Disclaimer: All characters in here, with the exception of Maara Jade, are the sole property of Lucasfilm. I'm just playing with them, and only for fun. I'm not making a single red cent. Maara Jade created 1996 by Sithspit.
PART SIX
Epilogue
Sunshine filled the skies of Yavin IV as its yellow primary peeked over the horizon, tentatively at first, then more boldly over time. Thick mists shrouded the verdant forests of the moon, covering the lush growth with a cold blanket as though tucked into a bed. Animals cried out in pain and joy, greeting their mates and their prey with equal abandon, venturing out into the dawning new day to survive.
As the sun burned the mist away from the Massassi temple that housed Luke Skywalker's Jedi Praxeum, the sounds of students at their morning exercises greeted it just as warmly as it greeted them.
Jedi Master Luke Skywalker surveyed his students as he ran with them through the jungle, noting their individual strengths and weaknesses and planning tests for them. He often did the physical training with them, more for his own discipline than for the obvious show of solidarity, which was an added benefit. Most importantly, it set a rather pointed precedent that no one was above any one else at the Academy.
As they exited the jungle's edge, Luke saw Streen waiting for him at the temple's entrance. Even at a distance Luke could see the concern on his top pupils face. Luke turned to the group leader and gestured for her to continue on without him. He split away from the group, returning their waved farewell as he left. He jogged over to Streen and saw that he was holding a package and a towel.
Luke regarded him with a smile and asked, "Are those both for me?"
Streen looked slightly embarrassed and said, "Yes, Master Skywalker, they are. The towel is from Mistress Mara and the package is from Callista."
Suddenly Luke understood Streen's discomfort.
Callista.
After all these years of silence, why would she seek him out and send a package?
Luke looked at Streen and smiled. "Thank you, Streen. Have you seen Mara?"
"Yes, she's in your chambers practicing with the remotes." He paused then said, "Is there anything else I can do for you Master Luke?"
Luke sighed and replied, "No Streen. I'll just go in to see Mara and take care of this package."
Much to Luke's surprise, Streen looked relieved as he handed over the package. In fact, he visibly shivered when he handed it over.
"Streen, are you all right?" Luke queried.
Streen started guiltily, almost as if Luke had caught him out at something. "Um, yes, I am," he stammered. "I just could have sworn that I felt a disturbance in the Force when the package arrived on the courier ship, as if a Dark Side presence was here."
Luke grimaced and nodded. "I felt it also. You say it was when the package arrived?"
Streen nodded. "Yes. I was most surprised to see that it was from Callista."
Luke sighed and nodded. Yes, very surprising, he thought. "All right, Streen, thank you." He turned to go and reached out in the Force for Mara's presence and found her to still be fighting the remotes. Her mind seemed very active for remote practice, and this puzzled him. As he walked into the practice room, he immediately understood her frame of mind. Mara was battling three of the devices simultaneously.
Battling them well.
Mara twisted, spun, and parried, her grace and fluidity prosaic in its poetry, keeping its own rhythm and entwined with the rhythm of the Force.
At least she did until she felt his presence as he walked into the room, calm and confident, yet troubled. She risked stealing a glance at him and immediately regretted it. All three remotes fired simultaneously with two catching her legs and the third stunning her sabre arm. Mara, true to form, began to curse vehemently as her stunned legs dropped her onto the hard floor.
Luke chuckled and spoke the command override for the remotes and shut them off. He went up to Mara, set the package down, and began to massage feeling back into her legs.
"Oh, I hate this, I HATE this! I can't feel my legs," she groused. Mara began to rub her arm with her hand, trying to get feeling back into it as well. She flopped backwards onto her back and moaned under Luke's ministrations. "Ah, Sith spawn, that hurts when the feeling comes back in."
Luke picked her up in his arms and levitated the package as he carried her into their room. He laughed as Mara began to complain.
"Now they're starting to tingle! Ahhh!" He set her on the bed, still laughing as she began to beat him and demand that he stop laughing at her.
His laughing eased off to amused chuckles as he began rubbing her legs again, his eyes twinkling with mischief as the rubbing became more purposeful. Mara stretched with feline grace, arms over her head and eyes saying more than she was speaking. She reached over and folded her hands behind his neck and pulled him down to her as a low moan escaped her lips...
