Author Note: Ok, after WAY too long, I have finished this story! A couple of reviews asked about Mara since she just appeared without warning in the previous chapter. That was confusing; I was thinking that Luke and Leia met up with all the miscellaneous Emperor's Hands after Palpatine died since they are somewhat trained Force Sensitives and Luke fell for Mara, of course.
Dachat City
Dachat
2 years later
"Ladies and Gentlebeings!" Myrna Nullay said, shaking her auburn tresses dramatically. "It is truly my honor and pleasure to host today's preliminary episode of the upcoming season of the Galaxy's Next Supermodel! Today, I have the honor of introducing the judges who will be evaluating the various sentients who seek to win the coveted title of Galaxy Supermodel!"
She smiled brightly, displaying her white teeth, as the theme music began to play. A moment later, she relaxed her posture, knowing that for the next three minutes, viewers would be treated to a montage of winners from previous shows.
"Are you all right, my darling?" Prince Nullay of Dachat asked worriedly.
Myrna ran a hand over her slightly swollen belly and nodded at her husband. "I am well, Rin."
Her husband, who was dressed in the fluorescent green that so became him, smiled adoringly at her. Myrna smiled back, hardly able to believe her good fortune. When Prince Nullay had asked her to marry him some two years previously, she had agreed immediately. She really liked him a great deal, plus he was wealthy, kind, and a fashion icon. Myrna, while a moderately successful Holonet reporter, was having difficulty supporting her mother and handicapped sister, Elisa; Nullay had eagerly agreed to help care for her family, which lifted a huge metaphorical load off her shoulders.
Myrna had accepted, as a matter of course, that her own reporting career must come to an end, but that had proven not to be true. She had spent the first six months of marriage adjusting to royal life and her role as adoptive mother to her small nephew, Kail. The little boy was son to Prince Nullay's spice addict younger brother, and Kail's mother had tried to blow up Dachat or something. Myrna did not understand that at all. Why would someone want to blow up Dachat? It had something to do with politics and uranium mines but it was all too complicated. Nor did it matter. Somehow the attempt had been thwarted, and while her sister-in-law had disappeared without a trace, Kail had been retrieved from a random in-law and was doing well.
Myrna cast an adoring glance at her own torso. Her own baby would have a cousin to grow up with, which was delightful!
The bouncy, happy music ended and she turned on her smile again, facing the holocams at a slight angle, the better to show off the fashionable mole on her upper cheek. Her husband thought her mole was adorable!
"We have three new judges this season," she gushed aloud, "in addition to viewer favorite and fashion designer Ransome Quiltratz. It is my honor to introduce, first of all, my husband, Prince Rin Nullay of Dachat!"
There was a burst of fake applause, and the holocam focused on the spotlight as it wandered across the studio floor to the elaborate chair where her husband was sitting. She smiled at him, and he at her, for exactly fourteen seconds, and then she turned toward the main door of the studio, which swooshed open on cue.
"Last of all, but most definitely not least, we have the honor, the very great honor, of welcoming Emperor Luke Skywalker and his lovely wife, Empress Mara!"
Dramatic music blared out and the spotlight flitted over to the door, which was promptly occupied with the most famous couple in the entire galaxy. In spite of herself, Myrna allowed herself an ecstatic sigh; she loved her husband dearly, of course, but she had to admit that Emperor Luke was just too adorable for words! That dark blond hair! That cleft in the chin! Those blue eyes!
His wife, while not adorable, was equally eye catching. Mara Jade Skywalker was an exotic redhead with flowing locks and green eyes. The marriage of the Emperor to his lady had been the fashion event of the previous year, though admittedly the wedding of Princess Leia to the dashing Corellian, Han Solo, had been a close second!
Myrna knew, because she had studied the topic extensively, that when Luke Skywalker had burst like a supernova onto the galactic scene, the young man had been a fashion barbarian, prone to wandering around in dull black clothing and scratched boots. Fortunately, his twin sister and Ransome Quiltratz had taken the youth firmly in hand, transforming him into a fashion icon. He was currently dressed in a dark gray robe with silver boots and a long golden cape, and he looked fabulous. His wife, of course, had chosen to array herself in similar colors – her flaming hair was set off nicely by her golden dress and extensive silver train.
Together, they were incredible.
"I feel like a total idiot," Luke groused through the Force, smiling gamely at the holocams.
"It's for a good cause," Mara replied brightly, and flicked an irritable finger toward the producer's booth. The dramatic music sputtered to a quick halt and Myrna's delighted expression slipped as she shot an outraged look at the booth, where the technicians were waving their hands around in bewilderment.
Emperor Luke and Empress Mara, arm in arm, sauntered over to sit down on a krayt dragon leather couch, their faces expressive of their delight in being on a fashion show.
"Your Highnesses," Myrna gushed, "it is such a great honor to have you here tonight!"
"It is our pleasure and honor," the Emperor declared, his blue eyes meeting Myrna's reassuringly.
"I believe you know Ransome Quiltratz, your Highness?" Myrna simpered.
