by Angela Jade
Rated - PG-13
Spoilers - 'Vision of the Future' by Timothy Zahn
e-mail - angela@yavin4.free-online.co.uk - constructive criticism and happy thoughts greatly appreciated, or just tell me you hate it.
Feel free to post these stories wherever, as long as it's got this spiel at the top.
Disclaimer - all these characters belong to Mr. Lucas (all hail) and Mr. Zahn (yay!). I write about them as a form of flattery - please don't sue. I am not making any money from this.
This fanfic is set during 'Vision of the Future' by Timothy Zahn - if you haven't read said novel, this will make zero sense, so get your butt down to the library/bookstore now.
I'm a fan of the Bantam novels. Honest. And I'm not usually one to criticise (much), but in many of the books Mara and Luke met briefly, said one or two lines (if that), then wandered off in different directions to do their own thing. Then suddenly *wham* - they fall in love ten years after they met. I've added to and rewritten chunks of some of the other EU novels, including the Corellian trilogy and 'Specter of the Past'; this follows on from those. Now I'm taking a peek at 'Vision of the Future', commonly regarded as THE Luke-and-Mara novel. And I'll tell everyone now that it is my favourite, even tho' I'm changing a few bits. I just wish the progression of Luke and Mara's relationship from barely friends to getting engaged had been a little slower, more 'obvious'.
Apology - sorry Tim - I really like your work, but the plot-bunnies around here have big teeth and a vicious streak - they just wouldn't leave me alone. (Like Timothy Zahn's ever going to read this?! Sheesh!)
Dedication - to Sheyla, the originator of my favourite description of VotF - "Luke/Mara instant romance - just add crisis"
Chapter 7 - (between chapter 10 [cave full of things with long tongues] and chapter 15 [cortosis ore archway] of 'Vision of the Future' there is a gap of four days. FOUR DAYS! Well, maybe it went something like this...)
They'd made the decision first thing to continue running on Coruscant time, since days and nights in the caves would be indistinguishable anyway. As they plodded through the semi-darkness, Mara noticed Luke glancing occasionally at his chrono; no doubt he could think of a million places he'd rather be.
It felt odd to Mara to be spending so much time with Luke. Most of their meetings in recent years had lasted a few hours at most; now they were faced with the prospect of spending days with only each other for company. She wondered if Luke felt as uncomfortable with that as she did. Looking across at him, she was annoyed to see him checking his chrono again.
"Are you in a hurry, Skywalker?"
He grinned at her, embarrassed. "No more than usual. Actually, I'm hungry."
"We've been walking for hours..."
"Only three," he corrected.
"Three counts as 'hours'. I need a break."
"We could eat while we walk," suggested Luke.
"I didn't say I needed to eat," replied Mara. "I said I wanted a break."
Luke didn't reply. The light from his glowrod swung around the dark, rocky passageway they were in and stopped on a small group of boulders a few meters further along. "How's that?"
"Perfect," said Mara, picking up the pace a little at the sight of somewhere to rest. Choosing one of the smaller rocks, she heaved her pack off her back with an audible sigh and stretched the muscles in her back before she sat down.
Luke smiled as he dropped his own pack beside the rock opposite, kneeling down to examine the contents. "And now we can eat." He looked at the ration bars he pulled out of his pack with distaste. "You'd think in this day and age that they'd come up with something a bit more tasty."
Mara pulled out her water-bottle. "It's the perfect food. Protein, vitamins, carbohydrates - what more could you want?"
Luke grimaced at her. "Flavor?"
Mara laughed. "What flavor? You're from Tatooine; I always figured you wouldn't know decent food if it fell on you."
"Dewback's tasty. And we grew vegetables."
"You could actually get stuff to grow on that dustball?"
He ignored her snide comment as he leaned back against the wall, his memories speeding back to his childhood. "Yeah, we grew varokeets, senats, lots of stuff. Harvest was hard - we had to get everything picked in about three weeks. But it tasted wonderful." He looked at the ration bar in his hand disdainfully. "A million times better than this."
