OH MY GOSH I'M ALIVE!
Sorry guys I was on a vacation, otherwise this might have been posted sooner.
Annnyyyywwwwaaaaayyyyy
For the readers of the series with Zelina in them, they now have an overall name: Of Love and War. So if you see a chapter update that says Of Love and War: In The Thick Of Battle, etc etc, its the same story don't panic lol. I just finally figured out what to name the series instead of always calling it the Zelina Series.
For those Pieces of Destiny fans that are having a heart attack, I am here to give you some news on that story:
I HAVE WRITERS BLOCK!
That is why it hasn't gone much further. In all this time I only have one paragraph.
WHHHHHHYYYYYY?! (Because you know what you want to do but can't figure out how you want to do it you idiot) Oh right, that's why!
Now that I'm done talking to myself, here is my next chapter for TPMTF!
This story is turning out much longer than I expected. I hadn't realized how much material I gave myself for all the aftermath of everything that happened, though it's still nearing an end, I swear! THere's just A LOT of stuff to wrap up before we finish this story...
But I think we're HALFWAY THERE!
Possibly...
Now I'm just rambling, I'M SORRY!
Here's the story! I hope you didn't end up skipping this entire AN cause it was so long!
PLEASE REVIEW I LOVE THE REVIEWS AND IT DRIVES ME NUTS WHEN I DON'T GET MANY REVIEWS! By the way, to the Guest Review that went under the name of Cat...
I have to say, I loved your review! I was thinking about it all vacation, I was very flattered and I'm sure my cabin-mate wanted to strangle me cause I wouldn't shut up haha.
Anyway, I'm sorry, I just had a LOT OF SUGAR AND CHOCOLATE!
ENJOY!
Luke's eyelids fluttered open a few hours later and he simply lay there, staring at the bottom of the bunk above him. The ship was mostly quiet save for the sound of the engines running and the occasional sound of Chewbacca's growls that were often followed by Han's voice. Luke couldn't make out what the Falcon's captain was saying, but it was a familiar sound that Luke welcomed, and it allowed Luke to pretend for a few moments as if everything hadn't happened.
Of course, such childish hiding from reality ended as soon as his back ached painfully. Luke grimaced, reaching out a hand to brace himself against the pole on the bed as he gradually pulled himself up with a soft groan. His back was stiff and hurt so much he felt like a nexu was digging its many teeth into his back relentlessly. He couldn't wait to get it treated properly, perhaps with a bacta treatment. At this rate, he wouldn't care if he had to get dunked in a tank at this rate, sickly sweet aftertaste or not.
Once he found his way to his feet, Luke ambled slowly around the corner into the lounge room where his father was situated. Luke's gaze immediately fell on his father, who was lying prone in his bunk, one hand hanging over the edge, a datapad loosely clasped in his hand on his chest, mouth slightly agape, his breathing even. Even though he was fast asleep, his father still looked every bit his forty-six years at the moment, weighed down by his many worries and his hard life even in his sleep. It caused Luke's heart to ache to think that he was not one of the reasons why Anakin didn't sleep easily and it took great effort to push the guild to the side for a moment before he made his way to his father's bedside.
He watched the man sleep for a few moments, his mind wandering as he was temporarily lost in thought.
Is this one of the reasons why you weren't afraid that you were going to die back on the Death Star? Did you know that death would be better than the guilt that would follow you in life? Was it better for you that way to find peace in the Force right after you were 'redeemed' than to live on and try to make it all right?
As those kinds of thoughts continued to circulate around his mind, Luke continued to feel increasingly worse. He ran a hand tiredly down his face, trying to dispel an onslaught of memories ranging from his father's death on the Death Star, to the torture he had just escaped under Sidious, to his own foul deeds. Just as he had known they would—like Sidious had suggested they would—the faces of all those he had killed haunted his dreams last night. Their screams and pleas for mercy still echoed in his ears, and the hairs on the back of his neck still stood on end from how cold he had been. It had been like icy fire was burning him from the inside out, like the darkness had been suffocating him to slowly drain the life out of him; and he had been utterly at its mercy in his sleep, unable to ward off the dark that threatened to consume him.
