It had been two days since that night Mara, the Noghri, and the Solos had rushed over to the hospital. Luke's vital signs had continued to go up and down like a rollercoaster, and his family and friends worried about him.

Mara had persistently stayed by his side the whole time, and she hadn't had any sleep despite her drooping eyebrows. The doctors had tried to get her to rest, but after she had snarled something vulgar at them and pointed her blaster to emphasize her point, they'd decided to let her be.

Luke was still unconscious, and Mara continued to weakly try to heal him. Leia and Han had visited several times, but Leia had other duties so they couldn't stay too long. Han had just left after bringing Mara a small meal and drink. She didn't thank him for it, but he knew that she appreciated it even if she didn't verbalize it. She finished it quickly and concentrated on using the Force again.

Don't you dare die on me, Luke. I wouldn't be able to li—

And yet, she couldn't bring herself to admit the words to herself. Admitting that she couldn't live without him felt too much like she was just giving up on him.

And that was the last thing she was planning on doing.

She lightly brushed the errant hair out of his face, studying his features quietly. Unsurely, not knowing what had gotten into her, she leaned down and placed a soft kiss on his forehead.

He groaned, and she started. His eyes fluttered open, and their brilliant sapphire color startled her. Had his eyes always been that blue?

Luke lifted his eyes up to her, and he started this time, finding her head mere inches from his. His confused eyes held many questions.

But Mara didn't feeling like answering them right then. She whispered, trembling, "I'm so sorry."

He opened his mouth to tell her not to be sorry and to tell her that it wasn't her fault, but the male doctor noticed his consciousness and hurried over. "How are you feeling?"

Luke glanced back at Mara, his gaze clearly telling her he wanted privacy.

"Could you give us a few minutes?" Mara inquired as sweetly as she could.

"But—"

"Now." Mara's voice suddenly wasn't so sweet anymore.

"Fine," he huffed as he stomped off. This Jedi Master was a lot more trouble than he was worth.

After he was out of hearing distance, Luke spoke simply: "I was supposed to die."

"Don't say that, Skywalker!" Mara whispered fiercely.

But Luke, as sickly as he was, felt rather sour and pessimistic. "Why? Isn't that what you wanted?"

Mara's jaw dropped, shocked. "How can you say something like that?" she demanded. "I never wanted you to die!" Her voice became softer. "How could I when I l—" she cut off.

"When you what?" Luke asked, a tinge of sadness in his voice. He was somehow managing to keep his body's battle to slip back into unconsciousness at bay. He had to talk to Mara first. Then he would let himself go back into that dark oblivion. But the next time it would be forever.

Mara looked at his face, a thousand emotions playing across hers. She felt trapped, relieved, scared, happy, sad...

She sighed. Was trying to convince him hopeless?

She chose to not answer his question right away, though. "I was asleep in bed," she said, referring to the night that he'd attempted to take his life. What she said wasn't exactly clear, but the Tatooinian farmboy understood nevertheless. "All of a sudden I felt this strange flash of emotions...And then...darkness." She took a breath. "I was so scared, Luke." She didn't even notice that'd she called him by his first name. "I've never been so scared in my life, not even when the Emperor—" she cut herself off and cleared her throat. "When I thought that you had died..." she broke off again, closing her eyes painfully. "I wasn't sure what I should do, so I called security. I couldn't bear to come over and see your dead body for myself...But then I felt your presence briefly flicker...And I had hope. I rushed over to the medcenter, and I waited. Time seemed to stretch for eternity, but they finally brought you in, and my heart wrenched. I couldn't bear to see you like that...I tried to follow, but the Noghri stopped me, telling me that I would be thrown out since I wasn't a relative of yours. And so, I waited."

Mara took in another deep breath. "I was terrifed to think that you might die because I was too stupid to reveal my feelings for you." Luke's eyes widened, but she pressed a finger against his mouth to keep him from speaking. "I couldn't bear the thought that you would be dead before I could tell you that I..." She paused. It took a lot out of her to finally admit it out loud and to admit it to him.

"I love you."

A look of relief and elation passed across Luke's face when those words left her mouth, and he looked like he wanted to jump for joy. And he might have done just that if Mara hadn't put a restraining arm on him. "You need to be still. You don't need to be here in the medcenter even longer than you already will be." She gave a small smile. "And I promise, I'll do my best to never hide my feelings from you again...The consequences are too dire."

Silence reigned, until, in an attempt to alleviate the tension, Mara grinned down at Luke and spoke. "So...You tried to kill yourself by following a bottle of pills with a bottle of vodka?"

Luke grinded out, albeit weakly, "I had a headache."

Mara lifted an eyebrow, "That must have been one heck of a headache."

"You're telling me," Luke groaned.

Mara lowered her head, making as if she were going straight for his lips, but she veered at the last instant to give him a small peck on the cheek, although her mischievious tongue darted out for a brief instant. "You vixen," Luke growled, although he had a wide grin on his face.

Mara Jade chuckled, "Don't you forget it."

Luke laughed, too, then he sobered. He looked deep into her emerald eyes. "Mara Jade, I love you."

"And I love you," she smiled, grasping his hand and rubbing the top of it with her thumb. And she did love him. With all of her heart.

Deep inside the Jedi, a bold part of himself prodded Luke to say what he did next. "Marry me."

Mara raised a skeptical eyebrow, "Whatever happened to dating?"

"What? Isn't this your idea of a perfect date?"

Mara surveyed his weak and fragile-looking body with a brief glance. "No, I can think of a more romantic setting than this."

"So?" he wasn't about to be thrown off-course that easily.

She cradled his cheek gently, "What happened to getting down on your knees?"

Luke started to get up, a bit exasperated, "If you want me to that bad—"

Mara pushed him down as easily as she would topple a glass on its side. "You're in no condition to be out of bed, much less on your knees."

She was continuing to distance herself from him, and Luke didn't like it one bit. Gently and softly, he asked, "Yes or no, Mara?"

Mara studied him for a moment. This was a life decision. Minutes ago she had thought that he might die before she could tell him she loved him. Years ago she had wanted to kill him. Now, she wanted nothing more than to share her life with him.

She smiled. She couldn't say no even if she tried. "All right, Skywalker. I will."

Inwardly, she made a solemn oath to always be there for him, through the thick and the thin, for better or worse...

Till death did they part.