nursed internally drew her dangerously towards it.

"I deserved my punishments. He didn't always find out what I had done."

"Because you hid it deep within yourself," Luke guessed softly. "Those lives didn't matter to him; otherwise, he would have searched your mind and he would have discovered your lies. You knew some of it was wrong and those were the people you spared but you felt guilty, didn't you." It wasn't a question.

Mara lifted her head, her eyes bright and defiant. "I hated betraying him but I couldn't let those people suffer when there was no need. As for any others, I enjoyed it."

"Did you really? I don't believe you. It was a task you performed as emotionlessly as you could. It was the only way you could have survived." Luke felt the duality of her anger and her remorse and sent a calming Force wave towards her. "You have to move on; the past is holding you back."

"I'm gaining quite a lot," she admitted, suddenly changing the subject and accepting the feelings he had sent to her. "I didn't expect to. I didn't think that there was anything you could teach me."

Luke's mouth quirked into a genuine smile that Mara found affected her breathing. He looked…pleasant when he smiled. "The only way we should stop learning is at the same time we stop breathing. I'll take that as a compliment." The subject of Mara's past was dropped for the moment.

Mara's eyebrow arched. "Isn't that a little presumptive, Skywalker?"

"I'll take anything I can get."

"Wise of you but when I kill you, remember that you will have actually contributed to your own demise."

"I understand," he said gravely. "You will make it as quick and painless as possible?" He didn't believe that she would kill him – he never had.

"Didn't you say that it would be good to have a live opponent?"

"I believe that I did." He walked around her, his hand going to the lightsaber attached to his belt. "But only as long as we both stay alive. An opponent is no longer an opponent if he is dead."

"Spoilsport." She winked at him, her green eyes sparkling with mischief, her lips curving into a genuine smile.

Luke's breath caught in his throat. She looked so beautiful and so vibrantly alive at that moment, her bright hair caught loosely in a braid, her slim figure attired in a body hugging suit. She was perfect.

"What is it?" Her smile slipped a little. Mara didn't realise it but she was becoming as attuned to Luke's emotions as he was to hers and had felt his reaction even if she didn't understand what had caused it.

"Nothing," he said simply. At that moment he was happy.

She frowned at him and all he wanted was to see the smile return. "Honestly," he said and was rewarded once more with a smile. Luke detached his lightsaber from his waist and held it before him. With a nod of his head, he indicated readiness for their bout and ignited his green blade. For a moment they stood carefully testing each other until, with a fierce battle cry, Mara attacked.

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Luke waited, his saber humming lightly in his hands, the Force running through him. "Do you yield?" he asked calmly, barely breathing any harder than when they had first begun their sparring match.

"Yes," she said, her shoulders heaving with effort. He hadn't set out to humiliate her in any way but she knew he'd just taken her defence and tactics apart with ease. She was practically on her knees with the effort and he was standing above her looking as if he'd just taken a gentle stroll through the ornamental gardens at the Skydome Botanical. Her competitive nature stirred, she had to learn these techniques.

"Well done," he praised as he closed down his weapon and affixed it to its customary place on his belt.

Mara glanced about her. "Where's my saber?"

Luke held out his hand and the weapon flew into it. "Here," he said, holding out his other hand to help her to her feet, watching with concern as she straightened her cramped limbs. "You're not hurt?"

"I'm fine."

"Your saber is an extension of you. If you are parted from it in a battle or through accident," Luke's mind flashed to the wampa's cave on Hoth, "you can call it to your hand. Just reach out with your feelings and focus on holding the saber in your hand. It's almost the same as levitation exercises."

"Lifting rocks." Mara grimaced as she rolled her shoulders. "I can't believe how much I ache."

"You fought well."

"Not well enough. I couldn't beat you," she said with a rueful smile.

"I've been working almost solely with my lightsaber for quite a few years now – it has become part of me and an extension of my will. You have become adept in a very short space of time and are improving rapidly. Very soon you will feel the strength of your own connection. You don't have to 'beat' me as you put it. This is not a competition unless it is in your own mind."

"Let's say I thrive on a challenge," Mara retorted. "Don't go all Jedi and other-worldly on me, Skywalker."

"I am a Jedi and I always will be. I'm not your enemy and would not like to fight against you in anger."