It had been his family that had got him through the night; his family and friends. Luke desperately called to the front of his mind even now the faces and voices of his loved ones, letting the soothing memories wash over him. Aunt Beru taking care of him when he had been sick during his early years on Tatooine, his father holding him in a tight, comforting embrace after he'd woken from a rather terrifying nightmare, his sister fretting over his injured state on several different occasions, Han and Galen sneaking him out of the Jedi Temple one night to go see an underground pod race after he'd seen how gloomy Luke was that day, his mother tending to his injuries when he'd fallen out of a tree on Naboo…
Luke sat utterly still for a few moments, wrapping the memories around himself like a warm blanket before he brought himself back to the present. Tenderly, he touched Anakin's arm to wake the man. He was startled whenever Anakin's hand snapped up, grabbing Luke's wrist in a viselike grip despite his burned hand. Luke winced from the grip, jerking in shock from the unexpected action before Anakin flew up from his spot on the bunk, eyes wild.
"Father!" Luke exclaimed in alarm, breaking free of Anakin's subconscious grip. Anakin jumped at the sound of Luke's voice, halfway defensive before he finally came back to himself. He blinked owlishly, staring at Luke in a way that caused the younger man to shift uncomfortably. Anakin shook himself slightly, leaning against the side of the bunk as he finally relaxed.
"Luke…I'm sorry, I didn't realize it was you I was…" Anakin said in a rushed voice, trying to explain himself. Luke shook his head with a small wave of his hand.
"No, it's fine, I was just waking you to tell you that I think we're in Coruscant's system; the hyperdrive isn't running anymore."
Anakin stopped, straining his ears for a moment as he listened for the telltale hum of the hyperdrive that both Skywalker men could identify immediately. When he found that the sound was indeed absent, Anakin nodded slightly. "It sounds like it…" he said, already slowly easing himself out of his bunk. Luke, despite his own aching body, helped his father out of the bunk. "Did you sleep well?" Anakin asked in an attempt to be casual about the entire situation.
Luke didn't meet his eyes. "I slept."
Anakin sighed, straightening up to try and catch Luke's eyes. "Do you want to tell me why?" he asked, trying yet again to be nonchalant.
"Not particularly, no," Luke said in a bitter tone. Before Anakin could press the issue, Luke nodded towards the datapad. "What were you doing before you fell asleep?"
Anakin also became shifty, and suddenly it was Anakin who wasn't meeting Luke's eyes. "Nothing," he muttered, a dark edge coloring his tone. Luke glanced up at him, his eyes narrowing in suspicion.
"And by nothing you mean…?"
Anakin rolled his eyes. "You didn't tell me what kept you from sleeping well; why should I tell you what I was watching?"
Luke scowled, realizing his father was already back to being his Jedi Master whilst he was the Padawan receiving a lesson in honesty and trust from his father. "Fine. I kept having nightmares of all the people I killed and of the dark side; there, I told you. Now you have to tell me."
Anakin calmly met his son's impatient gaze, Luke's right eyebrow raised expectantly, his expression holding a hint of frustration and anger that was likely leftover from yesterday. Finally, he spoke in a soft voice, keeping all of his anger and anguish over what he had watched wrapped tightly together and shoved in a corner of his heart. "I watched that holodisk Sidious made of everything you went through."
Luke's expression morphed into a mixture of horror, guilt, and anger. "Why? Why would you watch that?"
Anakin shook his head. "Because I have the right to know what you went through. I want—no, I need to know."
Luke drew away almost immediately, shaking his head in denial. His breathing picked up sharply, and painful flashbacks were rising in terrible clarity to the front of his mind. "You shouldn't have watched that; it would be better that you didn't know," Luke said sharply, his voice raspy and raw with suffering.