Mara took a long swig from her water-bottle. "I was brought up to be able to tell the difference between more than forty different types of wine. I've eaten h'nrucko, knid, and draani..."
"Those are extinct!"
"Precisely. But I also had survival training where I lived on stuff like this. Just don't think about it." She winked at him. "Actually, the knid tasted damn good."
"What's the weirdest thing you've ever eaten?" asked Luke, taking a bite of his ration bar.
"Roast Ewok."
He suddenly stopped chewing and stared at her, his eyes wide. "You're kidding."
Mara couldn't keep her face straight any longer, and grinned widely. "Of course I'm kidding. Gods, Skywalker, you are so gullible."
He shook his head, a smile tugging at his lips. "Maybe it's just that your reputation precedes you. There are plenty of people in the galaxy that wouldn't put it past you to start eating sentients."
"And it's a reputation I'm happy to keep if it means I get more respect out of my crew than you get from your students."
He sighed. "That's very close to the dark side, Mara."
She took another pull of water. "I don't think it is. The dark side would be cooking one of the furry little beasts, eating it, enjoying it, then bragging about it afterwards. If other people have misinterpreted my personality, that's their problem, not mine."
"You could correct them."
"As I said, it's their problem. It's not up to me to go around telling everyone what they should think. That's the beauty of free will." She pulled a ration bar from her own pack and tore open the packaging, staring at it for a moment, as if trying to decide if it was worth eating or not. "So what's the weirdest thing you've ever eaten, Skywalker?"
When he didn't immediately reply, she looked up; he was staring at a spot on the wall opposite, obviously reminiscing again. "Yoda's stew."
"Yoda? The little green guy that lived on Dagobah?" Mara nodded. "You told me about him, but you never mentioned he could cook."
Luke smiled as his eyes met hers. "I'm not sure 'cook' is the word I would use. He gave me the stuff the first time I met him, before I even knew who he was. Tasted revolting, and after a couple of days of it, I thought it might be some sort of test, to prove my loyalty, endurance, willingness ... I dunno."
Mara grinned. "But you found out otherwise?"
He grinned sheepishly. "Yeah. He actually liked the stuff. Even taught me how to make it."
"And?"
Luke rolled his eyes. "Let's see. Take one swamp snake and beat it to death with a gimer stick. Throw it in a pot with a heap of vegetable matter; anything, as long as it's edible. Boil it until every last vitamin gives in. That's it."
"And you're complaining about ration bars when you had to live on that!" exclaimed Mara, incredulously.
"Hey, at least it tasted of something." He waved his half-eaten ration bar at her. "More than can be said for this."
Mara watched him in silence for a moment as she munched on her bar. "Dagobah. That's where you first trained, right?"
Luke nodded, swallowing. "I got the basics from Ben, but Yoda was the only one left who could teach me, once Ben was gone."
"So, with the benefit of hindsight, how complete was the training you got there?"
Luke frowned at her, but could detect no sarcasm, only genuine curiosity. "Complete enough to do the job I had to do." He saw the twitch in her lips and somehow knew she was fighting the urge to comment that his job seemed to be saving the galaxy. The fact that she managed to refrain from sarcasm implied a definite improvement in her self-control. He shrugged. "Not complete enough, in that I still had a lot to learn. Still have a lot to learn," he corrected himself.
"Did he train you in lightsaber techniques?"
"Yes. Next question."
She grinned at him. "Is everything you have ever said about him true?"
"Yes."
Mara leaned forward, her eyes twinkling. "Even the bit about not recognising him when you first met?"
Luke couldn't stop his own smile. "Guilty as charged. I don't know exactly what I expected a Jedi Master to look like, but he definitely wasn't it."
"And you couldn't sense him at all?" asked Mara incredulously.