"I think I know that little homily. You've said it often enough to become boring. Anger and hate all lead to the dark side of the Force." She brushed a clinging piece of stray vegetation from her well-toned and shapely derriere.

Unnoticed, Luke's hands curled as his eyes unwillingly followed the movement and, suddenly catching what he was doing, he rushed into speech. "Make no mistake, Mara. I can be beaten and have been beaten. I did not win against Vader, nor against the Emperor. Both of them could have killed me if they chose and Palpatine fully intended to do that. He did not need a lightsaber to do so." He shivered as he recalled the sheets of blue lightning erupting from Palpatine's fingers. "I am not infallible and would be very foolish of me to think that." He rotated his right wrist slowly, remembering. "One lapse in concentration, a break in my guard and the balance of a battle shifts as easily as a Vor's wing on the wind." He shrugged. "One with the Force I am."

"Now you sound like Yoda," Mara said. She didn't want to think about Luke not being in her life any longer. It already seemed as if he'd always been there. No, she could threaten and bluster about killing him but she wouldn't do it – not when she needed him to train her in the ways of the Force. "Was there…?"

She didn't need to finish her question. Luke knew that she desired to improve and was asking for his opinion – his help. It was another step forward. He stepped closer to her and placed his hand on her arm drawing it back and pushing it through in a swift sweeping motion. "The angle wasn't quite correct," he instructed quietly. "Feel the direction of the stroke and follow it through."

Mara closed her eyes and tried to do what he suggested. "Yes…I can feel the difference."

She tried it again, Luke's hand still on her arm, correcting and directing the way she moved. She could feel the difference but her mind wasn't concentrating fully on what she should have been. He was very close. She could feel the soft puff of his breath against her cheek, the heat of his almost touching body. But she already knew how that felt against her own and gave a soft shudder of unwilling desire. She had to get away from this situation before she did something she would regret. She had changed her mind about killing him but this new closeness was another thing altogether. This was definitely a step she was not ready to take. Pivoting on her heel she turned to face him and was immediately caught in the snare of his mesmerising blue gaze.

"Uh…" she managed to articulate feebly. This was not a good idea. 'Think,' she frantically castigated herself as her usually reliable brain refused to function. The distance between them was far too close – too intimate, the touch of his hand lingering on her elbow burned all the way through her clothes to her skin. Mara's hand rose automatically, balancing herself, resting on his shoulder.

"Mara?"

Their eyes locked and held. "Luke…" She uttered his given name for the very first time. Time caught and held as the layers in the Force shifted and buckled, changing forever, pushing them towards a destiny from which they could not escape. Her lips were suddenly dry. Tentatively her tongue escaped from her lips, moistening them. Luke's eyes darkened as he tracked the betraying movement. They were young, attractive and nature recognised their signals even as they would have denied them. Their heads moved together, their fingers tightened on one another and…

Luke could see it. He could see them wrapped together in the age old ritual of desire, skin against skin. But the future was always in motion. What wouldn't he give for this to be one of them?

Mara held her own vision in her mind's eye. The rumpled bedclothes, their naked bodies pressed together and Luke's fevered gaze as he rose above her ready to…

A bird shrieked in the trees above their heads and they jerked guiltily apart, faces flushed with the knowledge of what might have happened.

"I must…"

"I need to…" They spoke at the same time.

Luke took a deep breath trying to separate reality from the vision in his mind. "Force, that should…"

"Never have…"

"Happened?" Luke finished, wryly noting the mixture of horror and naked desire on Mara's face. "As I recall, nothing did."

"But we…it might have. We nearly…" She closed her mouth tightly over the words. The brief sexually charged image had been in her imagination. "You're right. Nothing happened."

Luke swallowed and began to back away, wondering what madness had possessed them to even think about kissing the other because that was what had almost happened. The disturbing thing was that the searing image had burned itself into his brain forever. It wasn't the right time – if it ever would be judging from the expression on Mara's face.

He was shy with women. The fame he'd won in battle had made many females of different species interested in him but Luke hadn't felt comfortable in handling the fame as many of his comrades had. Those women had wanted the hero, not the man. Inside he wasn't just Luke Skywalker, Jedi; he was still Luke, the farmboy from the planet Tatooine who wanted someone to love him – the real him.

Mara seemed to accept him for what he was most of the time and made no effort to conceal what she really thought about him. Perhaps that was one of her more appealing aspects but she had been brought up in the Imperial palace and was used to more sophisticated men and he suddenly felt a bit 'ordinary' in her presence.