Anakin gave a small growl of frustration, gently taking Luke's shoulders into a firm grip and forcing the youth to turn his tortured gaze to his father. "Luke; you're my son and I want to help you. But I can't help you if I don't know what you went through and if you don't let me in," Anakin said firmly, searching the blue eyes that reluctantly gazed back into his identical blue depths. He willed Luke to understand how much this was hurting him and how much he wanted to help the young man. When Luke said nothing, Anakin sighed and pulled Luke into a tight—yet gentle because of his back—hug, threading his fingers through his son's golden locks as he cradled the youth's head to his chest. "You've gone through so much more than anyone your age should go through; more than anyone should go through in their entire lifetime. I just want to do what I can to take some of that pain away," Anakin said gruffly.
Luke didn't fight his father's embrace, but allowed Anakin to pull him as tight to his chest as possible. He did his best to let his father's loving hold on him ease some of his pain, though he was sure that he wasn't going to be able to heal many of the deep scars that now marred Luke's soul. "Unless you can erase memories or turn back time there's not much that can be done about it," Luke said roughly into his father's tunic.
Anakin pulled back so he could look his son in the eyes. "Just know that you're not alone Luke; your family is here for you no matter what happens next. And I do know what you went through, so you can come to me about anything; you can tell me anything. I'm here to listen and to help, and I want you to talk to me."
Luke nodded, holding back some tears that Anakin's words had pulled out of him. "Thank you Father."
Anakin nodded, thinking for a moment. "I think there is something I can do about the nightmares too and make them go away...though you'll have to be open to me through the Force; you can't close yourself off."
Luke eyed him wearily but nodded slowly. "All right…I'd like that..."
Anakin smiled slightly at Luke before he tenderly ruffled his son's hair. "Now come on, let's go see how close to home we are."
Reluctantly, Luke let Anakin lead the way to the cockpit. He was kind of afraid to go back home. Going back home meant he was one step closer to facing the consequences for everything that he had done, and he didn't think he was ready for that. He wasn't sure if he'd ever be ready for it.
When they entered the cockpit, both Skywalkers were surprised to see that they had already broken the atmosphere of Coruscant and that Han was headed straight for 500 Republica through a heavy rain. Luke braced a hand against the back of the seat, making a point to avoid looking towards the Jedi Temple. He could sense the many lights that were the Jedi Masters there, and he prayed that they couldn't sense him too. Knowing his luck though, they probably already knew he was there; they'd probably sensed his arrival in the system. His grip tightened on the back of the chair and Han looked up at him while Anakin put a hand on Luke's shoulder to sooth the young man and Chewbacca woofed lightly in concern off to the side.
"Where's Leia?" Anakin asked before anything could be said.
"She's still asleep; she didn't get some rest until late last night, so I'd figured we could just let her sleep for a little while longer," Han responded hesitantly, breaking his gaze away from Luke and turning his attention back to flying. "We should be there any minute now."
"I'll go wake her," Anakin said abruptly, already turning to make his gradual way back down the hall. Luke didn't want to face the questions that would undoubtedly be thrown upon him whenever he was alone with Han or his sister, so he turned and followed Anakin out of the room. Instead of making his way with his father to the room Leia was bunked in, however, he turned and made his way down the hall towards the ramp, leaning against the wall in exhaustion as he waited for the ship to touch down and the ramp to lower. All he wanted right now was to be alone somewhere he could let everything out unseen and not have to worry about anyone else reacting to whatever happened when he finally let the floodgates open.
Luke tensed slightly whenever he felt the Falcon begin to lower onto the landing ramp of his home, his heart thudding painfully in his chest as his gaze riveted to the ramp in front of him. The last time he'd been here...
Oh...you better be careful. Make sure your father doesn't do anything stupid.
Mom, I'll be fine, don't worry.
You know I can't help but worry sometimes Luke.
We'll be back, I promise, his father had called.
Be safe!