"Not in the slightest," replied Luke. "But, then, he'd had twenty years of experience shielding himself from the Emperor, and I couldn't even sense Leia was my twin when she was standing right next to me."
"I wish I could have met him."
"So do I. I would love to see what Yoda would have made of you."
Mara stifled a laugh, and sipped at her water, watching Luke slip back into reverie.
He sighed, his eyes cast downwards. "I went back to Dagobah after we rescued Han from Jabba's, so I could finish my training. Instead, I found Master Yoda on his deathbed. He just faded away in front of my eyes."
Mara's quiet voice broke through his thoughts. "You loved him, didn't you."
His piercing gaze met hers. "Of course," he replied simply. "He was the only other Jedi in the galaxy, and he obviously cared about me. That must have been so difficult for him, knowing that my father had killed so many of his friends, had caused so much suffering. Yet he took me in, treated me like a son, and trained me to do the things he knew I would have to do."
"I'm sure he did care about you, Luke." She struggled to keep a smile from her face. "You're an easy person to care about."
The slight smile on her lips chased away the sad thoughts in his head. "What do you mean?"
Mara shrugged. "I didn't know you then, but you've always struck me as kind and thoughtful and generous. You care about everyone else so much that it makes people care about you. The only beings that don't care about you are the ones who see you and what you stand for as a threat."
"Thanks, Mara." He rested his chin on his hand. "Lots of people care about you too, you know."
"Hardly lots," snorted Mara. "Karrde. Faughn and few other crew-members." She smiled. "Corran, on the odd occasion we actually see each other."
"I care."
She tilted her head on one side, regarding him with a smile. "Yes, I know. And thanks. I've never been exactly inundated with friends, but you've always been there for me." She paused for a long moment, watching him as he re-packed his pack. "Luke, why did you come after me? I would have thought Karrde would have insisted on sending some of his own people to find me."
"Please don't ask me to explain just yet," replied Luke, his head bowed over his pack as he refused to meet her eyes. "Let's just figure out what's going on in this fortress, then we can decide what to do."
"Getting the hell out of here sounds like a good idea to me, Skywalker."
His reply had almost made it from his brain to his mouth when he was distracted by a familiar high-pitched tootling, accompanied by the gentle sound of Qom Jha wings. He smiled at Mara as he hoisted his pack onto his back. "Artoo's caught up, so I guess it's time to move again."
Mara blew out a sigh as she settled her own pack onto her shoulders. "Fine. Let's go. The quicker we're out of these blasted tunnels, the better."
"Have you had enough of a break?" asked Luke, the corners of his mouth tilting up slightly.
"Yes." Mara fought her own smile as she took a step closer to him. "Have you had enough to eat, Jedi?"
He nodded, his grin showing in the light of the glowrod. "For now."
Mara shook her head as they started walking along the rocky tunnel side by side. "I don't know where you put it all, Skywalker. Every time I see you, you're eating like a starved bantha, yet you don't get fat."
"Nice of you to notice, Mara."
"How could anyone not notice the amount you eat? If you're not eating, you're talking about it."
"Are you saying I'm obsessed with food?"
"I didn't say that, Skywalker. Although now you mention it..."
"I exercise a lot, okay! And using the Force probably uses up a lot of energy. You should see the food bill for the Academy."
Artoo watched the infra-red forms of the two humans as they walked away from him again, their glowrods shining brightly off the tunnel floor and walls. Once they turned a corner, he let out a low moan of concern at being left behind again, although he found it reassuring that he could still hear them bantering. His master had explained to him about the need for haste and had promised not to go too far ahead, but that didn't mean the little droid had to like the idea. He also suspected that if Mara Jade hadn't been there to keep Luke company, the Jedi Master would have spent more time with his faithful droid. Jealousy, of course, was not in the astromech's programming. Whistling gently to himself, Artoo moved a little faster, wondering whether he should mention the unusual sparking in his logic circuits every time he thought about Master Trader Jade.