'Stang!' he thought. He'd actually considered kissing her. "I'm just going to check on my X-wing," he gabbled nervously. "There are things growing in one of the engine filters. It's not healthy." He rubbed his hand across his forehead. Had he really said what he thought he had? He'd flown in battle countless times, met beings from many worlds, faced Vader and the Emperor together and yet, he could find himself completely tongue-tied in front of this particular woman. He admitted to himself that she affected him in ways that no one else had.

"Your ship?"

"Yes, I need to send a message to…to Leia."

"You can do that from here?" Mara hoped in vain that her voice sounded normal because she didn't feel that way and would die of embarrassment if the Jedi noticed. "I could have contacted Karrde?"

"No, not from here."

"A message to Leia, huh! A bit sudden after three years." Mara's voice was caustic though she was glad to have something to take her mind off the images still disturbing her.

So, thought Luke, she had heard him recording a message to his sister and wondered if he had mentioned her arrival. "Leia knows I'm still alive. She would feel it through the Force if I was not no matter how far apart we are." His words were stilted. "I recorded the message not long after you arrived here. I just haven't had a chance to send it."

Mara began to recover her equilibrium as Luke appeared to lose his. He was embarrassed, she thought. And she remembered her idea of keeping him off-balance. It was time to even the score. He may win at lightsaber techniques but she could still best him and planned to continue doing so any way she could. Using her femininity was one way. The only problem was that this method had turned on her in an astonishing fashion and she wasn't sure if she liked the effect. Or perhaps she liked the effect far too much.

Killing him had conveniently gone from her mind.

"I have to send a message from above Dagobah's atmosphere," he said hurriedly. "The planet's atmosphere doesn't allow it, for one thing, and we are too far out on the rim for another. I must go nearer to one of the main planets and find a suitable signal to relay my own from." He continued to stare at her and then dropped his eyes, flushing, to examine his scuffed footwear. "I'll be back in a couple of hours…"

"Hours!" she echoed, taking a step closer to him.

Their eyes met and Luke stretched out a hand towards her cheek. "You know that you are very lovely, Mara Jade." There was a pregnant pause as Luke realised what he had said.

"But I've done such things," she whispered.

His hand fell to his side and he took a step away from her. She was still unpredictable in many ways and so was he. He couldn't even control what came out of his own mouth. Many women wanted to be viewed as much more than their outward appearances and Mara was definitely one of those. Luke could understand that but she was hurting and confused and he had to help her become whole. "I'm sorry," he apologised. "I shouldn't have said that but it's true. Inside as well as on the outside. You'll have to learn to believe it eventually. I have never seen anyone so beautiful."

"What!" Mara's mind whirled as she watched Luke Skywalker, hero of the rebellion, sprint away towards his ship. "Wait!" Moments later it rose into the air. "He never checked it for…" Hands on her hips, Mara watched as the X-wing disappeared from sight. "Well, I suppose he is coming back. All his stuff is still here." Her lips curved. "He said I was lovely. Oh!" What was she supposed to make of that? Many men had said that she was beautiful but none had done it quite like the young Jedi. So the Jedi was not a monk after all. He had noticed that she was a woman.

From behind her came a frantic and faintly plaintive electronic warble. "He's gone flying, droid," she snapped, reassured by Luke's haste and Artoo's continuing presence on the planet's surface. Skywalker would not leave Dagobah without his droid.

Artoo rotated his little domed head and whistled another question.

"I don't know when he'll be back but he's certainly stupid enough to return for a droid that talks so much," she gritted irritably. "Now, quit your pathetic whining and go and make yourself useful. I'm going for a run. I need to start thinking about getting off this rock, too. I've been here for far too long."

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Coruscant

Han Solo checked his wrist chrono and wrinkled his forehead. It was late and he was about to put his foot down but, hopefully, not so firmly that it would make Leia object. "Your messages are piling up, Highnessness," he commented quietly.

"I know and these are the ones my staff have allowed me to deal with myself. They've intercepted the non-essential communications." She sighed and rubbed a hand wearily across her forehead. "Ignore them; I'll deal with them tomorrow. I've done enough for tonight."

"You should be taking things a little easier, sweetheart."