Luke closed his eyes, swallowing the pain as his mother's last words to him and his father echoed in his mind. Tears leaked out of his eyes and he took a sharp, shaky breath. How he wished he could go back to that day, before everything went so terribly wrong and the only thing to worry about was the state everyone would be in whenever they all finally merged. He reached up and rubbed the tears from his eyes when he felt the ship touch down on the landing pad; he didn't want to be crying in front of everyone right now; that would only draw them to him and he needed to be alone right now, not smothered.
There was a sharp hissing sound and the ramp in front of him started to lower, the Falcon already powering down as Luke gingerly stepped to the top of the ramp. In the back of his mind he was aware of the face he still had no shirt but was instead still only in his black trousers, black boots, and the bandages wrapped around his chest. The bandages on his thigh were thankfully hidden by his trousers.
Once the ramp had lowered enough for his height, Luke started to ease his way down the ramp, keeping his gaze down so he wouldn't have to meet the eyes of anyone that was waiting for Anakin or the others to come, expecting them first instead of the fallen son. The only sound as Luke shuffled forward off of the ramp and onto the solid ground of his home was the sound of the Falcon powering down and the heavy ran on the landing pad in front of them.
Suddenly, a strangled cry pierced the air and Luke looked up sharply, his already soaked hair falling into his eyes and obscuring his vision on top of the water that streamed down his face from the sky. All he could see was a streak of light blue and brown, and he opened his arms instinctively moments before his mother threw herself at her son, sobbing uncontrollably as she wrapped her arms around him.
"Luke, Luke, my son, oh, my baby, my little boy!" she cried out against his shoulder. "It's really you! You're back, you're home, you're safe!"
She had him in such a tight hold that his back was screaming in agony, seizing up, but he didn't care. Everything he had been thinking just moments ago left his mind completely in that very moment. His tears mingled with the rain that was streaming down his face as he pulled his mother into an equally tight embrace, burying his face in the familiar crook of her shoulder, right at her collar. He allowed himself to cry then, his tears hidden by the rain and by his mother's trembling frame.
"I'm here Mother," he choked out. He found it hard to breathe through all the emotions that were rising inside of him, but he kept talking. "I'm here, I'm home...I'm here," he said again, as if he was assuring himself that he really was here to stay, like he couldn't believe it himself.
Padme sobbed harder, and Luke found himself comforting his mother just as much as her presence was comforting him, pulling emotions out of him he'd been trying to keep buried below. He blinked back tears, speaking in strangled tones. "I missed you," he sobbed. "I missed you so much..."
An exuberant bark off to their side surprised Luke, and he pulled back just in time to see the tuk'ata Anakin had picked up on Korriban attack his legs. Her ears were pricked up and her eyes shone a light side signifying blue as she stood on her hind legs, front paws braced against Luke's side. He smiled weakly, reaching out a hand to scratch behind the young tuk'ata's ears.
"Yes Nydri, I missed you too..." he murmured, smiling a little wider as her head leaned into the soothing motion. His mother turned his head at that moment back to face her, kissing his cheek several times and causing a blush to rise in Luke's face. "Mother..."
"Are you all right? What happened to your back? Where's your sister, your father?" Padme inquired, rattling off a million questions at once with an increasing pace that cause Luke to miss the questions after the first three.
Luke shook his head. "I'm fine, I'll be fine, it's nothing. Father's with Leia on the ship, she was sleeping when we arrived," he explained wearily.
"And Galen? Han? Chewbacca?" his mother asked in worry.
"They're fine, everyone's fine Mother," Luke assured her. Unfortunately, even he could hear how tired and emotionally drained he sounded. Padme searched her son's eyes, a comforting hand on his cheek.
"And you? How are you?" she asked, deeply concerned for his well being. Luke sighed, not meeting her gaze. The last thing he wanted to do was burden his mother with what was weighing him down. He smiled slightly, hugging his mother as tightly as he could.
"It doesn't matter; I'm home now," he whispered.
"Don't ever scare me like that again Luke Skywalker," Padme said quietly, deciding to let the matter slide for now. "I was afraid none of you were going to return..."
