The First

by

Tenel Jade

Disclaimer: George Lucas= Not me.

Summary: Mara Jade's first time. Who was he?

Rating: Hard PG-13

Mara Jade was bored out of her mind. Sitting there, in a deserted spaceport, on a deserted planet, in a deserted sector wasn't exactly her idea of fun. But the Emperor was taking no chances having this package delivered to him, and Mara knew it must be exceptionally important if he employed his Hand to guard it personally.

The small planet had a tiny population, a few thousand, on the other side. The spaceport where she waited was the result of an attempt to colonize that side of the planet, but the alien beings had abandoned hope quickly when they realized that the air contained large amounts of oxygen, poisonous to them.

Mara's eighteen-year-old body, on the other hand, was in heaven. It sang with energy at the induction of so much fuel into her system, but Mara didn't let the hyper-ness that was threatening take over. She had to be careful, because the Emperor had warned her that this package was to arrive safely.

She sighed, and threw her medium-length hair over her shoulder. Naturally a fiery red color, she had dyed it in preparation for the trip, and the jet black locks now oddly complimented her light complexion and emerald eyes, which she hadn't bothered to disguise.

Her face had been subtly altered, and combined with her Force abilities, it was enough to make any person think that they were mistaken, if Mara didn't want them to remember that they had seen the Emperor's Hand.

The physician who had performed the surgery on her told her that he had made the alterations in precise positions so as to confuse a person trying to remember exactly what she looked like. Mara had given his devious technique her approval, and he had beamed with satisfaction.

Groaning with frustration, doubled by the fact her body was twice as energetic as it should be, due to the oxygen supply, Mara quickly stretched her body out in preparation for a training run around the docking station. The alarm would warn her when her contact approached.

After ten minutes and fifteen laps around the small enclosure, Mara jogged over to the comm system as it beeped impatiently at her. She poked at the answer button, not even breathing hard, and answered, "Yes?"

The brisk voice of one of the officers directly employed by the Emperor came on the line. "Password?"

"For the love of Sith."

"Code?"

"IM025THEHAND" Mara replied. The officer didn't pause, but continued speaking in a drone-like tone, proving himself to be another one of the automatons the Empire employed, distinguishing himself as a human being only by the fact that he could reproduce biologically.

"Your contact has been delayed, Hand. It will join you within thirty-six hours. I was told to tell you that the Emperor is not happy, but nothing can be done."

Mara sighed, and cursed softly. The officer prudently didn't respond, but awaited her confirmation.

"Tell the Emperor that I understand, and I will be back after I make the exchange."

"Yes, ma'am. I will deliver your message." The comm clicked, and Mara sighed, reaching out to turn off her end of the system. She then contemplated what she was to do for the next day or so, and decided that her immediate concern was more exercise, and then dinner.

Five minutes into her lightsaber practice, the alarm began to sound, whining with an annoying siren, and blinking the bright red lights over head. Mara quickly jogged to the edge of the pad, away from where the ship would have to land, and extinguished her lightsaber, hiding it in a secret pocket on her tight black jumpsuit. She had no idea who was coming, and sometimes it was better not to let people know that you were the Emperor's personal assassin and otherwise-top secret errand runner.

The small ship that docked was non-descript, and the signature on the side marked it as a personal craft from a small world that had opted to remain neutral during the intense Empire/Rebellion war. She circled cautiously to the entrance, and waited for the boarding ramp to descend.

When it came down, she waited a long moment as an R2 droid rolled out and to the side, clearly waiting for it's master, before he appeared. She wanted to skip from foot to foot in her impatience, but professionalism dictated that she appear at attention at all times.

The young man who appeared moments later in the ramp frame was slight of build, only a few inches taller than her, and quite obviously still a teenager. About her age, Mara guessed, maybe a year older. He, too, was dressed in a tight black jumpsuit with a high collar, and tall boots. At his side hung a blaster, but no more... eccentric weapons. Mara relaxed a little, though not allowing her guard to drop completely.

