By JediGirl
CATAGORY: New Republic
SPOILERS: Tim Zahn's Hand of Thraw duology
RATING: R
SETTING: Those missing chapters that Mr. Zahn forgot to write in Visions
of the Future. Luke and Mara have just taken off from Nirauan and heading
out to
meet up with Leia, Han and Karrde. This is my version of what happened
between Luke and Mara during those days alone on their "borrowed" Chiss
ship. And
of course how the "family" hears about the pending nuptials.
DISCLAIMER As always, these charcters do not belong to me. They belong
to wonderful people such as Mr. George Lucas and Mr. Timothy Zahn, among
others. They inspire me to make up my own tales and share them with
others....just for pure enjoyment. There is more to life than just money
:)
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: A huge big THANK YOU to my wonderful beta reader,
Michele. This story would never have happened without her. She
completely inspired me and helped to make it as good as it could be.
Plus, if it wasn't for her, the "challenge" would never had happened
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CHAPTER 10
Mara brought out another travel bag from the bedroom and placed it on
the couch
with the other items she had gathered. Luke inspected a few of the
items and looked
up at his fianceé. "So, I guess we are leaving right away?"
he said with a slight
frown.
"Something wrong with that?" Mara asked him.
Luke released a small sigh. "Not really," he told her. "I was just kind
of hoping to
sleep in an actual bed for one night before heading for space once
again."
Mara ran her fingers soothingly through his sandy hair. "So would I,
but there is
obviously something big going on out there and our friends and family
want us to
join them as soon as possible."
"Always the practical one, Mara," Luke said with a wink. "Not to mention
you want to
'break this damn news and get on with our lives'."
"Exactly!" Mara responded with a matter-of-fact look on her face. "Now
why don't you
bring some of this stuff down to the ship and I'll let Gerri know we
are leaving and
see if he can spare some rations for the trip."
"Yes Master," Luke said sarcastically with a bow. He ducked his head
quickly as Mara
swatted at him with a small pillow from the couch. Chuckling he slipped
the straps of
the bags over his shoulder and headed for the door.
"Come on Artoo, time to go."
The R2 unit detached himself from the power outlet and followed the
Jedi Master out
the door.
As Luke and Artoo left the suite, Mara walked over to the comm station
and buzzed
Gerri Pabos' office. "Hello Mara," Gerri responded pleasantly. "Is
there something I
can do for you?"
"Actually there is," Mara said in her business voice. "We are preparing
to leave and
were wondering if you could spare some food rations?"
"Leaving?" Gerri said surprised. "You just got here. What's the hurry?"
"Karrde wants me to join him as soon as possible."
"Something big going down?" Gerri asked.
"I really don't know," she told him. "But Karrde seemed pretty eager
for me to get out
there. And you know how the Boss doesn't like to be kept waiting."
"True enough," Gerri replied. "Well, I'm sorry you couldn't visit longer.
I hope you
found the facilities adequate while you were here?"
"Everything was fine Ger. Thank you," she said with an almost impatient
tone. "I'll be
sure to mention it to Karrde."
"And I'm sure Master Skywalker found everything in order?" Gerri asked innocently.
Mara sighed as her impatience started to grow. "Gerri, I told you not
to worry about
him. He's a friend."
"A pretty close friend it seems," Gerri said with a broad smile.
"WHAT is that supposeed...?" Mara all but shouted at him. She shook
her head and
waved a hand at the screen. "Nevermind...Look Gerri, I need to get
out of here. Can I
get those rations or not?"
"Oh yeah, sure," he replied acting nonchalant. "How much do you need?"
"Enough for four or five days."
"You got it. I'll bring them down to the docking bay myself, so I can see you off."
Mara rolled her eyes in response. "Fine, I'll see you there in a few
minutes. Jade out!"
She leaned back in her chair, then with a sigh she covered her face
with her hands.
It was a good thing they weren't staying the night, she thought to
herself, Gerri was
already suspicious after a few hours. They had to "break the news"
soon, before it
drove her crazy.
With a deep breath she calmed herself and got out of the chair. She
gathered the
remaining items she assembled for their trip and headed for the docking
bay.