********************
The following 'day' found Mara heartily sick of trudging through the dark, winding passageways. She'd lived in the dark for fifteen days; she had hoped to at least see some daylight at the end of it. But no, here she was, still in darkness, following Skywalker on some damn fool mission. Again. She was hot and dusty, and mildly embarrassed that she wasn't as fit as she used to be. She glanced ahead at Luke, walking and chatting with the Qom Jha as if he didn't have a care in the world. He didn't even look tired; obviously he'd been doing more than just meditating on that jungle moon of his.
Suddenly he stopped and turned to face her, the Qom Jha settling on the ceiling around him. "How's your water bottle?"
"Fine, thank you. How's yours?"
He almost smiled at her lame attempt at humor. "Apparently, we can take a slight detour here and we'll cross the stream again. If we need water."
Mara nodded enthusiastically. "We need water. Let's detour."
The three Qom Jha abruptly dropped from their perches; one returned the way they had come, presumably to guide Artoo and Child of Winds, one flew on ahead and took a sharp left turn, and the third, Splitter of Stones, continued to fly slowly beside Luke.
They heard the sound of running water long before they could see it, echoing through the caves. Turning a corner, Mara grinned in delight when her glowrod caught the sparkling stream in its light. "I never thought I'd be so happy to see a cold river." She dropped her pack near a wall and fished out her water bottle, draining it thirstily before she refilled it.
"I didn't realise you were so thirsty," commented Luke, dropping his pack next to hers.
"Never mind how thirsty I am," replied Mara, as she continued to rummage in her pack. "I need a wash." Triumphantly she pulled out her bottle of cleanser.
"A wash?" Luke paused with his water bottle mid-way to his lips.
"Yes, Skywalker. A wash. I feel dirty and dusty, and I'll make better time once I feel clean again." She indicated the corner they had just turned. "You can either wait round there, or turn off the glowrods. Either way, I'm going to bathe."
"No, it's an excellent idea, Mara. I could do with a good wash myself." He squatted next to the stream to fill his water bottle, then pulled a couple of ration bars from his pack, before retreating back around the corner. "Let me know when you're done."
Mara watched him go, then looked at the glowrod in her hand, trying to decide if she wanted to turn it off or not. Really, she should leave it on; there was no way Luke would peek at her while she was bathing. Great exalted Jedi Master, and all that. And she certainly couldn't afford to trip over some rock in the dark and injure herself. In the end, she turned it down to its lowest level and set it carefully on the ground, before stripping off her jumpsuit and stepping gingerly into the cold water.
Luke sat with his back against the cold rock wall, studiously ignoring the splashing noises coming from a few meters away. As he chewed a mouthful of ration bar, he noticed the two Qom Jha regarding him solemnly from their ceiling perches. "Why don't you two go help guide Artoo. Mara and I aren't going anywhere for a while."
They chirped an affirmative, then flew steadily back down the passageway, leaving Luke with nothing to look at but the opposite wall. And nothing to listen to but Mara's complaints about the temperature of the water.
"Ow!" yelled Mara when she scraped her leg against a rock, her voice echoing round the cavern.
Luke couldn't help his reaction. He whirled round onto his hands and knees, Force-enhancing his night-vision as he tried to see if Mara was hurt. When he saw her standing naked in the shallow water, her back to him as she rubbed her scraped knee, his breath caught in his throat. The gentle light from the glowrod reflected off her pale, damp skin, sparkling off the tiny droplets of water that ran down her back and legs. He realised what he was doing was wrong at about the same time as he realised his jaw was hanging open. He dragged his eyes from the beautiful vision before him and sat back down in the spot he had previously occupied. Taking a couple of deep breaths, he forced calm and control into his voice. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, just banged my leg. Stupid rock."
Luke barely heard her reply over the pounding of his heart. He swallowed once, twice, then closed his eyes and tried to calm himself. They immediately snapped open again, as he realised Mara's nude body had been etched onto his retinas. He pulled his knees up to his chest and hugged himself - what was going on? It was Mara, for goodness' sake - friend, confidante, sometime-student. Not someone he should be drooling over like a love-sick Falleen.