Perhaps this was simply a supply run. The small planet's atmosphere was rich with oxygen, and pilots and passengers had to have something to breathe while aboard their ships. Because of these facts, entrepreneurs often came to the planet to collect the oxygen, which they would then sell. Or, at least attempt to.

The young man, seemingly the pilot and only crew, besides the droid, who had retired into the ship once more, wandered down the ramp at a casual pace, but peered at her with eyes that seemed to see right through her. She shivered slightly with the sensation, but forced herself to ignore it.

He stopped in front of her, and held out a hand. Mara probed him quickly, searching for any weapons with the Force, but found nothing. She tentatively reached a hand back, and shook his. It wouldn't do to aggravate the man who could be her only companion for the next day and a half. Hell, she'd only been there six hours, and already she was bored.

"Lucas Whittaker," He introduced himself. "I didn't think I'd find another real person on this side of the planet."

Mara smiled, a little out of habit, and a little out of a real desire to see another human being. The trip here had been long, and it had been weeks since any real contact with other humans.

"Marin Skye," She responded, having often found that names reminiscent of her real one helped her to remember to respond to the unfamiliar call for attention. 'Marin' was her favorite, followed closely by 'Kara'.

He smiled back at her, and she asked her question, trying to make it sound casual, as though she was just curious. "So, Mr. Whittaker, what are you doing here on this barren little place?"

Sometimes blunt just worked better.

Lucas didn't seem to mind, though. He smiled, and closed his eyes, breathing in deeply. Mara smiled a little to herself. So, she was right. Just a harmless oxygen collector.

"Collecting?" She asked. He nodded back, and gave her the first smile she'd seen out of him so far. It radiated warmth, and though she could see deep in his eyes that he'd been hurt, that he had a burning anger, it didn't matter, because he was too gentle of a person to do anything about it. At least here, to her.

Besides, it didn't matter. If he became a threat, as much as she would hate to do it, she would kill him. And if he didn't then she'd just gotten a companion for the next thirty-six hours, which, she was sure, would have been deathly dull without his arrival.

She gave him one of her rare smiles that reached her eyes, and nodded towards her ship. "Would you like to join me for dinner, Mr. Whittaker? I have plenty of things, and I was just about to eat, myself."

The young man smiled, but hesitated. "Please, call me Lucas. And are you sure? I don't want to intrude."

Cute, her only rescuer from boredom, and polite! This was getting better and better. Aloud she said, "All right, Lucas. And yes, I'm sure. Who would you be intruding on, anyway? We're the only two people within fifty miles."

Lucas grinned, and held out his arm to her. She took it, surprised at herself for being so open with someone she had only met five minutes ago, but there was just... something about this young man that she couldn't quite put a finger on. It wasn't the Force ability she'd felt, that was very undeveloped, and probably, he didn't even know he had it. No, it was something else.

Giving an internal sigh, she looked up at her dinner companion, and resolved to herself to be careful, because she knew, if she looked too long, or too hard into those icy blue eyes, she could very well get lost.

*************

Dinner had been a happy affair, laughing and smiling over the stories Lucas would tell, and Mara wasn't sure she could remember the last time she'd been this happy. Something nagged her, reminding her about her promise to be careful, but she ignored it, figuring that as long as she kept an eye out, she could have fun and still be careful.

There was much too little of the former in the job she was currently employed by.

After dessert, which, unfortunately was resuscitated ice cream and a dry, crumbly cake-bread, for which Mara apologized, there was a long time where they just sat on the ground, watching as the sun set and the four moons rose over the horizon. Hesitantly, she snuggled closer to her male companion, eager for the touch of a man who didn't know who she was, who wasn't intimidated by her power and position at the Emperor's side.

Lucas didn't resist, and she pushed herself in close, reveling in the feel as he draped an arm around her shoulder, and pulled her into his lap, snuggling her close. Neither of them knew the other well, but they both felt the strong pull towards each other, and really didn't care about their relatively new status of knowing each other existed.

