Jade Shadow

Luke Skywalker woke up to find himself in bed with his wife, Mara. He could feel her warm body against his. Her red gold hair was sticking up all over the place, making her look as though she'd recently become acquainted with one of those glass lightning orbs. Luke found the look absolutely adorable. He looked into her jade eyes, gazed deep down into their irises, becoming lost in their forests of green fibers. Luke would be content to just lie here with her for an eternity. He allowed his eyes to close, and enjoyed her warmth.

Luke Skywalker woke up to find himself in bed alone. Mara was gone; no longer could he feel her body heat. He closed his eyes, hoping it would bring him out of this nightmare in which she wasn't with him. Hoping it would bring him back to her. But no. His beloved Mara was gone. Even after all these years it was still their bed, and not merely his. Their bed felt so empty. Luke still couldn't let her go. Yes, he'd lost other women he'd loved, but he'd never had a child with any of them.

How could Luke ever be with another woman? He thought back to that moment of weakness, not long ago, when he'd woken up from that vision, and had wanted Irisia in his bed... What the void was wrong with him? He couldn't betray Mara.

Luke needed to see Mara. There was a place he could find her, but he'd made a vow to himself never to return there. It would just be far too tempting to stay. What would happen if he did stay, in a place he didn't belong? But Luke knew Ben would come looking for him if he went too long without showing himself. His son could go under easily enough and tell Luke it was time for him to return to his body.

Confident that Ben would know what to do should the need arise, Luke closed his eyes and allowed his thoughts to drift. Silently he counted from one to seven, picturing each number in his mind, gradually untethering his spirit from his body. He opened his eyes after a moment to find himself standing on a soggy little piece of grassy land, one among many, within what seem to be an endless swampy bog. Off in the distance, in every direction, was a thick, impenetrable fog. This was the Lake of Apparitions, existing on a spiritual plane called Beyond Shadows, to which the souls of Force users went upon death.

Luke focused his thoughts on his murdered wife, with her beautiful face, and long red gold hair, and mentally reached out toward her. He looked around a bit, until he saw her, her pale form floating over to him from the distance. Mindful of the dangers of this realm, he warily made his way to Mara. He knelt down beside her, and caressed her cheek. Her skin felt cold and dead. "Hi, Mara," he said softly.

Mara's deep green eyes fluttered open. "Skywalker," she said warningly, "you know you shouldn't be here."

"I love you, too," Luke responded. "And I know I shouldn't be here, but I really needed to see you. Are you... alright?"

Mara's expression softened quite a bit at the desperation in her husband's voice. "Yes, I'm fine. It's a lot like sleeping and being awake at the same time." She was silent a moment, and then her expression became serious. "Something's happening... out there, Luke; I can feel it."

Luke raised a surprised eyebrow. "So you can feel that here. I had no idea that could happen."

"That makes two of us, Farm Boy," his wife said. Luke couldn't help but smile at the phrase 'Farm Boy'. He wanted desperately to hold her again... He slipped an arm under her back.

"Luke, what the Mustafar are you doing?" Mara demanded. "I don't think you should be doing this."

"I need this right now, Mara," Luke said, gently beginning to lift her. She seemed so weak, as though her body had atrophied from years of inactivity. But this wasn't an actual physical body.

"Go ahead, then," she said, strangely not sighing.

Luke got her into a seated position, and wrapped his arms around her. He couldn't feel her heart beating, or her chest rising and falling, from her breathing. Of course, she was dead, so it shouldn't have been a surprise. He kissed her lifeless lips, and then allowed her to sit back slightly. "That wasn't so bad, was it."

"No," she said, smiling. "It wasn't bad at all. But I know you didn't come all this way just for a snog. You know what's going on, so talk, Farm Boy."

"Well, let's see. The Celestials are back; they were hiding in another dimension. They're at war with a race, called the Terrans, that had been pretending to be them. And of course the whole galaxy's gotten tractor-beamed into it."

"Of course," Mara repeated.