Luke turned his glowrod up a little and sat staring at the opposite wall, examining every lump and crevice, anything to take his mind off the sound of running water; and the person standing in the running water. Callista had had this effect on him; wet or dry, her body... He frowned, suddenly realising that he could no longer picture Callista's body. When had that happened? Sure, it had been six years since he'd seen her, since he'd held her in his arms; six years since he'd waved goodbye to the love of his life. But she'd been such a big part of his life, even for a relatively short time; surely he shouldn't forget what she looked like so soon.
He rubbed his eyes with his knuckles; he couldn't feel the same way about Mara as he had about Callista. He wouldn't even entertain the thought. They had a fragile friendship at best, but it was a friendship Luke valued highly enough that he didn't want to put it at risk. To admit to his voyeurism would be suicide, so he hid that particular memory deep inside his brain. Way deep. So deep he would have difficulty finding it himself. But it was there.
"Are you okay, Skywalker?"
Luke jumped at the sound of her voice, his back scraping against the cave wall. "Yeah, sure." He looked up at her as she loomed over him, pulling her fingers raggedly through her damp hair. "Mind on another planet, I think." He tried to concentrate on the fact that she was now dressed. He failed.
"Looks like it." Mara felt slightly irritated, at herself as well as him. If she hadn't gotten herself into this mess, they would both be on different planets. "Your turn. If you stand at the far end, there's enough of a breeze to dry yourself."
Luke nodded, afraid to say anything in case he gave himself away, then scurried off towards the stream.
Mara looked down to see an unopened ration bar, and frowned to herself. Something had put Luke Skywalker off his food - this was worrying. Perhaps the galaxy truly was in danger. She settled herself against the spot on the wall Luke had just vacated and reached for the ration bar, tearing it open with her teeth. He had something on his mind, something that was making him anxious, something she should probably know about. She leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes, pulling the Force towards herself. Reaching out tentatively, she tried to touch Luke's mind, convincing herself that finding out what was worrying him concerned her and their mission. All she could sense was his shock at the low water temperature, followed by his immediate suppression of discomfort. Nothing else.
Glaring at the ration bar as if it had been the cause of her lack of ability to read his mind, Mara took a long drink from her water bottle. She didn't like secrets, especially when they concerned her, and Skywalker was definitely holding something back. Skywalker. Why couldn't she figure him out? One minute he was the self-proclaimed Jedi Master, harrying her to give up the life she knew in order to become a Jedi Knight. The next minute, he was her best friend, just farmboy Luke sharing a meal or chatting about the past. Then ... well, then she didn't see him for months on end.
Once or twice, someone had suggested that there was more to their relationship than just a platonic friendship; Mara had always laughed at the suggestion. But these days she wasn't one hundred percent convinced of her own certainty. Was she attracted to him? No. It couldn't happen. She wouldn't let it, wouldn't let herself be controlled by another person.
Mara took a deep breath and set down her water and half-eaten ration bar. There was one sure-fire way to prove that she wasn't attracted to him. As quietly as she could, she stood up and peeped round the corner.
Squinting slightly in the dim light, she could just about make out Luke's form as he stood in the stream, the water sloshing around his calves. His back was towards her, and Mara felt all the breath leave her body as she watched the muscles in his arms and shoulders moving rhythmically as he washed his hair. Suds ran down his neck and back towards his...
Mara quickly moved back round the corner and flattened herself against the wall, her chest heaving as she tried to swallow the lump that had formed in her throat. Oh, boy - Skywalker had been keeping in shape! Her eyes scanned the rocky ceiling as she fought to bring her breathing under some semblance of control. Okay, so physically she found him attractive; that didn't mean a thing, it just implied she had been without a man for too long. Didn't it? She slid down the wall and reached for her water bottle, annoyed at the betrayal of her body over her mind. She'd always been a passionate person but, like every other aspect of her life, she had managed to keep it strictly under control. The few affairs she had allowed herself to have had been anonymous, wild, and brief, but she had always, always been in control.
