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 17
Talon Karrde entered the sitting area of the suite with Leia following
behind him. All
the faces in the room turned to look at him as he approached. Mara
and Luke rose
from their places to greet him.
"Mara!" Karrde said with relief in his voice. He clasped Mara's forearm
and placed a
hand on her shoulder.
"Hello, Talon," Mara replied trying to hold back her smile. Though she
was very
happy to see her friend again, it was not really her nature to express
that much
emotion, especially not to Karrde. She had an image to maintain after
all.
Karrde on the other hand didn't have a problem with showing his happiness
at
seeing his good friend and second-in-command. He smiled widely at her
effort to
suppress her own grin. "You're looking well," he told her. "You really
had us worried
there for a while."
"Karrde, I'd think you would know me better than that by now," Mara
said with a
raise of her eyebrow.
"You're right," he replied with a mock frown. "I guess I shouldn't have
bothered
sending Skywalker all the way out there. You would have gotten out
fine on your
own."
Mara finally cracked a wry smile. "Well, he did prove useful a time or two."
"I'm sure he did," Karrde replied with a smug grin.
He turned quickly to Luke before Mara could respond to the comment.
"Luke, thank
you so much for bringing her back all in one piece," Karrde said, offering
the Jedi
his hand.
Luke accepted the proffered hand and smiled warmly at the smuggler chief.
"No
thanks needed Talon," he told the man. "Mara is a friend of mine as
well."
"Glad to hear that. However, that last time we talked you did mention
something about
a 'payment' for the rescue?" Karrde gave Luke a questioning look.
Mara stared coolly at Luke as he tried to hide a quiet chuckle behind his left hand.
Karrde's eyes moved back-and-forth between Luke and Mara. "Okay you
two, what's
going on here?"
Silence fell over the group. Mara gave Karrde a thin smile, and Luke
ran a hand over
his head giving a look of nervousness. No one said anything for a long
moment.
"Hahaha..." Han laughed loudly from the chair, breaking the silence.
"Karrde, I think
you better sit down for this one."
Karrde crossed an arm over his chest and gently stroked his goat-tee
with his free
hand. He contemplated the looks on the faces of the two people standing
in front of
him. "No," he said in answer to Han's suggestion. "I think I would
prefer to stand."
"Suit yourself," Han said with a wide grin and waved a hand in Luke
and Mara's
direction. "Go ahead kids, tell 'im what's up." Glancing over his shoulder
to look at his
Wookiee friend, he added, "This is going to be good."
Chewbacca gave a husky chuckle in agreement.
Luke opened his mouth to say something, but was halted by Mara who quickly
took
hold of his hand. She took a deep breath and blurted out, "We're getting
married."
Karrde stared at the couple, his eyes wide and mouth hanging open. Mara
gave a
smug look at his reaction.
"You're...you're...kidding, right?" Karrde stammered.
Mara's face softened and she shook her head at him. The smuggler glanced
over at
Han and Chewbacca as if looking for confirmation on what was just said.
"We just
found out ourselves," Han told him.
Leia slid a desk chair up behind him. "Maybe you want to take that seat
now, Talon,"
she said and gave him a wink.
Karrde slowly lowered himself into the chair, but continued to eye the
couple in
front of him. Luke slipped his hand from Mara's and wrapped an arm
around her
waist. A smile slowly crossed Karrde's face as the announcement finally
started to
sink in. "Well, I'll be Kesseled," he said running a hand through his
hair. "I knew
something was..." he cut himself off with a wave of a hand. "Never
mind."
"You knew what?" Mara asked him, her tone developing a hard edge.
"It's not important," he said with a smile.
"Yes it is. What did you 'think' you knew?"
"Mara."
"Talon," Mara growled through clenched teeth.
Karrde gave a sigh of defeat. He knew there wasn't going to be any way
to avoid
giving an answer. "When I talked with you both on Carva III, I had
a sense there was
something going on between you two. There seemed to be a difference
in the way you
interacted with each other. I figured you'd become closer friends."
"You didn't 'figure' anything," she replied, giving him a hard stare.
"You said you
'knew'."
"I did?" Karrde gave her a surprised look. "It must have been a slip of the tongue."
"You have never had a 'slip of the tongue' in your entire life Karrde,"
Mara placed
her hands on her hips as she took a step closer to him. "You talked
to him, didn't
you?"
