Darth Vader was standing quietly by his Master, who was currently in his throne-room still steaming over the fact that the Rebels had recently destroyed most of his almighty Imperial fleet. Mara had been right after all, and though Palpatine thought it fortunate to have her as his servant, since she had helped save his life, it didn't squelch his anger any. It was almost as bad as throwing wood on the fire.
The remnants of the Fleet had regrouped with the Executor, far away from the Rebellion, which was stronger than Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader had originally thought.
Mara bowed down in front of her Master.
"Rise, my child."
She rose, looking down at the ground. "Skywalker is no longer asleep."
"Good. As I am sure you know, young Jade, converting Skywalker will not be easy. Thus, we are going to pull your feminine powers into play." Palpatine gave an evil grin. He was going to enjoy this.
"My...powers, Master?" Mara's head shot up, and she seemed a little bewildered.
"Yes, you are female—and he is only human."
"You—you wish for me to seduce him?" Mara tried to hide her horror.
"Unless you are going to refuse..." The Emperor looked at Mara threateningly, his eyes flashing dangerously.
"No, Master," she said quickly. "I just wasn't expecting those instructions. I will obey your orders."
"Lord Vader," Palpatine nodded at him pointedly, "—and I have talked over this. He is to seem displeased with you and Skywalker's involvement."
Mara lowered her head. "Yes, Master."
"This is so Skywalker shall not suspect foul play...I am sure you understand, my child." The Emperor gave his own twisted version of a fatherly smile.
Mara nodded again. She understood. She didn't like it, but she understood.
Palpatine instructed her, "Go now. Tell him that his father is tending to business and will see him soon enough. Make your peace with Skywalker, but ensure that you are not suspicious in doing so."
With a last bow of her head, Mara left her Master and his right hand. When she was out of their eyesight and felt the Emperor turn his mind to other matters, a scowl crossed her face. However, when she arrived in front of Luke's cell, she made her facial expression unreadable right before entering.
Luke was sitting up, heavily leaning his head back against the wall. The ysalamiri had been removed, and on his face was a look of concentration and intense pain. His sapphire eyes moved to her face curiously when she entered, and he questioned, "Back so soon?" A pause. "I see you're alone...Did your Master change his mind?"
Mara gave him a sarcastic smile. "No, Vader's in a meeting or something, but they will both be here in a little while. Meanwhile, I'm supposed to baby-sit you." How in the worlds am I suppose to go about seducing Skywalker? Mara wondered. She had led Imperial men astray from business before (something that wasn't that difficult), but never had she done so with a Jedi Knight.
"Look, I appreciate it, really. But it's not necessary. I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself." Luke shifted a bit, wincing at the pain that shot through his body.
Mara gave him a dubious look. "Obviously." She then decided to try a different approach. She placed a perturbed look on her face and sighed in resignation. "Do you need help suppressing the pain? I could serve as an energy source that you could tap into...I know how painful it is when you're not on the Emperor's good side."
Luke looked suspicious, then the suspicion fled from his face and was replaced by a look of pain. The hurt was becoming far too great for him to deal with alone without passing out in a few minutes. "Are you sure about this?"
"Yeah, it's not like you're going to drain me of my life, farmboy, just a little energy."
Why not? Luke thought. It isn't going to kill me...Well, hopefully it won't he amended. He reached out with the Force and grudgingly accepted Mara's help. The pain slowly began to fade from his body, eventually leaving behind only a small throbbing feeling. "Thanks," Luke said with genuine gratitude. He felt much better. His stomach rumbled again its demand for food, and he gave an embarrassed grin to Jade.
Mara bit her lip in thought. "I'll be right back." She turned and left the room quickly.
Quizzical, Luke watched her leave. Five minutes later, she returned, carrying something that looked vaguely like some type of plastic container.