She pulled up her knees and balanced her arms on them. She wouldn't even contemplate an affair with Skywalker, not for a minute. Apart from anything else, she was sure he'd run like a scared vrennit if she ever came on to him. She closed her eyes and dropped her head onto her arms. Why did life have to be so complicated?
It was several minutes before she sensed Luke returning; her head snapped up and she systematically filed away all the confusing thoughts she'd been having about him. There would be time to sort out her feelings for him later, if she even had any feelings. Right now she had the prospect of spending days in his company, and if he got the slightest inkling of what was going on in her mind, it would make the rest of the mission very uncomfortable indeed.
"That's better," said Luke as he came back round the corner, running his fingers back through his hair. Yes, the freezing cold water had helped calm him down and he now felt able to face Mara again. "I'm glad you suggested stopping to clean up."
"Uh-huh." Mara didn't sound convinced, even to her own ears. She watched as Luke carefully picked a spot as far away from her as he could and sat down. For once, she was glad of the distance between them. "Any sign of your droid yet?"
Luke shone his glowrod back up the tunnel for a moment. "Not yet. I'm sure he'll catch up soon."
Mara nodded, carefully examining what was left of her ration bar before popping it in her mouth. "Do we have any idea how much longer we're going to be in these tunnels?"
"A day or two, according to the Qom Jha. Although I don't know how accurate that is."
They lapsed into an uncomfortable silence, deep in thought, avoiding each others' gaze. Both were extremely relieved when the sound of beating wings heralded the arrival of Artoo and their guides.
********************
The third day of their 'mission' proved to be even slower going than the previous two. The relatively smooth tunnel floor had become an obstacle course, strewn with boulders of every size, with the odd pit or chasm thrown in for good measure. Luke had taken to following behind Artoo, helping the little astromech whenever he needed it.
"Taking the droid along better be worth it," commented Mara for the umpteenth time.
Luke just shrugged as he helped Artoo over a pile of rubble onto the smooth floor beyond. "I don't think we'd make much better time without him, to be honest."
"Maybe. Maybe not." Mara watched as Artoo trundled off towards the next obstacle.
"I just have the feeling that we'll need him."
"I know. Jedi hunch. You said before." Mara sighed. "Doesn't mean I have to like it."
Luke's reply was cut off as an electronic scream assaulted their ears. Quick as a flash, he closed his eyes and stretched out his arm, instantly pinpointing Artoo's position as he fell down a deep chasm and grabbing him with the Force. The scream slowly died away as Luke started raising him back to the surface, and Mara raced over to the edge.
"Did you manage to catch him?" she asked anxiously, peering down into the dark fissure.
"I think so," he replied, his voice sounding strained. "Can you see him yet?"
Mara shone her glowrod down the hole, finally spotting a reflection of the astromech's shiny dome. "Got him. He's a helluva long way down, though." She watched as the reflection moved closer, then frowned as it suddenly stopped. Mara turned enquiringly to Luke.
"Sithspit! He's stuck!" A trickle of sweat wound its way down Luke's cheek and the sinews and muscles on his arm stood out as he struggled to keep a hold on Artoo.
"Good old Force," muttered Mara as she sped back to Luke's pack and yanked out the length of synthrope. She quickly tied one end firmly around her waist and the other round a good-sized boulder a couple of meters away.
Luke opened one eye. "What are you doing?"
"What does it look like, Skywalker," said Mara, walking towards the edge. "I'm going to climb down and free the droid. When I yell, you lift him up."
"Don't fall, Mara."
"I'll try to remember that," said Mara with a wink. She lowered herself over the edge and started to climb down, hoping the rope was long enough.