"Who?"
"Pabos!"
"Gerri?"
"Yes, Gerri!" Mara's voice was starting to rise. "You called him didn't
you? After you
finished talking with me. You checked up on me!"
"I..." Karrde tried to give an answer but Mara cut him off.
"I can't believe this. No wonder he was acting so cocky when we were
leaving," Mara
spun around and turned her back to her employer. Her eyes met Luke's.
"You had to
go and make that payment comment, didn't you?" Mara said to him in
a sharp tone.
The agonized look on Luke's face made Mara instantly regret what she
had said. The
comment had hit him like a slap in the face. "I didn't mean it that
way," she
whispered as her eyes softened with compassion. She reached down and
took hold of
his hand and squeezed it to add weight to her apology. Luke swallowed
and nodded his
head in understanding.
"Mara," Karrde said from behind her. He stood up out of the chair and
moved a bit
closer to her. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean any harm by it. I was just
concerned about
you, and I wanted to make sure everything was okay."
"I told you I was fine," she said looking over her shoulder, but not meeting his eyes.
"I know you did," he told her. "I just had the sense that you weren't
telling me
everything."
"I told you what you needed to know," the edge in her voice was back.
"Did you?" Karrde asked, an edge of his own creeping into his voice.
Mara knew she hadn't. As Karrde's "employee" she had gone after that
Chiss ship to
find out what it was and where it came from, as well as any other information
she
could discover. She had found out everything that she had set out to
do. But she and
Luke had agreed not to discuss it, not with anyone.
"Mara," Karrde continued, the sharpness in his voice was gone as quickly
as it had
appeared. "I called Gerri to see if he could shine some light on where
you had been
and maybe what you had been up to. I also admit that I had my suspicions
of other
things as well, but I didn't ask him anything about your personal affairs."
Mara turned to face him once again as he spoke, she still seemed to
be seething. "But
you were hoping to get that information anyway, and did."
He gave her a look that told everyone that he had been caught. "Speculations
only,"
he replied holding his hands up as if to defend himself from whatever
her response
may be.
"I'm only going to say this once, so listen very closely," Mara hissed
slowly. "My
personal life is just that, personal. Who I choose to share my bed
with is not your
concern. And if I ever find you snooping around my private affairs
again, I promise
that you'll spend the rest of your days huddled alone on the ice plains
of Hoth. Have I
made myself clear?"
"Crystal clear," Karrde replied, trying hard to keep a smile from appearing
on his
face, but having a hard time succeeding.
"Humph," Mara responded in annoyance. She turned her back on Karrde
once again
and faced Luke. This time, however, she didn't find a look of hurt
on his face, but that
of utter embarrassment. His cheeks were flushed red and his lips were
pressed
tightly together.
Mara raised a hand to her mouth as she suddenly realized what she had
just said,
"share my bed with." Karrde had said he had suspicions and now she
had confirmed
them. She had just announced it to a whole room full of people. And that
announcement seemed to make Luke very uncomfortable.
"I knew you wouldn't let me down kid," Han said with a cocky grin.
"Han!" Leia reprimanded her husband and shot him a cold look. The whole
interaction made Luke turn an even brighter shade of red.
"Sorry," Mara mouthed to Luke and followed it with a smile that asked
for
forgiveness.
Luke released a breath and the redness started to fade away. He brought
a hand up
and caressed her cheek. "What's done is done," he told her with a smile
of his own.
"Well then," Karrde broke the silence. "Now that we have that all cleared up."
"Don't think for a minute that you are off the hook." Mara turned and
pointed a
finger at him. Karrde put his hands up to defend himself again, but
a smile remained
on his face. His response caused Mara to lose the venom that was in
her voice. "You
were about to say something?" she asked sweetly.
Karrde dropped his hands and moved closer to the couple. "Indeed I was,"
he said as
he placed a hand on Mara's shoulder. He felt rewarded that she didn't
tense at his
touch. "But first, I think congratulations are in order." He held out
his hand to Luke,
who happily accepted it.
"You two truly make a wonderful couple," he said to Luke. "I'm only
sorry it took you
both so long to figure it out."
"Not as sorry as we are," Luke replied with a wry smile. "But that's
in the past, and we
only have the future ahead of us."