"Here," she said, holding out some water. Luke grabbed it swiftly, since he was parched, and she explained, "I snatched this out of the kitchen. I was about to get some food, but the cook started coming around the corner so I had to scram. I'm only supposed to eat at designated times."
Luke guzzled down the cool liquid that the container held, "Thanks." It slid smoothly down his throat, moistening his mouth.
Mara smiled. "Don't mention it. Really, don't."
"Don't want your Master to know that you've been a bad girl?"
"Nope."
Luke grinned. "Right."
Mara slowly walked over and sat down by Luke, also leaning against the wall. At Luke's questioning glance, she said, "I could be here for a while."
"Well, in that case, I want to know a little about you." Mara looked like she was ready to bolt, and Luke laughed. "Nothing that deep...What's your name again, and how old are you?"
Mara seemed to be trying to look dignified. "Mara Jade, and I am almost nineteen."
Not much younger than him...
"How did you come into the Emperor's service?" Luke leaned forward and turned his head to look at her.
"That's none of your business," Mara frowned.
"Surely you can tell me. It doesn't look like I'm leaving here anytime soon, much less alive," Luke made a slightly disgusted face.
"Fine. But I want you to know that this is the point of no return. After I tell you, I'll be forced to kill you," Mara said, a teasing glint in her eyes. "Are you still sure you want to know?"
Luke pretended to contemplate that for a minute. "So, you're planning on bringing the inevitable about sooner?" At the rear corners of his mind, a little voice tugged at him, 'Death wouldn't be such a bad thing...' He thrust the thought away. Despite how strongly he disliked being in the Empire's hands, he didn't want to die.
"Yes..." Mara said, then she back-tracked. "Well, maybe not sooner, but it is unavoidable," Mara gave a sinister smile, something she did all too often.
"I know it's unavoidable...But if you tell me, you won't kill me directly afterwards?" the Jedi looked hopeful.
"Probably not," Mara remarked, pursing her lips in mock-thought.
"Of course, if you killed me you'd probably be killed in return..."
"Yeah. That is, if I killed you now, but I'm not. So...Do you want to know or not?"
Luke nodded, looking at her in a way that made her extremely nervous...It was as if he could see right through all of her barriers. "I would."
"All right, but I warned you." Mara said as she moved around to face him. "When I was very young, about three I think, the Emperor took me from my home and killed my parents, who had tried to prevent him from taking me. He brought me to his palace, where I was put under several tests. Then, satisfied with the results, he began to train me. Just little things at first, but the amount and the difficulty of it all slowly began to increase. Now, I know about three hundred ways to kill you with my bare hands alone, and another thousand ways to do so with the Force." She smiled threateningly. "When I was about fifteen, he decided that I should see what happened to my parents after their deaths. He showed me a holovid in which your wonderful little Rebellion burned the tomb that my parents were buried in."
"That's a lie! We would never do that. We respect the dead a whole lot more than the Empire does," Luke said with a snort. Sensing that it was a touchy subject, Luke refrained from asking why she was still loyal to someone who had taken her from her childhood home and killed her parents.
Mara was about to smash his head into the wall when she remembered the Emperor's words. So instead she opted to lean incredibly close, saying a few choice words about the Rebellion that she only used in extreme circumstances. This accomplished two things: it added a little tension to the room and it helped her set him straight about her stand on the Rebel Alliance.
Luke attempted to give her a cold glare, but, due to their close proximity, it wouldn't have had any effect. So, muttering a few profanities of his own, he roughly pushed her back onto the floor.
She grabbed his arm at the last moment and pulled him down with her, so that he was pulled on top of her.
This time succeeding in giving her a cold, hard glare, he tried to remove himself from the uncomfortable position. Unfortunately, she wasn't about to let him go.
"Skywalker, if you ever do that again, I will personally rip your—" Mara started, but she was cut off when the door whisked open.