"Of course! I have Ransome to thank for my current level of sartorial sophistication," Luke replied solemnly.
"And this is my husband, Prince Rin Nullay!" Myrna continued with a coquettish glance.
"It is good to see you again, Prince Nullay," Luke responded.
The prince's eyes widened in confusion. "Again, your Highness?"
"Yes, we met two years ago," Luke reminded his fellow judge in a soothing tone. "When there was that ... incident, at the Dachat uranium facility."
Nullay's eyes popped wide in horror and he sputtered, "Of course, your Eminence, of course! I confess I had forgotten about that unfortunate event..."
"He isn't the brightest star in the galaxy, is he?" Mara commented to her husband.
"No, but he is mostly harmless..."
Myrna was entirely bewildered at this interchange, but she was professional. "Now, your Highnesses, I am certain we must address the rancor in the room; how can you, the leaders of the known galaxy, find the time to be judges on the Galaxy's Next Supermodel?"
"Well, Myrna," Luke said, his blue orbs fixing intently on her face, "it is simple enough. I'm entirely a figurehead and I don't actually do anything useful. My sister Leia and, to a lesser extent, my father, are actually running things on Coruscant. All those meetings, all that boring documentation, it so dull! No, I am quite content to have my family members do all the real work while I live out life as a fashion icon, married to the most beautiful woman in the entire galaxy."
The Emperor leaned over to plant a loving kiss on his wife's lips, causing Myrna to sigh sentimentally.
"Oh, that makes all the sense in the world, your Highness!" she exclaimed.
"What does not make sense," Ransome Quiltratz declared abruptly, "is your sister's commitment to that … other designer, Macklin Nebula. I mean no offense to the Empress, but Princess Leia Organa-Solo is her match in terms of beauty. It hurts my heart to see her dressed in boring white robes so much of the time!"
"Well, as to that, Designer Quiltratz," Mara explained, leaning forward earnestly, "you must understand that Macklin is a native of Delaya, the sister planet to lost Alderaan. For symbolic reasons, it is important for my sister-in-law to confine herself largely to the traditional clothing of Alderaanian royalty, and Macklin is truly gifted in designing her attire for such a role."
Based on the hideous frown adorning Ransome's brow, he was not impressed. Myrna hurried into speech, fearful of an altercation between the galaxy's foremost fashion designer and the galaxy's foremost ... persons.
"Well, I believe that it is time we moved onto the upcoming season of…"
Abruptly, the building shuddered, followed by an explosion at the rear of the studio, causing all but the Emperor and Empress to cry out in terror. The main lights in the room went out, though red emergency lighting switched on immediately. A moment later, the two exit doors in the back of the studio flung open and a phalanx of green clad men rushed into the room, led by a tall blonde lady waving an electropole, of all things.
"Mara?" Luke said aloud, rising swiftly to his feet, divesting himself of his ridiculous cloak, and lighting his green lightsaber in one smooth move.
"I'll protect them!" Mara called back, snatching the cloak with the Force and pulling Myrna Nullay toward her husband with one firm hand. "Here, wrap yourself in this cloak, both of you. It's blaster proof. Ransome, take my train and cover yourself up!"
Myrna was gibbering in terror both for herself and her unborn child, but she obediently grabbed the cloak and threw herself into Rin's arms; a moment later, she found herself spinning around, and within seconds, she and her husband were safely wrapped up like a Corellian brandy burrito.
Mara cast a rapid glance at Ransome, who was cowering under her train on the floor, and moved toward to deal with the attackers. Luke was dancing here and there, deflecting blaster bolts with his saber, throwing random minions against the walls and ceiling and generally wreaking havoc. Mara focused her attention on Catarine Nullay, whose blue eyes were wide with incredulous fury. She had lost the electropole at some point – probably because Luke yanked it from her – and now was waving a long bladed knife wildly.
Mara reached out with the Force and snatched the weapon from the woman, then lit her own purple saber. The woman's personal guards did their best, but they were no match for two Jedi. Within three minutes, the attackers were dead or immobilized, and Catarine Nullay was on the floor with a lightsaber blade at her throat.
Luke did one last sweep for danger and then shut down his saber.
"Please tell me the entire galaxy didn't see that," he commented, striding over to check on the non-combatants.
"The explosion knocked out the transmission," Mara assured, turning off her saber and leaning over to haul Catarine to her feet. "This is such a pleasure, Lady Catarine."
"It was a trap," the lady snarled, her eyes glowing with fury and fear.
"Of course it was," Luke Skywalker responded, calling a random cable to his hand. He wandered over and quickly tied the woman's hands behind her back, even as he addressed Prince Nullay. "Your Highness, can you call for medical assistance? Some of the attackers aren't dead, and I want them treated."
Rin was staring at his sister-in-law, so bewildered he could not move. "Catarine?"
"I'll call medical," Myrna assured the Emperor, though her voice was shaking.
"Catarine?" Rin repeated numbly, walking closer to the woman. "What are you doing here?"