"Spoken like a true Jedi."
"Threepio," Leia called to the golden droid.
"Yes, your Highness."
"There is a bottle of Alderaanian wine in the chilling unit. Could you
bring it out
here? I think it is time for a toast."
"What a grand idea!" Karrde agreed and made his way over to a cabinet
where Leia
was gathering glasses.
Threepio returned with the bottle of wine and Leia poured a glass for
everyone in the
room. Karrde took each full glass and passed them out. Once everyone
had a glass,
Talon Karrde raised his glass high and said "Here's to my good friends,
Mara Jade and
Luke Skywalker. Never have two such completely opposite people been
so perfect for
each other, and never have two people been so stubborn about admitting
it. May your
life's journey together be filled with happiness and peace." Karrde
gave the couple a
sly wink at the word 'peace,' then continued. "And may that peace be
contagious, and
everlasting, throughout the galaxy."
Glasses were clinked against one another and everyone took a sip of
the rare, delicate
wine. Chewie swallowed his down in one gulp and howled a traditional
Wookiee
saying that wished the new couple a long and happy union.
With the toast over, the group of friends settled down into their seats.
Han offered his
chair to Karrde, and then settled down on the armrest of the chair
his wife occupied.
Chewie pulled over a seat from the nearby dining area, and Luke and
Mara took their
original seats on the couch.
Mara leaned back and crossed her legs. She relaxed into the couch's
cushions and
sipped at her wine. Leaning forward, Luke placed his elbows on his
knees and rolled
the wine glass back and forth between his hands. He watched the liquid
swish around
in the bowl of the glass as he thought about all that had happened
in the short time
since he and Mara had landed in the docking bay of Home One. Keeping
his news
from his family had felt like the weight of a planet on his back. But
now that he had
shared that news, and they had happily accepted it, he felt lighter
than air. The added
announcement about the pending peace treaty made him feel even lighter,
if
that was at all possible.
He felt Mara's hand run lightly down his back and he turned to look
at her.
"Everything alright?" she asked.
"Everything's perfect," he replied with a bright smile.
"Everything is ALMOST perfect," Karrde said over the top of his glass.
"What do you mean?" Luke asked as he turned and gave a quizzical look.
Luke couldn't
possibly imagine what would make this moment any better than it already
was.
"What he means," Leia answered the question. "Is that everything would
be perfect if
someone had managed to find the Camaas Document, and we could clear
up this whole
Bothan issue."
"The Camaas Document?" Luke and Mara said in unison. They were both
wide eyed
with shock.
"I can't believe we forgot about it," Luke said to Mara in amazement.
"I can," Mara replied with a chuckle and eased back taking another sip
of wine. "You
go ahead," she told him. "I've had enough excitement for one day."
Luke gave her a wink and rose from the couch. He placed his glass on
the table in
front of him and called to the R2 unit that was sitting quietly off
to one side. "Artoo,
plug into that terminal over there, would you?"
Artoo twittered happily as he made his way across the room. He knew
it was finally
his time to stand in the spot light.
Luke joined Artoo at the desk that had a data screen mounted on it.
One of the droid's
many access panels slid open and an arm extended out and settled into
a socket next to
the desk.
"Luke," Leia asked turning around in her seat to look to see what her
brother was up
to. "What are you doing?"
"Artoo will show you in one moment," he said with a broad smile. He
patted the small
droid on the top of its dome. "Ok little fella, you know what to do."
Artoo beeped merrily, spun his dome around once and the terminal screen
came alive
with activity.
Han Solo and Talon Karrde had risen from their seats and joined Luke
at the desk. Han
leaned in to take a closer look at the data that scrolled across the
screen. "Well, I'll be
a son of a Hutt," Han exclaimed as his eyes popped wide. "Is that what
I think it is?"
Luke responded with a cheery nod and seated himself on the edge of the
desk. He
crossed his arms over his chest with a look of satisfaction.
"What is it?" Leia asked as she joined the group. She looked back at
Mara, but the
woman seemed to be paying no mind to the commotion that was happening
across the
room.
Karrde leaned away from the screen and waved a hand at it as if presenting
a fine
piece of artwork. "Perfection," he announced and gave Leia a low bow.