"All of the Inner Council is working at the same pace until we get the next world into the Republic. The surplus it grows could feed several worlds where the agriculture has been ruined by war. I know Mon Mothma is exhausted because I'm tired and she bears the heaviest load of us all."

"I know but you can't go on like this. None of you can. Mon Mothma included."

"It should get easier after this next treaty is completed. The number of candidates accepted into diplomatic training courses has been drastically increased." She eased away from the desk and stiffly stood up, feeling her bones protesting from sitting too long in one position. Han was instantly behind her, his hands massaging her shoulders.

"Better?"

"Much." She relaxed gratefully into his touch. "I can't believe he kept it."

"Kept what…oh!" His hands stilled for a moment and then resumed their gentle massage.

"Luke's hand." Leia's words emerged in a whisper.

"Yeah, at first I couldn't believe it either. It sounds like the kind of sick thing 'old yellow eyes' would do."

"I'm glad I didn't have to deal with it."

"You shouldn't have to. Winter didn't want any of us to do so and she was right." He stepped away from her and retrieved her cloak, placing it about her. "Come on. If you're sure you're finished?" Leia nodded. "Then let's go home." Han began to steer her towards the door.

The com centre interrupted them with a defiant beep indicating the arrival of another message. "Ignore it," Han said. "It will keep until tomorrow."

"Yes, it will." Then Leia stopped, a strange expression crossing her face. "Han, I want to read that message."

"Save it for tomorrow, sweetheart. It will keep."

"No," she said. "It feels important."

"Feels important?" Han's mouth dropped open. "Uh-oh!"

Leia closed her eyes, took a deep breath and then opened them again. Her face was determined…resolute. "Yes, Han. I can feel it." She moved back to her desk and tried to pull up the message with Han next to her, peering at the screen. "This is only an announcement alert - the message is being held up by some relay station a long way off and is waiting for verification of a stronger signal at this end. The signal from that end is very faint, almost indistinct."

"It's based on some very old technology - almost like someone hotwired a short range transmitter to get more power - and it's come a long way," Han murmured, hope lifting his voice. "I'll see if I can borrow one of Cracken's listening posts for a few moments and get a good lock on the signal which may help us get a better reception." He began fiddling with the controls. "I think we have it…yes. Got it." He gave a sigh of relief. "It's coming through now."

"It's a holo-recording." Leia glanced at Han and saw her own feelings mirrored in his gaze. There was hope and a little fear.

"Luke?"

"Could be." Leia's hand shook as she flicked the switch, her breathing ragged. The hologram was faint, the image being of low resolution and in black and white, but it was unmistakeably her brother. Leia drank in the sight of him, her eyes suspiciously bright. Han, too, placed his hand across his eyes and bowed his head in some sort of prayer.

"Hello, Leia...Han." Luke stood waiting, his hands joined together in front of him, dressed in what appeared to be the same black tunic and cloak that he'd left in. Han stifled some sort of oath and paused the image.

Leia pressed her trembling fingers to her lips and allowed Han to sweep her into his arms. "Force, I've missed him so much."

"I know. It's good to finally know that he's alive." Han's voice was cracked and rough, as if he hadn't used it in a long time. Seeing the Kid brought it right home to him how incomplete their little family was without its true heart.

"I always knew that he was alive, Han. I just needed to know that he was safe and well and would come back to us and now I do."

"Let's listen to what he has to say first before we totally get our hopes up. I'll see if I can wash the signal to get rid of some of the static."

"He's coming home, Han, and that's all that matters," Leia stated fervently. "Maybe not tomorrow or next week but I'm convinced we shall see him soon."

She reached out and restarted the image.

"Hello, Leia and Han," he said simply. "I'm coming home." There was a minute pause as if Luke was working out what exactly to say to them after all this time.

"Master Yoda became one with the Force very recently." Sorrow briefly showed in his expressive face. "Before he died, he conferred on me the rank of a fully trained Jedi Knight and teacher. I could not leave him before then for more than a couple of days at a time. He was very weak towards the end and could not have been moved. If I'm truthful, I would say that he didn't want to be moved and intended to breathe his last on this strange world which sheltered him from the darkness of Palpatine's regime. I'm preparing to leave this hiding place for good. I have learned all that I can here. I need to return to restart the Jedi Order. It is the task I have been given and one I will spend the rest of my life doing."

Leia noted that he hadn't mentioned the word 'trying'. Jedi did.