--------------------------------
When Mara entered the secured docking bay where they had left the "borrowed"
Chiss ship, she found Luke doing a quick check of the outside of the
ship. He seemed
to be so enthralled with his task. *He truly loves to fly,* Mara thought
to herself as
she watched him. He looked so un-Jedi-like as he walked around the
ship, checking
the wings, access panels and such. At that moment he was a pilot, plain
and simple,
doing what any good pilot would do just before heading for space. Mara
felt she was
actually seeing the "real" Luke Skywalker. Not the "Great Jedi Master"
or the "Famous
New Republic Hero," but just Luke the person, doing what he truly loved
to do and
what came completely natural to him.
Her thoughts warmed her and she smiled at the sensation. Luke must have
picked up
on her emotions as well, because he turned to her and gave her one
of his "heart-
melting" smiles. Mara felt herself blush in return, but it only made
her smile grow
bigger as she walked towards the ship.
"Hi," Luke said as she moved closer to the ship. "I think we are all
ready to go. Artoo is
running the preflight."
"Great. Gerri should be here any minute with the rations. I'm going
to stow away the
last of our supplies."
Mara climbed the small ladder and entered the ship. At the same time
a door to the
docking bay swished open and Gerri Pabos walked in holding several
small boxes. He
joined Luke next to the ship.
"Hello Master Skywalker, Mara asked me to bring these down for you,"
he said
indicating the boxes that he was holding. "I tried to get a good assortment.
Eating the
same thing everyday can get tiresome."
"Thank you, Gerri. We appreciate your thoughtfulness," Luke responded
as he
accepted the boxes from Gerri.
"I'm sure Miss Jade proved to be a fine hostess during your stay," Gerri
said with a
cocky smile as Luke was just about to head for the ship.
Luke felt his face warm a bit at the comment and hoped it wasn't as
visible as it felt. A
dozen responses sprang to mind, but he clamped his mouth down on all
of them. He
chose instead to give Gerri a quick smile and a nod in response. His
reaction only
seemed to increase Gerri's sense of cockiness.
Mara climbed down out of the ship and instantly noticed the look on
Gerri's face. She
walked towards the two men. *What did you say to him?* Mara sent the
thought to
Luke as she passed him.
*I didn't say anything,* Luke sent back honestly and headed towards
the ship to pack
away the ration boxes.
Ignoring the look on the man's face Mara extended her hand to Gerri.
"Well Ger, it
was good to see you. Thank you for everything."
"It was my pleasure Mara," Gerri said, accepting her handshake. "It
is always nice to
have you stop by. It's a shame you have to leave so soon. It's a long
way to Bothawui,
you sure you and Master Skywalker wouldn't like to enjoy the comfort
of a real bed
for a few nights before heading on your way?"
Something inside Mara jumped at the word "bed," but she did her best
to ignore it and
not let her her emotions show outwardly.
"That would be nice, but we really must go," Mara replied cooly.
"That ship doesn't look too roomy."
"We'll make do."
"I'm sure you will," Gerri said with a wink.
"Goodbye Gerri," Mara replied shortly, and turned for the ship.
Gerri chuckled to himself. It wasn't everyday that one could throw Mara
Jade off
kilter and he knew he just had. He puffed his chest out proudly and
waved to Mara as
she retreated. "Goodbye Mara. Have a pleasant journey and give my regards
to Karrde
for me."
Mara waved a hand in acknowledgement, but didn't bother to turn around.
She
climbed the ladder without a glance back and closed the hatch behind
her. Gerri
continued to chuckle to himself as he turned around and headed for
the door.
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"All systems check out, we are ready for take off Capt'n," Luke said
with a lopsided
smile to Mara as she settled herself in the pilot's chair. Mara responded
with a growl.
"What?" Luke asked.
"What did you say to him?" Mara again shot the question at Luke, aloud
this time. She
gave him a hard stare.
"I told you, I didn't say anything," Luke stated innocently. "Why?"
"He knows," she replied simply.
"I didn't..."
"Oh, it doesn't matter," Mara cut him off and turned her attention to
the ship's control
panel. "Let's just get off this rock and get ourselves to Bothawui
as quickly as
possible."
"You got it," Luke said as he keyed the comm button to request permission to depart.
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