Leia glanced at the three men's beaming faces and then leaned in to
take a look at the
screen herself. She pulled back slowly as the data registered in her
mind. "The
Camaas Document," she breathed out.
She looked at her brother in surprise. "Where did you get this?" she asked.
Mara turned to looked at Luke from across the room. Their eyes met for
a moment and
then Luke turned to his sister. "We found it on Nirauan. We came across
a bunch of
old data files that seemed to belong to Thrawn. We tried to download
what we could. We
didn't get much, but Artoo was able to download a fully intact copy
of the Camaas
Document. We hadn't even realized it till we were well clear of the
planet."
"Thrawn's old files," Leia responded, surprise still in her eyes. "Then
those ships did
have something to do with Thrawn."
"It seems so, yes," Luke answered. "But as I said before, we really
can't discuss it now.
Mara and I have to sort things out first."
Leia shook her head. "Luke, if these people have some connection to
Thrawn and
there are whole data files that we..."
"No, Leia," Luke said as he took hold of her hand. "The data is gone.
It was destroyed as
we tried to escape from the planet. There's nothing left, really."
"But the people flying those ships?"
"Are not going anywhere," Luke said in a soothing voice. "I promise
you, I will tell
you everything that happened on that planet, but not right now. Just
give me a little
time."
Leia looked deep into Luke's eyes and knew there was nothing she would
be able to
say to make him change his mind. She trusted Luke. He was her brother
and she
knew he would live up to his promise. She may not like it, but she
would wait until he
was ready to share whatever information he had. "The Camaas Document?"
she asked
pointing to the data screen.
"Yours to do with however you wish."
"They'll want to know where I got it," she told him.
"And I'm sure you'll think of something to tell them," Luke replied
and squeezed his
sister's hand.
From across the room the door chime rang out. "Now who could that be?"
Han
questioned with a raise of an eyebrow.
"Threepio, can you see who that is please?" Leia asked.
"I'll get it!" Mara announced as she pulled herself from the couch.
She walked over to the door and hit the release button. As the door
swished open,
Lando Calrissian spun about, his royal blue cape trailing behind him,
to see who had
answered the door. The face he found was definitely not the one he
was expecting.
His expression turned from surprise to utter delight as he registered
who was
standing before him. "Mara Jade!" he said and opened his arms wide
to take her in a
hug. Mara quickly took a step back to avoid his embrace. Lando didn't
miss a beat as
his left hand gently caught her right shoulder. "It is soooo, good
to see you. It's about
time you joined us. I was starting to worry about you."
"Thank you for your concern Calrissian," Mara said dryly as she twisted
out of his
grasp.
Again Lando allowed her movement to give him another opening. As she
was
twisting, he reached out and took hold of her hand and tugged it gently,
but firmly to
his lips. "You are looking as radiant as always, of course. I take
it you weren't in as
much trouble as Karrde had made it out to be?"
As Mara tried to gracefully pull her hand away, Luke walked up behind
her and put
his hand on Mara's wrist and gently pried it away from Lando's grasp.
"Hello, Lando,"
Luke said to his friend with a smile.
"Luke, how are you?" Lando asked as his eyes traveled from Luke's face,
down to his
hand that still held Mara's.
"Pretty wonderful actually," Luke responded with a wide grin. Mara slipped
her hand
from Luke's and draped her arm over his shoulders. A smile crossed
her face as she
cuddled her face up against Luke's.
Lando looked from Luke to Mara and back to Luke again. The normally
cheery smile
that seemed to be plastered on the man's face started to slip away.
He placed his hands
on his hips and gave everyone a hard stare. "Okay," he said, his eyes
flickering from
one face to another. "Why do I get the sense I am the butt of some
kind of joke here?"
Han strode up to his friend and gave him a hardy slap on the back. He
laughed
merrily as he guided Lando over to the sitting nook. Karrde handed
him a glass of
wine.
"What's going on?" Lando begged for someone to shed some light on the situation.
"Lando my man," Han said as he draped an arm over his friend's shoulders.
"There is
so much to tell you!"
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> THE END
(or is it just the beginning?)
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As they say "...and that's all that she wrote!"
Thank you ALL for the wonderful reviews. That is my "payment" for writing and in life there are things that are worth more than money. I am so happy that everyone enjoyed this story so much. I had lots of fun—and late nights—writing it.
~JediGirl~