Luckily, the craggy surface supplied plenty of hand and foot holds, and it wasn't too long before she reached Artoo. "It's one of his foot-cables. It got caught on an outcrop," she shouted. Mara quickly freed the cable from the offending piece of rock. "That's it, Luke. Take him up." The droid immediately shot upwards and Mara renewed her grip on the rock face, starting the slow climb up.
"You need any help?"
Mara looked up to see Luke grinning at her over the edge of the chasm. "No levitation, thanks, but you could pull up the excess rope." Even as she spoke, the rock under her right foot crumbled and she was suddenly falling back the way she had so laboriously climbed. Her breath left her with a whoosh as the rope snapped taught, bruising her waist.
Luke's arm-muscles felt the strain once more as he held on to the rope, his feet planted firmly on the floor. "You okay, Mara?" The string of curses that floated up out of the hole reassured him that she had survived relatively uninjured, and he started pulling on the rope.
"Hold it, Skywalker!"
Luke stopped immediately, wrapping the rope round his forearm a second time to ensure it didn't slip. He felt some movement on the rope, then it went slightly slack. "Mara!"
"I'm fine. Just let me climb up. It's more comfortable than you yanking me there."
Luke smiled, wondering if the irritation in her voice was aimed at him or at herself. He slowly pulled up the rope, trying not to pull it too taught. A grin split his face when he saw the top of her head appear at the edge of the hole and he rushed forwards to help her up.
Mara reached up and grabbed his extended arm, relieved that she was finally at the top; Luke's firm grip almost wrenched her arm out of its socket as he pulled her clear.
"Thanks." The word was hardly out of her mouth when she stumbled on a small rock, her legs still shaky from the climb.
Luke caught her as she pitched forwards, automatically seizing her waist as she grabbed his arms. "Are you sure you're okay?"
Her head slowly tilted upwards and her eyes met his as she slowed her breathing. "I'm fine, Luke. Just a bit dizzy."
His blue eyes twinkled as the concerned look on his face slowly changed into a smile. She must be dizzy; she hardly ever called him by his first name. "Thanks for saving Artoo."
Mara noticed that his hands continued to steady her, and for the first time in her life, she didn't feel the urge to shove him away. "You're both welcome. I guess I must be developing a soft spot for him."
Artoo gave a happy whistle.
"Artoo says thank you, too," said Luke, his eyes never leaving hers.
His blue eyes were mesmerising, almost hypnotic, she thought. "Are you going to admit he's slowing us down, yet?"
Luke shrugged slightly, unwilling to dislodge her hands. "It could have been worse. It could have been one of us that fell down that hole."
"I think we would have seen it coming," replied Mara with a smirk.
"You can't say for sure," said Luke, his grip on her waist tightening almost imperceptibly. "It could have been you."
"You would have caught me."
He nodded, swallowing hard at the thought of Mara in danger. "I'd like to think I would have."
Mara glanced down when she could no longer meet his gaze; the emotion she felt was too powerful. Her hands travelled down his arms until she took his hands in her own, removing them from her body. "We'd better get going. We've lost enough time as it is." She looked back up at him, but his eyes didn't meet hers; they were locked on their joined hands. "Luke." She tugged on his hands and he finally looked up. "Let's go."
He dropped her hands and blinked a couple of times. "Yeah. We should move."
Mara untied the rope from her waist and coiled it neatly before handing it to Luke to stow in his pack. "Come on, Skywalker. I've got a feeling we'll be out of these damn caves soon."
Luke hefted his pack onto his back and smiled gently. "A vision, Mara?"
She settled her own pack on, before raising an eyebrow at him. "No. I believe the visions are your department, Jedi." Walking slowly and carefully, she started picking her way around the chasm that had almost claimed Artoo.
"So where do you get your 'feeling' from?" asked Luke as he followed her, Artoo bumping at his heels in an effort to stay as close as possible to his master.
Her eyes met his for a moment, then glanced away. "Optimism."