This fic is in
response to the How does Callista take the news of the joining of Luke and
Mara. I hope you like this one. It is my first challenge I have participated
in. Read on and enjoy.
Disclaimer—I own
none of this. Everything SW belongs to
GL, ultimately. Love me, don't sue me.
Acceptance
By Maara
PG
Maarajadez@aol.com
Luke Skywalker was
a happy man. It was early morning and
he woke up smiling, thinking of the previous night. Dinner at Corran and Mirax's apartment was a great time. By the end of the evening Mirax and Mara
were thick as thieves. Luke and Corran
sat and watched laughing at a remark made long ago, when they decided that the
two women should never meet. Force
help us all, Luke thought with amusement, the memory still fresh in his
mind. He and Mara hadn't even been
together. Perhaps, unconsciously, he
knew they belonged together, even then.
Funny what you think about in retrospect.
He looked over at
the beautiful woman sleeping beside him, his heart swelling with love. Finally, a real chance at happiness.
When Callista
left, she took with her his hopes of a family of his own. It had hurt him deeply. Over the years, he had few relationships,
all of them ended in tragedy or abandonment.
He started to think he was a jinx to any woman, and he wasn't prepared
to hurt like that again. So he vowed
then and there never to let himself become involved with anyone again. Fortunately, Mara Jade wasn't just anyone.
Luke lived
somewhat contentedly, for a while, until Mara came flying back into his life. It had been awhile since he had seen her,
and he felt a flutter in his chest. At first, he contributed his feelings to
seeing a friend that you hadn't seen in a long time.
A very good friend.
It turned out that
she was the best friend he ever had.
Mara kept everything real, never letting him forget who he really
was. No one else did that for him. He could always count on Mara, to tell him
the truth, even if it hurt. He had promised himself not to love her because he
didn't want anything to happen to her.
She had quickly put him in his place about that, he remembered.
Then, suddenly,
there was no way to deny anything, in one life-altering moment, they became one
in the Force. It was then, while
fighting back to back against the sentinel droids, that they finally admitted
to themselves that they loved each other.
And when, finally, they shared that firsy kiss, in the cold, murky water
of the tunnel, Luke felt everything click into place. He was finally happy and knew that he had found his soul mate.
Gently removing a
curl of hair from Mara's beautiful face, he leaned over to kiss her.
Mara woke to the
feel of lips brushing faintly across hers.
She opened her eyes and looked up into the Luke's loving, blue
eyes. Oh how she loved those eyes. They were clear, crisp, and honest. In them she could see all her dreams and a
lifetime of happiness stretched out before her.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
She was sitting on
her couch watching the holonews, wondering if she would hear something about
him. Callista often sat and watched,
just to catch a glimpse of him. It had
been about 6 years since she had last seen or talked to him, and still she
thought about him. Not as often as she
once did, but she tried to keep up with his movements.
She cared a great
deal about Luke Skywalker, but it would never have worked between them. She loved him, that was true, but not the
way he deserved to be loved. He was
such a wonderful man, so giving, and caring.
All he wanted to do was help people.
He never asked for anything in return.
A true Jedi.
Jedi
She was once a
Jedi. Until she was stripped of her
Force powers when she took the body that Cray offered, instead of becoming one
with the Force, as she was supposed to.
Just so she could be with Luke.
It wasn't until
later that she realized that what she wanted was the Force back. Time after
time she tried and failed to touch the Force, her obsession with regaining a
connection to it was consuming her and tearing apart her relationship with
Luke. The painful realization that she
may never get back her powers was compounded by the knowledge that her search
would not include Luke.
She caught
movement out of the corner of her eye and there was Luke, heading up the palace
stairs, Mara Jade at his side. Quickly
she turned up the volume so she could hear the holocaster.
----------…gana-Solo
today, announced the marriage of her brother, Jedi Master Luke Skywalker to
Mara Jade, now a Jedi Knight, later known to have been the Emperor's
Hand,,,,,,-----------
Callista tuned out
the rest as what he was saying reached her mind. Luke was getting married.
To Mara Jade.
She always
wondered if Mara had feelings for Luke.
Mara had denied it once, but maybe she was denying it to herself at the
time. Callista was shocked. She knew that this day would eventually
come, but now she wasn't quite sure how she felt about it.
It seemed almost
strange that he could love her then fall in love with someone like Mara. Someone who had, at one point, wanted to
kill him, had killed others on the Emperor's say so. Mara Jade, who showed no interest in living up to her Jedi
potential. Callista smiled to herself
//I bet Luke pestered her until she completed her training. She didn't
deserve someone like Luke she,,,//
Callista stopped
herself. She was jealous, and she had
no right to be. Luke was with Mara now,
not her. She had made her choice, and
now she was living with it. Deep down,
she knew why she didn't like Mara. She
had always been jealous of her, she realized. The jealousy only intensified as she
got to know Mara, who was everything she once was and could never be again. Beautiful, Force strong, intelligent and
cunning. She hated her for a long time,
especially after her and Mara had had a few subtle words.
The more she
thought about it, the more it made sense to her. Finally she decided to do something for them for their
wedding. But what? And how would she go about it without
throwing a damper on their wedding plans?
Callista sat back on her couch and tried to think of something to do for
them.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Luke and Mara
agreed to dinner at Han and Leia's and walked hand in hand through the gardens
on their way there. It felt so
wonderful walking amongst all the life in the gardens. It made them feel energized and more
alive. Completely in tune with
nature. It was one of their favorite
places to come. Various exotic flowers
and other plant life and small animals made it a wonderful place to appreciate
life.
There was a creek
that flowed through the center of the gardens in an S shape with small bridges
crossing over at certain points along the way.