Luke felt tears prick at his eyes again. "I will always return mother...I promise you," he said softly.
Both of them stirred whenever they finally heard the sound of the others coming down the ramp, and Luke's mother gave him one more peck on the cheek before she rushed over to where Leia was helping Anakin down the ramp with Han and Chewbacca in tow.
"Anakin!" she exclaimed, throwing herself into Anakin's arms as she had just done with Luke. While husband and wife had a tearful reunion, Leia hurried over to her brother's side with Han and Chewy shadowing her.
"Are you all right, you don't need help with anything? You should probably rest and we'll need to properly treat your injuries as well as father's," Leia said in a hurried tone that matched their mother's. Luke waved her worry away.
"I'll be fine I've been walking around on my own since I got up," he said breezily, turning his attention back to the Falcon as the last two passengers disembarked the ship.
Galen stayed behind Mara as he led her down the ramp, and Luke was quick to gather that Galen and uncovered a pair of energy binders and had obviously put them on Mara. She kept her chin held high, trying to retain some sort of dignity despite the fact she was surrounded by people who knew all too well what she had done. Mara visibly shied away from Anakin, who shot her a murderous, warning glare as she passed him that caused Luke to subconsciously shiver. Before Galen and Mara could get much farther, Luke stepped forward.
"Take the binders off of her," he told Galen, holding Mara's gaze.
Anakin was quick to voice his opinion.
"No, leave them on," he said firmly, giving Luke a warning glance. Luke met his gaze, unafraid as he drew himself up to his full height.
"Take them off," he said sharply. When no one moved to do so, Luke stepped forward and, with a wave of his hand, released Mara of the binders. They clattered to the floor of the landing pad and Luke firmly but gently took her from Galen, one hand on her back and the other on her arm as he led her out of the rain and inside of the apartment without so much as a backwards glance.
The tension in the air was so thick it couldn't be cut by a lightsaber, though Leia was the first to speak.
"I've always known Luke was forgiving, but I thought perhaps even he had a limit," she said quietly, staring in the direction her brother had disappeared with Mara.
"If the kids not smart he's going to end up with a repeat," Han muttered.
"Oh, trust me, I won't let that happen again," Anakin said in a dangerous, acidic voice that riled Padme to immediate action.
"What am I missing?" Padme asked sharply, a hand on Anakin's arm as she prepared herself to reign in her husband's notorious temper.
"Oh, nothing much, just that Mara broke Luke's heart and soul in his darkest hour and even caused him to lose the will to live and give up while he was being held captive by Sidious," Anakin growled, spitting her name out with a hatred equal to when he said Sidious' name.
Padme raised an eyebrow at his outburst. "Oh really? Well, at least someone's compassion has stayed intact through all of this."
Anakin started slightly, obviously surprised over her initial reaction. The anger faded, giving way to confusion. "What are you talking about?"
Padme turned away from Anakin to face Galen. "Galen, you seem to be the one that's kept an eye on her; am I correct in assuming that?" When Galen nodded, she pressed on. "Has she seemed repentant of what she did? Truly sorry for it?"
Galen took no time in agreeing with her. "Yes, she definitely has," he said firmly.
Padme nodded, hands on her hips. "I thought so. And Luke seems to have accepted her apology, at least to a degree."
"But he shouldn't! There's nothing stopping her from hurting him like that again Padme, and I won't allow it! I won't let her get off without any punishment for what she did," Anakin said angrily. Padme cocked an eyebrow at her husband, a cool expression on her face.
"Oh trust me, I'm not too happy about what she did either, and I'm sure she'll get what's coming to her. On the other hand, maybe there's a lesson that you all could take from Luke like, I don't know, forgiveness? You all forget how much he cared for her and how divided she's been since the merge to the point that she might as well have been two different people for a certain amount of time. Luke seems to have accepted that she made a mistake and has already forgiven her, and I applaud him for it. This family knows better than anyone what hatred and grudges can do to a person and how important forgiveness can be, not only to the forgiver, but also to the forgiven."