"I think that's pretty obvious," Mara commented briskly. "Obviously, your memory isn't the greatest, but two years ago your sister-in-law plotted with the now deceased former Imperial governor to blow up the uranium stores on Dachat, which would in turn cast major aspersions on your ability to lead the planet, along with bumping up the price of uranium, which she had been storing up. Thanks to my husband's interference, that attempt failed. So now here she is, trying to kill or abduct the Emperor because she is, frankly, an ambitious idiot."
The woman in question literally began frothing at the lips. "You may have stopped me, but my men have infiltrated the main command center of the Imperial garrison and taken over the starfighter squadrons there. You will never leave this planet alive."
"You are so precious in a murderous way," Mara Jade Skywalker declared in obvious amusement. "Do you really think that Luke's father would allow his precious boy to use himself as bait and not come along on the mission?"
Lady Catarine did not pale, because she thought being very pale was beautiful, and so she used a lot of white makeup on her face, which made her look sick, not lovely, but with these words, her eyes flared wide and she gasped, "The Emperor's fath..."
The main door to the studio slid open and she cut herself off, turning in terror towards the two meter cyborg who strode menacingly into the room.
"Hey, Father!" Luke greeted him cheerily, "I assume everything is Ok?"
"Yes," Lord Vader rumbled, shifting closer to loom over his female prisoner. "We have captured the other leaders of this misbegotten plot. So, this is Lady Catarine, who would seek to capture or kill my son?"
The woman swayed and would have fallen if Luke hadn't grabbed her by the arm. "Now Father, don't go psycho on us. We set this whole thing up to draw in the military leadership who were planning a coup..."
"Do you mean to say?" Ransome Quiltratz interrupted in throbbing accents, "that you have no real interest in the Galaxy's Next Supermodel?"
Luke turned an apologetic gaze on his personal designer. "I'm sorry, but no, I don't. I mean, when all is said and done, I'm just a desert farmboy from the back end of the Outer Rim."
"And I love you for it," Mara breathed, wafting forward to place a passionate kiss on her husband's lips.
Myrna was caught between the beautiful moment and great sadness the smooching wasn't being caught by the holocams. It was the sort of thing that would have boosted ratings into the stratosphere. Oh well.
/
Leia's Official Quarters
Imperial Palace
Coruscant
Leia Organa Solo gazed mournfully into the mirror in the refresher and groaned aloud. She looked terrible and felt terrible. Pregnancy was no doubt exciting, but so far weeks 8 through 11 were proving more or less miserable, but mostly more.
Using the Force, she splashed her face with water, which perked her up just a little, and wandered out of the refresher and back into her office. She was so tired. She would just finish this one last report and...
"Mon!" she commented in some surprise, and sank thankfully back into her chair. "How are you?"
Mon Mothma, the leader of the Rebel Alliance, had been looking worried and now she looked slightly panicked. "Are you ... well, Leia?"
"No," her young friend said irascibly. "I am not well. I feel horrible. I mean, I'm not throwing up except when I get up in the morning, but this is truly dreadful. I am so tired, and my favorite foods are disgusting, and..."
"Oh!" Mon interrupted. "My dear, I did not realize..."
"That I'm pregnant? Yes. Han and I are delighted, of course, but so far it has been rough going. But enough complaining from me. What can I do for you?"
The Chandrilan woman hesitated, her eyes straying briefly to the dark, silent holoscreen mounted on the wall. "Have you spoken to your brother recently?"
"No," Leia said calmly, taking a careful sip of tea and grimacing at the taste. Usually she loved Deychin tea but right now it tasted disgusting. "But don't worry, he's fine. The operation was a success."
Now her mentor was frowning in confusion. "What operation?"
"Luke went to Dachat to act as bait because a bunch of individuals, headed by Lady Catarine of Ord Minit, have been plotting a coup. Naturally when Luke and Mara showed up supposedly unprotected, in their playboy and consort personas, Catarine sprung her trap. Luke and Mara and Vader took them down with ease."
"And you know this how?"
"Oh, I just know," Leia responded, tapping her chest. "I always know if Luke is Ok. I can tell he is happy with how things are going even if we haven't actually chatted. He's probably busy keeping Vader from going crazy; the man has major issues where Luke's safety is concerned."
"Just Luke's?" Mon asked, relaxing in relief. When she had seen the broken holotransmission which seemed to show Luke Skywalker captured, she had been thoroughly alarmed. But no, apparently the Imperial family had the situation under control.
"He's concerned about me too," Leia admitted, "and the baby. I had to promise to stick to the palace until he gets back because you know, someone might try to snatch me or something stupid."
Mothma smiled at her younger friend. "I suppose that if Vader has to be obsessive about someone's safety, it might as well be his son and daughter."
Leia smiled in return and turned to gaze out the window at Coruscant, which was, thanks to the local weather authority, enjoying a pleasant sunny day. "Yes, I totally agree. All things considered, our family life, and the fate of the galaxy, have turned out as well as can be expected."
The End
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Author Note: If you're interested, I'm in the processing of finishing up my latest Pride & Prejudice story, The Golden Daffodil, also here on Fanfiction. Check it out! :-)