"It won't be easy," he said gravely. "I will need your full support and that of the New Republic but I will not simply become a tame Jedi for them. That has to be made clear to everyone from the very start. There are still dangers for us all; the dark side threatens even now, though the Emperor is dead."

Luke turned his head as if he was watching for someone. "It's been hard to be apart from you without contact but it is coming to an end now. I knew this as soon as you sent Mistress Jade. The Force allowed her to find me."

"Sent Mistress Jade?" Han echoed, pausing the message. "Oh, so Mara got to Dagobah safely, did she?"

"She must have," murmured Leia. "And however long ago this message was recorded and sent…it has come a long way, she must still be there."

"The Force allowed…" Han shook his head and snorted. "That was careful research."

"We've had access to the same areas of research and found nothing."

"We didn't know where to look for them. Mara did."

"Maybe, but it could still be the Force."

"Mistress Jade? He's very formal," Han said, with a glint in his eye. "The Mara we know and er…love can be somewhat abrasive."

"Luke's probably met that side of her; hence the formality."

"Yes, she wasn't one of his greatest fans before she left as I recall. But he's still alive, so she hasn't made good her threat to kill him."

"She promised not to kill him," Leia replied quickly. "And I believe her."

"So do I now, oddly enough," Han quipped with a smirk and restarted the message.

"Could you please inform Talon Karrde of her safety," Luke said carefully, taking another cautious glance behind him. "I'm sure he would wish to know."

"Karrde's away somewhere remote," Leia said. "But…"

Han sighed as he paused the message again. "He left details of how to contact him if necessary. He has several bases dotted about the galaxy. " Han noted that the flickering Luke on the screen was glancing over his shoulder. "Does the Kid look nervous to you?"

"I don't know but he keeps looking behind him." She studied the image. "I don't get the sense that he's concerned about anything."

"Maybe if Jade is there, he's worried that she'll sneak up behind him."

"You can't sneak up on Luke – he's a Jedi."

"Sure you can. Or maybe he's just looking at her – she is rather striking. He's been alone there for over three years with only Yoda for company. Having a gorgeous woman to stare at…"

"Luke's not like that," Leia protested.

"He likes women, sweetheart. He never was one for the boys and, believe me, some of them asked."

"Han!" Leia's eyes widened.

"Just telling it like it is. He's human. Not a monk."

"I never said he was," Leia murmured defensively. "I'd like to see him happy with a suitable woman and a family."

"Ah, you don't think the spectacular Mistress Jade is suitable." Han grinned wickedly. "They could just have an affair then. He's had the occasional quiet one before."

Leia looked pained. "Han Solo! My brother is a Jedi Knight and much as I like Mara, she wanted to kill him."

"Which you don't believe she'll do."

"No. But it's hardly the basis for a lasting relationship, is it?"

Han looked his fiancée shrewdly. "You wouldn't be jealous, would you?"

"What!"

"Jealous that Jade has been with him and spent time with him before you have? Jealous that she was able to go to Dagobah to bring him home?"

"No! Of course not."

But Han thought that her words lacked conviction. Whatever Leia's view of Luke was, he hadn't spent all of his time in the rebellion flying his X-wing. If she persisted in seeing him as a mystical monk-like figure who would calmly accept everything the New Republic suggested that he do, then she had another think coming. "Shall we hear the rest of this?" he said as he restarted the message yet again.

Luke faced the holo-imager again and smiled. He looked exactly the same - perhaps thinner - but there was an air of calm about him that Leia hadn't seen before. "If you could arrange for quarters to be opened on Coruscant for me, I will need somewhere to stay when I arrive. Oh, and please, don't announce it to the holo-press or the Senate committee quite yet. I'd rather keep my return quiet for a little while longer. I'll contact you again soon. May the Force be with you." He raised a hand in farewell and then he was gone.

Leia transferred the holo to a portable carrier she had and Han suspected it would be played numerous times over the next few days.

"I told you he'd be fine, sweetheart," Han said, grinning widely.

"Pardon me if I'm mistaken, flyboy, but you were the one who wanted to go looking for him convinced he was in some sort of trouble and even hired Karrde to find him for you."

"I was only doing it for you."

"Of course." Leia rolled her eyes.

"I was because that's the sensitive kind of guy I am."