"She doesn't deserve forgiveness," Anakin said hotly, bristling in obvious anger. Padme wasn't going to have it though, and her next words visibly cut deep.
"And you believed you did? Do you think Luke believes he does?" Anakin reeled back in shock at her words as if she had stabbed him with a lightsaber. Padme shook her head, water flying from off the tips of her brown locks. "I would have thought you, Anakin Skywalker, of all people, would have understood by now."
With that she turned on her heel and made her way into the apartment with a purpose. As she passed Leia she said, "Make sure he finds his way to our bedroom so I can clean him up. But first I'm going to let you all stew over that."
Leia nodded silently, feeling a pang of sympathy for Galen, Han, and Chewbacca who were standing awkwardly off to the side. Leia strode to her father, who stood stock still in the middle of the landing pad, the rain pouring off of his shoulder length hair. With the tenderness only a daughter could manage, Leia took his hand.
"Come on, let's get out of the rain," she said softly, relieved when Anakin gloomily complied.
Luke found himself leading Mara through the halls of his home and into his bedroom where he was sure she wouldn't be bothered. The door slid shut behind them and for a few moments the two of them stood there in silence, watching each other warily while they dripped water on the soft blue carpet. Mara was the first to speak once again, clearing her throat as if it would dispel the awkwardness.
"Thank you...for that..." she said haltingly.
Luke waved his hand dismissively—he'd been doing that a lot recently—before he spoke. "It was nothing. My father shouldn't be acting the way he is," he muttered, raking his hand through his soaked hair to get it out of his face. "Anyway, you can stay in here; you'll be out of everyone's way so they're less likely to run into you. That way there's not so much awkwardness and drama."
Mara looked around his room with an expert eye, and Luke shifted uncomfortably, blushing when her eyes fell on the holopic of his father and him, with the little Luke situated on his father's shoulders and both of them smiling ridiculous grins. His eyes stung and he looked away; with everything that had happened, he yearned to be that small and innocent again.
"I better go back," he muttered, already turning to leave.
"Wait," Mara said suddenly and he paused, eyebrows raised expectantly as he turned to face her again. She surprised him by gently taking his arm, and he had to refrain from shrinking from the contact like he had the last time. She hesitated before she spoke again. "Your bandages are bled through...if you'll let me I...I can fix your back up so you don't have to wrap it up again," she offered gently.
Luke stood there for a moment, simply staring at her in surprise. Memories rose—unbidden once again—to the front of his mind; images of being beaten and wounded in a dark, filthy cell with just this beautiful woman in front of him as his source of comfort, lying prone in her arms or on her lap as she healed the things that hurt him the most, easing away his pain a little at a time. Finally, he mutely nodded, easing himself onto his bed and bracing his hands on his knees.
Mara sat down gracefully beside him, cautiously finding the edge of the bandage before she carefully started to unwarp his torso. The bloody bandages fell to the floor, and the cold air against the exposed wounds caused him to shiver. It was out of his range of sight, but even though this was the second time she had seen his whipping wounds she still flinched at the sight.
Unexpectedly, Luke felt Mara place her hands on his back and he stiffened instinctively, shying away at first before he grit his teeth and stilled, allowing her to gently and slowly ease her hands onto his back. He sensed her reach out to the Force, and the next moment his skin and muscles were gradually gradually healed, seemingly stitching themselves back into flawless skin when in all reality it was the Force under Mara's careful manipulation. She slowly worked her way down his back, her fingers brushing lightly against his back as she made her way down. Everywhere she touched, relief soon followed, and he gradually wilted from relief as the pain was removed from him.
Finally, she drew her hands away. Instead of announcing that she was finished, however, she surprised Luke by suddenly erupting with a question that had obviously been burning inside of her for a while now.