Luke nodded. "Both species are almost perfectly balanced in the Force; apparently the dark side isn't evil. So this conflict is throwing the Force off balance. When the Force becomes unbalanced it apparently attracts the attention of something called the Anti-Force. And a faction of the Celestials decided to use an Anti-Force based weapon to attack a Sith fleet; we've actually been working with the Sith, and the Empire. It's pretty much everyone against those rogue Celestials, now."

"That's a lot to take in."

"I know."

"And I've never heard of the Anti-Force," Mara commented.

"Not even Yoda knew about that," Luke agreed.

"There's something else, isn't there, Skywalker," Mara said.

"There are so many things I want to tell you, Mara, but..." his voice faltered.

"What's her name, Luke?"

"How did you..."

"How did I know," Mara said. "You're my husband; I know you."

Luke laughed softly. "Right. Her name's Irisia. She's the Terrans' former Grand Admiral, in fact."

"You really know how to pick them, don't you?" Mara replied.

"I also really know how to screw things up."

"What did you do, Luke?"

His expression soured, and his wife frowned in return. "I murdered someone she loved... and then I tried to murder her..."

"Murder?" Mara asked. "That's a pretty strong word."

Luke sighed. "I know, but it's the right word. It's not an excuse, but this whole thing with the Force being unbalanced has brought something really dark out in me," he explained. "It's affected Irisia too, because she tried to murder me."

"It sure doesn't sound like you."

"But it is me." Luke was silent a moment, and so was Mara. "Despite everything we're still on... alright terms. But I just don't see how we..."

"You're afraid that it's too late to try and fix things."

"The man I murdered was like a brother to her," Luke responded.

"She might forgive you," Mara pointed out. "You'll never know unless you try. If it doesn't work out, and it makes things awkward between the two of you, then you'll just have to accept it. You need to go after this girl, Luke; you won't be cheating on me. You need to let me go, Skywalker. And the next time you show up here, you had bloody well better be dead. Or Force help me, I will find a way to follow you out of here, rematerialize, and behead you with your own blasted lightsaber. Got it?"

"Yes, I got it, my love. But can I kiss you one last time?"

"Only once," Mara said, with just a touch of sternness.

"Then I'll make it the longest one we've ever had." Luke sat his dead wife up, and kissed her for what seemed like an eternity. And after what wasn't nearly long enough, he laid her back down in the water and watched her float away, disappear. "Good bye, Mara."

Luke Skywalker woke up to find himself in bed alone. Mara was gone; no longer was she in his arms. He sighed, and sat up. Mara was right; as difficult as it was he needed to let her go, and move on. And he needed to go after Irisia, even if it didn't work out. He picked up his comlink and set it to the frequency of the comlink Admiral Bwua'tu had given Irisia.

"Master Skywalker?" asked Irisia's voice.

Luke suppressed a sigh at her rather impersonal greeting. "Hello, Irisia. I... needed to talk to you."

"I'm listening," she said tolerantly.

"How's Siffia been?"

"She's been sleeping most of the day," Irisia said, her tone softening. "Siffia can function enough to care for herself with her weapon on, but without it... Thank you for looking after her. You've been wonderful with her."

"I'm happy to help," Luke responded. None of that had been to win Irisia back; it had simply been the right thing to do. "She's a great kid."

"She is," Irisia agreed. "I sense there's more."

"Yes," Luke said slowly. He quietly blew out his breath. "I'm sorry... about Daedalus."

"He's still gone," Irisia pointed out, with an unexpected edge to her voice. She suddenly seemed like a different person. "But I appreciate your... apology."

Luke waited a moment for her to say something else. "There's one more thing," he said, hoping not to muff this part up. He sighed, bracing himself. "I know you said we could never be together, and I can accept that, but-"

"If that changes, I'll let you know," Irisia said, cutting him off, her tone a bit sharp.

"Alright, thank..." the line suddenly went dead; Irisia was, apparently, done talking. All things considered that had gone... decently. But she was really struggling emotionally.