"And that's why I love you, nerfherder." Leia reached up and ruffled his hair.

"Hey!" Han jerked his head away and valiantly tried to smooth it back into place.

"Come on." Leia stood up and opened the door, waiting patiently for Han to pass through before activating the security control. "He looked well, didn't he?"

"Yes. A bit thinner, but well."

"He seemed happier too."

"Maybe Mara Jade's given him a reason to smile." He winked.

"Han Solo!"

"Seriously, Leia, he got what he wanted. He managed to finish his training. Now he can come home where he belongs."

"Yes, it will be wonderful to have him with us again but I wish it was that easy." She sighed. "He will need to find somewhere to teach his Jedi and I don't think Coruscant will suit him. Especially as his own training was on Dagobah and it's not known for its cities and technology."

"I know. But at least we'll know where he is once he finds somewhere to settle and be able to visit him on occasions. It'll be fun, sweetheart. Coruscant is too close to the Senate and the politicians. There are far too many distractions and possible interferences. He won't want that." Han smirked at his fiancée. "He left so that he could do his Jedi thing his own way."

"He might want to have an office on Coruscant. The Jedi temple was located here after all."

"Yes, but look what happened to it." Han pressed the call button for the turbo lift. "After you."

They entered the lift and stood in silence until they reached the level which contained the private vehicle hangar for important members of the inner council.

"Let's get you home," Han said, helping her into the closed speeder he'd been using since he'd arrived on Coruscant. It was less noticeable than the Millennium Falcon and it was giving him the chance to give the Falcon the overhaul it needed

"Yes, let's go home. I want to sleep for at least two days but that is not going to happen. Tomorrow I can see if there's anywhere in the Imperial palace for him to stay. It has to be close to us."

Han screwed up his face and shook his head. "I would wait a bit. I think you're moving a little fast with this. Until he walks through the door of our apartment we won't know exactly what he is planning to do."

"I want to help him and he asked me to find him somewhere to stay."

"I know you do and you'll find him an apartment but wait until he tells you exactly what he wants you to do."

"We know what he wants," she said.

"We do?" Han eased into the busy stream of traffic for the short journey to their apartment.

"We do," she stated firmly. "After he comes home and finds somewhere to stay, he wants to restart the Jedi Order."

Han's lip twitched into a smile. "And to do that, he's going to need Jedi."

"Yes. He is."

"Lots of them." Han swooped into a low, overhanging door and gradually coasted to a stop. "One of the reasons I love this apartment is..."

"You can park the speeder easily?" Leia smiled slyly.

"Nope, but that is a good reason. I can park the speeder easily. More importantly, I can get the Falcon in the private hangar too and kiss you without anyone seeing."

Their home was cool and quiet and Leia finally relaxed but Han could see she wanted to view Luke's holo message again.

"Didn't Lando send you information about some guy on Bespin?" Han asked, making for the bottle of Whyren's reserve on the sideboard.

"Yes, he did – a gas prospector on Tibannopolis. He's in the Cloud City medical centre. He hears voices in the wind."

Han groaned. "So he's schizophrenic."

"No, he's not…well, I suppose he could be." Leia gave a rueful shrug. "Lando said that this man. Steen or Streen, I think his name is, can predict where the tibanna gas can be found on Bespin without instruments or devices and is always right. He gets the strikes before any of the corporations and their technical equipment. It proved to be his downfall."

"Ah," Han's voice was dry. "Someone decided to get rid of the competition."

"Yes. He almost died. Lando said that they have to keep him sedated otherwise he gets no peace. The medical droid on Cloud City does not advocate the use of drugs on this patient as a successful long term treatment. I think they were going to put him into stasis."

"Ouch. Reminds me of carbonite."

"He's lived most of his life alone, finds it difficult to be around other people. Lando thinks that Luke is the only one who can help him. Without seeing this man I cannot be sure but Lando's probably right."

"You thought that one of the Mon Calamari ambassadors might have some Jedi potential, didn't you?" Han handed Leia a glass of amber coloured spirit.

"Cilghal?"

"I couldn't remember her name. Admiral Ackbar was impressed with her political abilities."

"She's a highly intelligent being – most astute. When we went on a tour of a field hospital, she actually told me that she almost became a doctor rather than a diplomat because she could tell when a severely ill being would live or die and wanted to know how she could help. She couldn't explain it, she just knew. I remember my father talking about healers and he said that they were the rarest of the Jedi."