"How?" she asked abruptly, causing Luke to turn to face her fully on the bed. She continued before he could even ask her to elaborate. "How can you not hate me for what I did to you? How are you able to forgive me? Why not hold a grudge like your father obviously is doing; you have more of a right to hold a grudge than he does, yet you don't!"
She'd stood up from the bed in her brief rant, and now stared down at him with a strange look of desperation and confusion on her face. Luke gazed calmly back up at her, feeling a little more like his old self as he answered her question to the best of his abilities.
"Holding that grudge is only going to make this all worse from me and hinder my progress back to the light side, and I don't need that extra weight," he said simply. His lips formed a serious frown before he added one more thing. "You're going to have to work to gain my trust again...but you do have my forgiveness."
Mara seemed shocked yet grateful at his words, and he could have sworn he saw thankful tears glisten in her eyes before she took a deep breath to get control over herself once more. "I...thank you Luke...you don't know...don't know how much that means to me."
Luke smiled wanly. "I think I have a pretty good idea."
Mara nodded rather vigorously before she looked away once more, choosing to stare at the model of a podracer on his dresser. "Is there any other injuries you have that I could help with?"
Luke blushed a little; the other one ran the outside length of his thigh. "Yeah..." he said slowly.
Mara smiled a little to herself at his expression. "Is it somewhere embarrassing farmboy?"
Luke's face heated up at the nickname, but he chose not to say anything about it. "It's on the outside of my thigh; it's really deep."
"I've got it," she said with a wave of her hand. "Just lie down. Is it on the left or right?"
"Left," he said hesitantly, complying with her command without even thinking about it. Mara sat beside him on his left, carefully peeling his trousers away and unwrapping the bandage to reveal the nasty lightsaber wound. She hissed at the sight of it, glancing up at him in worry.
"How have you even been able to walk?" she asked incredulously, her fingers fluttering over the wound as she gently inspected it. "I think I can see the bone!"
"Strength of will and the Force," Luke mumbled in response. He felt tired, and he allowed his eyelids to droop close as she gently placed her hand on his thigh, causing him to shiver involuntarily. There was a few moments of silence between the two as Mara healed his leg before she spoke again, so softly that Luke barely caught her words.
"Luke...You should know that...what happened down in...in those dungeons...not all of it was fake..." she whispered. She was almost done healing his wound; he could feel her fingers at the end of the gash close to his knee.
Luke was silent for several long moments, the words processing in his mind. Should he dare to hope that she meant those stolen kisses, those tender moments that he had thought professed volumes of a pure love? Should he trust that now she was telling the truth? He didn't feel comfortable trusting her so early, yet...something in the Force told him that her words were purely honest...and he could trust the Force. "That's good to know..." he finally said in a quiet voice.
"I just don't want you thinking that all of it was a lie, because it wasn't," Mara said, a little more confident with her words. He finally felt full relief in his leg as her fingers lifted from the exposed skin, her hands moving to readjust his trousers back into place.
"Well then I guess the question is which parts were a lie and which were the truth," Luke said, a hint of bitterness in his tone. There was no response, and Luke subconsciously tensed, his mind already trying to come up with a reason for why she hadn't replied. He cracked an eyelid open. "Mara?"
He gasped when suddenly he found the bed sinking on his right and Mara crashed her lips against his, cupping his left cheek in her hand. His first reaction was to relax into the kiss and cherish it, and he did just that for a split second before sense returned to him and he pulled away, propping himself up on his elbows as Mara retreated to the other edge of the bed, looking away in shame.
"I'm sorry, I just..." she sighed shaking her head. "I don't know what I was thinking, I shouldn't have done that."
Luke, flustered, stumbled slightly over his words. "No, it's fine, I just...I wasn't expecting it," he said breathlessly. "And I wasn't...I wasn't ready for it. I won't be fore quite a while," he admitted, sitting up fully and pulling a knee close to him.
Mara looked back up at him hesitantly before she looked away once again. "That's the part that was the truth..." she said softly.
Luke eyed her for a moment before he smiled just slightly. "I know."