Mara tilted her head back, and Lucas leaned down, capturing her lips in a soft kiss, from which he pulled away slowly, looking deep into her eyes for any sign that his actions might have been too forward, but she gave none. He took this as a sign of encouragement, and leaned down again, tugging and pulling on her lips with his teeth, just hard enough to be felt.

When they parted for breath, Mara had had enough easy teasing, and flipped him on his back, lying on top of the pads they had lain out on the rocky ground with the intent of watching the sun set. She lay easily on top of him, fully thirty or forty pounds lighter than he, even though not much shorter, and he didn't complain as she led into their kisses, this time forcing her tongue into his eager mouth, and sucking greedily on his.

When he started to softly fondle her breast, Mara didn't pull away, but quickly considered what he was unconsciously proposing. This might be her best chance to lose her virginity, with a man whom she wouldn't have to kill or trick after she did, and with a man who didn't know who she was, and wasn't afraid of her and her ties to the Empire.

But, on the other hand, she knew she was only eighteen.

The remembrance of all the other close calls she'd had with losing it were what ultimately made up her mind. Because if she didn't lose it here and now, she'd just lose it at some later date to some man whom she would not only not know, but probably would have no spark with, either. And she didn't want to have sex, her first time. She wanted to make love.

Allowing Lucas to move his hands over her body, pulling away every once in a while to take a long look at her, and ask silently, with his eyes, if she wanted to continue, they explored each other. His occasional clumsiness made her suspect this was his first time, too, but it only made it that much more special for her.

Clothes were pulled off, and through a couple of whispered questions, Mara and Lucas managed to ascertain that neither one of them wished to stop their current activities.

The night grew darker, and the moons grew brighter, but neither noticed, too wrapped up in their own activities. There were no truly dangerous animals on this planet, so Mara dismissed her worries about that, and they were truly alone, so their were no worries about other people in the area, either.

Afterward, naked, sweaty and spent, they fell asleep in the temperate, rich, air, curled snugly around each other, their jumpsuits making their pillows. Sore and more than a little sleepy, Mara fell asleep almost instantly, allowing herself to do something she'd never done before.

As the Hand, it was imperative that she alert every moment of every assignment. The only time when she ever slept was aboard her ship, locked up tight, or in one of the Empire's closely guarded bases. And here she was, asleep in the wide open of a planet, snuggled against a man she'd never before met in her life.

She only had time to wonder briefly if she would regret her actions in the morning, before she fell asleep.

*************

18 years later

Mara smiled quietly as she snuggled against her new husband. She was sitting on his lap, both of them in a comfortable, padded recliner, probably the last she'd see in many months, she knew, since Luke and his Jedi liked to live on the natural side at the Academy.

Luke's chest was jolting her softly with his low chuckles at her story. He'd been curious about her first, and she'd felt there was no reason not to tell him. He couldn't get jealous, he could see right into her head, and know there was no other for her. So she'd told him, with the intention of hearing his story later.

But as soon as she'd started to recall the odd events that had transpired that day, and the face came back with them, along with the now-familiar need to be near each other, she'd started to laugh quietly, quickly finishing her story so that Luke could confirm her suspicions.

And confirm he had. Apparently the Rebellion had needed the oxygen for their ships, and had sent Luke. And Mara had just happened to be waiting for the shipment at the time.

Luke pulled her close now, and kissed the top of her head softly. "Well, Mara, just one more special thing we've shared with each other."

Mara nodded as best as she could, and stayed still an silent on his lap for the longest time, just reliving that wonderfully long night. Until Luke got bored.

Mara never thought she would have seen the sage Jedi Master playful, but in the right mood, he could get downright childlike, pleading and begging and doing stupid things to achieve his goals. And now, he was running his hands up her shirt, tickling her on the way to her bra clasp.

"Luke!" She yelped a little, squealing as any other woman might have done being completely out of her character, and shoved her own hand under his shirt, tickling him mercilessly.

Somehow they always knew that everything would be all right, as long as they were together.

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