At the curves of the creek, were small ponds, some with small water
avian relaxing in them. At the head of
the creek was a small rock waterfall.
The water made gentle splashing sounds as it traveled over the rocks
into the lower portion of the creek.
They always
stopped on the bridge across from the waterfall to enjoy the wonderful sounds
and scents surrounding them.
Walking hand in
hand, Luke turned to Mara. "Are you nervous?"
Mara looked up at
Luke and smiled, "A little. It's all
this publicity. I'm not completely
comfortable with it." Mara sighed, "I
guess I'll have to learn to live with it.
Besides there are more important things for me to worry about."
Luke stopped and
turned to her, slipping his arms around her waist. "I love you Mara."
As Luke bent his
head to kiss her, he heard her whisper, "I love you, too."
Reluctantly
parting, Luke chuckled, "We should get to Leia's, or I'll be tempted to stop
off at home first."
Mara eyes
danced, "Control yourself, farmboy."
They both laughed
and turned to head to Han and Leia's.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
At the Solo's,
Leia was still fussing at the table, trying to make everything perfect. She was so happy for Luke. Finally he had found someone to love, who
truly loved him in return. She knew
Mara would lay down her life for her brother.
She was so good for him. She
would always be there and he trusted her like he trusted no one else.
Now they were
getting married. Leia got teary-eyed
thinking about it. His dream had
finally come true.
Han came up behind
her and wrapped his arms around her.
"Would you stop fussing? It's
just Luke and Mara."
"I know, I just
want Mara to feel welcome." Leia turned
in her husband's arms and ran her hands up around his neck. "I can't help it, I'm happy for them. I want everything to go right."
"It will, Leia, it
will. And I'll tell you, if Mara
doesn't feel welcome by now, then she has some serious issues."
Leia laughed as
the door COM sounded. She stretched out
with the Force, "It's not them. Would you get it while I finish up here?"
"Yeah, I got it,
you continue fussing," laughing Han jumped out of the way as Leia tried to swat
his rear and headed to the door.
Leia turned back
to the table and yet again rearranged the flowers. Han returned with a package in his hands. "It's for Luke and Mara, sent in our care."
Leia took the
package and looked it over. "No return address either. " Leia put it off to the
side; "we'll just give it to them when they get here."
Just then the door
COM buzzed again, and this time Leia smiled," It's them."
Han went to let
the new couple in as Leia took the appetizers out of the cooking unit. As she walked out to the lounge, she heard
Han call to her, "you want a drink, Leia?"
"Yes, Han, I'd
love one." She walked over and set the
tray down to hug Luke and Mara.. "I'm glad you're here." Leia sat down across
from them, " It's getting close to the big day, how do you two feel?" Luke
squeezed Mara's hand, "we're a little nervous."
"A little I'm
very nervous," Mara looked at Luke, "I'm not used to all this attention.
I'd rather have a small, quiet ceremony, but I have to deal with it being
simulcast throughout the NR and the Empire."
Mara took a deep breath, and looked again at Luke, reminding herself why
it was worth it.
"It'll be fine
Mara, don't worry." He squeezed her hand again in reassurance.
"I know, I
know." Mara laughed, "use some of that
Jedi optimism. Now all I need is a power lift for all the gifts." Mara paused
"I mean, what are we going to do with everything?"
Just then Leia
remembered the package, "Oh, by the way, a package was delivered here for
you." Leia headed to the kitchen to
retrieve it from where she left it.
"This got here not long before you did.
I think it's for the wedding."
She handed the package to Mara, who looked it over carefully before
cutting open the seal.
Mara opened the
box and pulled out the data pad inside.
A short message was written on it.
--------Luke
and Mara,
May the Force be with you,,,,
"It's not signed"
Mara sighed and put aside the note.
"Let's see what's in here." Mara
pulled the smaller black box out of the bigger one and opened the lid, and
pulled back the tissue covering the gift.
Mara gasped when she saw them.
At the top portion
of the box sat a beautiful set of earrings.
The design was of two crystals of green and blue, wrapped around each
other. They were lovely. In the lower portion of the box were two
cuff links in a matching design.
Luke looked over
Mara's shoulder, "Someone put a lot of thought into this gift." He picked up the cuff links. "I'd like to wear these at our wedding."
"You read my mind
Skywalker. They're wonderful." Mara took the earrings over to the mirror
and tried them on, with Leia at her elbow, both of them chattering away about
the wedding.
"Well, kid, I
can't believe you're finally settling down."
Han slapped Luke on the back as he walked over to him. "Those are nice
Luke." Han looked over at the two women
at the mirror. "What I really can't
believe is Mara. I've never seen her
like this before."
Luke smiled as he
looked at Leia and Mara. "You will more
often, I hope. This is the real Mara,
Han. She is such an amazing woman. I don't know what I'd do without her."
Usually, when Luke
talked this way, he would worry that he was too attached, and would fall apart,
when something happened. This time Han
looked at Mara and realized he wasn't worried at all. Luke and Mara belonged together, of that he had no doubt. He put his arm around his friend's shoulders
and they headed over join to the women in their lives.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
A few weeks later, Callista is on her couch,
watching Luke and Mara get married. A
smile suddenly appeared on her face, as the close-up of the bride and groom
kissing, revealed the earrings Mara wore, and as Luke reached up to push the
veil further back she caught a glimpse of the cuff links. Callista smiled to herself, she was glad she
sent them anonymously; otherwise, it might have undermined their
happiness.
As the newlyweds
walked up the aisle, as husband and wife, a single tear slid down her cheek. He
was finally happy. There was nothing
she wanted more for him than happiness.
Of all the people she knew he deserved it the most.
Acceptance
By: Maara