Han chuckled. "Believe me, sweetheart, as I've never known anyone with such an affinity for landing himself in a bacta tank, I would suspect that Luke will need a healer amongst his Jedi as well as someone who hears voices on the wind."

Leia's eyes glimmered with the happy sheen of tears. Her brother was coming home. "He will, won't he?"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Dagobah

The X-wing touched down with a slightly heavier whumph than usual and an exhausted Luke exited the snub fighter to find a frosty-faced reception committee.

"You said 'a couple of hours', Skywalker," Mara Jade snapped. "It's been more than half a day's rotation by the droid's last calculation. He was beginning to worry about you."

He pulled off his gloves and helmet and glanced towards his little droid, jiggling from side to side with impatience and concern. "I'm alright, Artoo." Artoo responded by subjecting his master to a scolding as only he could, using the full extent of his electronic range.

"I'm sorry little fella," Luke muttered.

"You apologise to the droid and not to me?" Mara said incredulously.

"He was concerned about me. You, I'm not so sure of. I thought you wouldn't mind if I became one with the Force." He strode towards his home, in no mood to bandy words around with her.

Mara followed him. "Of course I was worried."

"You were?" Surprise coloured his voice as he stopped and turned to face her.

Mara scowled and ducked her head, surprised that she had admitted to missing him and mad that she had acknowledged it. "You'd been gone a long time. The droid was getting screechy. It was irritating."

Luke's face lost all expression. "I had to go further than I thought to find a decent relay station to send my message to Leia. Then the X-wing started to play up." He began to move again but Mara blocked his path.

"Your ship?" For the first time since they had met Mara's face showed real concern as she sensed his weariness. "Skywalker…" She could see that his face was grey with strain and tiredness underneath sooty streaks of grime. "Can you fix it? I heard that you were good with technical things."

He coloured briefly at the compliment and then shook his head. "It won't fly again without a serious overhaul and it's not going to get that here. I can only fix so much. So it's never going to fly again." He looked upset before blanking his expression once again.

"No, I guess not." She walked towards him and put a hand cautiously on his shoulder. "What happened?"

"Not sure. The engine seemed to miss several beats, there was some sort of circuitry failure and finally some smoke."

"Smoke!" Mara's eyes widened. "How did you land the thing?"

"The Force," he said quietly. "But it took a lot out of me. It's not good to draw on my power like that." His knees began to buckle. "I need to go and lie down for a bit. "

Mara felt Luke's legs wobble and moved to help support him without thinking. She could feel his weariness engulf her as the body contact grew and she unconsciously sent her strength to help him. "Careful, Farmboy," she chided. It didn't seem right to tersely bark out his surname as she usually did. He wasn't the all powerful Jedi at this moment, just a tired young man that she could help. "Lean on me."

"I'm fine," he whispered. "But you're going to have to give me a lift out of here since I'm without transport."

"I'm sure that can be arranged for a small fee," she said dryly "Now, you said you were going to lie down. I suggest you do that before you collapse and end up in the mud. I wouldn't recommend it."

"No." Luke drew himself up and with Mara's help walked to his cot. "I'll put myself into a healing trance," he said. "Watch and let me show you how it is done."

Mata rolled her eyes. "Ever the instructor, Skywalker." But she did as he requested. He subsided onto the bed, closed his eyes and then she felt him vanish – no, not vanish exactly. His presence had muted, switched onto what a droid might term 'standby mode'.

For a moment she watched him sleep, his eyelashes resting gently against his smooth cheeks. Her lips twisted and she shook her head. Her life would never be the same again now that she was beginning to know him. She lifted her hands and smoothed the hair on his forehead. It just felt like the natural thing to do and then, leaving him to his rest, she walked away towards the X-wing. Climbing up the ladder she peered into the cockpit and gasped. The whole instrument panel was twisted and buckled with the heat of the systems malfunction. There should have been no way that Skywalker should have been able to land the ship – no way at all. He could have died and how would she have felt about that? Mara didn't know but she thought that she might have been sorry. No, she would have been… devastated.

A glance into the engine told a similar story. This X-wing was history. "So I'm going to have a couple of passengers, am I, Artoo?" she asked the droid.

Artoo beeped an agreement. She wasn't so bad, really, once you overlooked her tendency to threaten.

19