Vader entered, followed by the Emperor and a few of his Royal Guards. He paused, stock-still for a moment, seeing the two entwined. He looked at them questioningly, and his eyes, hidden behind his dark helmet, seemed to stare into their souls. What they didn't know was that he was disconcerted at seeing the Emperor's plan working so easily already.
Flushed, Mara pushed Luke off to the side and stood at attention, standing so fast it made her head spin.
Luke gave her a venomous look and remained on the floor, scooting back against the wall. He looked at Vader and the Emperor defiantly. He wouldn't stand up for them.
"Well, I can see you are busy...And this is not that important," croaked the Emperor maliciously, turning to leave. It looked like it wasn't much of a challenge at all to get what he wanted. Merely a matter of time.
"You only wish!" Luke bit out to Palpatine and Vader's retreating figures. He hadn't expected them to come in when they did.
"Excuse me," Mara said in an attempt to be polite, though the tone of her voice belied it. She quickly went towards the closed door and entered her code to open it. A few vulgar words escaped her mouth after a minute had passed, and she pounded the door in frustration.
"What's wrong? Unable to open a door that any three-year old could with ease?" Luke was very irritated.
"My clearance codes aren't working, which means I'm stuck in here with you for Sith knows how long," the Emperor's Hand said, hissing through her clenched teeth.
Luke gave a sarcastic smile. "The poor little baby doesn't get to take that hot shower that she wanted?"
"Bite me."
"Where?" Luke challenged. His eyes sparked with what was not-quite-hatred but was lurking on the edge of being just that if she didn't watch her mouth a little more closely.
"Oh, I've got a few ideas in mind." Mara remarked, adding a glare for good measure.
"You would!" Luke retorted.
A few more quips burst out, unbidden. "I just hope you manage not to provoke me into killing you."
"On the contrary, I think you hope that I will anger you just enough for you to be able to go into a mad rage and slice my throat, blaming it on the "fact" that I tried to attack you."
He wasn't that far from the truth. "You never know."
It became another battle of looks, and Mara, remembering her mission, broke it for the second time with a sigh. "Fine. I'm sorry," she grated.
The Jedi slitted his eyes, "I don't think you are."
Mara sighed. "What do I have to do to prove it to you?"
"Behave like a normal human being?" Luke suggested.
Mara pursed her lips, giving yet another venomous glare. "Okay, let's start over. I am Mara Jade, better known as the Emperor's Hand." She held her hand out.
Luke looked at her expressionlessly, ignoring her offered hand and closing his eyes wearily.
Mara bit her lip. "I really am sorry. I'm doing my best to be social..."
Luke opened his eyes. "Fine. Do you know what they are going to do to me next?"
He was trying to get more information out of her, and she didn't like it one bit. "I'm sure they have something special planned for you."
Luke lifted his eyebrows and spoke dryly, "Oh, joy."
"So, how does it feel to be Darth Vader's son?"
He wasn't quite comfortable with that question, but he answered anyway. "When I was first told about it—it was like a lightsaber had sliced a hole through my heart. It felt like everything I knew wasn't true." Luke was distantly mingling in his memories.
Mara Jade shrugged. "Well, at least you grew up with a mother and father figure."
"And lies."
"You're not the only one."
Blue eyes met emerald green ones, both showing hurt and, strangely, empathy. Hesitantly, unsure of what in space was getting into him, Luke brought his left hand, callused from many years of farm work, up and cupped her delicate cheek, bringing her face to his. He leaned down, gently placing his lips upon her petal soft ones. The kiss was long, but Luke had to reluctantly break away for breath, leaning back against the wall and closing his eyes, drained.
Mara smiled. He had fallen asleep.
Mission accomplished. Well, part of it anyway.
And yet, Mara somehow couldn't quite shake off the feeling that she wasn't just doing this for her Master, that she was also doing it for some sort of personal gain.
Mara pushed the thought into the depths of her brain. She was supposed to serve and obey her Master. She shouldn't be feeling the emotions that she was.
She leaned lightly against him, dozing off herself.