***
Sometime later, Luke opened his eyes and found Mara propped on her elbows, staring at him, green eyes sparkling in the fading light of the day. He smiled and reached up to tenderly stroke her face. She rolled her neck to rub her face against his hand, much as a cat would rub against a stroking caress. Mara smiled down at him and said, "Why did she send you a package?"
Startled, Luke sat upright in bed. "I completely forgot about it!" He jumped up to get the mystery package and found that Mara had it, hidden behind her back.
Mara held it out to him and spoke in a low monotone. "Luke, she's been gone for years. Why is she doing this now?"
Luke gaped at Mara, a shocked expression on his visage. Realization smacked him dead in the face as he muttered, "I don't believe this; you're jealous."
Mara exploded. "Of course I'm jealous! Skies, Luke, she's an old lover! Hello! Did you forget I'm your wife?! Why shouldn't I be jealous?!"
He reached out to hold her and found her stiff and unyielding. He spoke soothing words to her to heal her wounded heart, gently reminding her of his vows to her. "Mara, she is the past and you are my present. I swore to be faithful to you and I have. I always will be. What kind of husband would I be if I wasn't?"
Her expression softened and she leaned into his embrace, "I can be fiercely overprotective, can't I? What kind of wife would I be if I weren't?"
Luke smiled and said, "Boring!"
Her mouth fell open, a look of sheer amazement spread across her lovely features. "Boring? Boring! I'll show YOU boring!" With a battle cry, she leapt upon him and they fell together, poking and tickling each other until they were both so winded they could laugh no more.
Mara grinned wickedly, then kissed Luke and said, "So, open it."
Luke turned the box over in his hands and shook it lightly. They could both hear something rattling about on the inside and the box felt substantial in weight without being heavy. The Jedi Master reached out with the Force and felt the presence of coldness and death. He cast a significant glance at Mara who had paled and suddenly become very serious. Luke found the thumb plate and pressed his digit to it. The lock de-activated with a "snap" and the pressure seal released its grip upon the contents, allowing the lid to rise.
Mara gasped and a low moan escaped from Luke's lips as the box's contents became visible.
Callista's lightsaber. Dented and bloody, covered in mud and swamp detritus, but plainly and obviously the weapon of Luke's former lover.
Luke reached into the box and pulled the weapon out of the darkness and into the light. As he did so, the box's holoprojector activated and began to project a shimmering depiction of a battle. The image clearly depicted Callista and someone who looked exactly like Mara locked in mortal combat. The hologram continued to run until the grisly end, showing Callista die and then vanish. As it did so, the swamp battle scene faded out and into a single figure. The figure standing over the box was grainy but instantly recognizable as the exact image of Mara.
Mara gasped and Luke muttered, "Sith."
The holo began to speak...
"Greetings. If you are seeing this hologram then you have already removed Callista's lightsaber from the box and have seen her die. Sorry about how it looks. It is a bit messy, isn't it?" The hologram woman laughed and continued. "My name is Maara Jade, and I am a clone of your wife. How I came to be is rather irrelevant at this time so I'll cut to the chase. My creator made me to hunt and kill several people that you hold dear, the last of whom was Callista. Kyp Durron was first. I came on to him, letting him think that I was your wife. He was so drunk; fooling him by appealing to his masculinity and his lust for Mara was easy."
At this, Luke raised an eyebrow, glancing at Mara. "Oh yes, he had a thing for her. That just made it SO much easier." The Holo Maara chuckled quietly before pausing in reflection. After a few seconds of silence, she somberly continued.
"Qwi Xux was also easy. I simply planted a fake datacard telling her that Wedge would be unable to make it home for their anniversary and then arranged a little delay to keep him from getting home on time. Then I just played the sympathetic friend and took her out. When I finished with her I used a disruptor to get rid of the evidence. I've enclosed the before and after holos for your perusal."
Mara pulled the holos out of the box and looked at them. She paled and her mouth hardened to a thin, rigid line.
Maara's holo image clasped its hands behind its back and began to pace. "I then killed Admiral Daala and her lover, Vorn." She spoke the word "Admiral" with quite a bit of venom and contempt. "It was much quicker for them, though. Thermal detonators are rather efficient in that regard." The image stopped and turned to face the camera directly. "I took a short break at this point to eradicate all of the New Republic Y-wing fighters, may their remains rust in peace."
Luke sucked in a sharp breath, shocked and stunned at this revelation. Space me, SHE did that?
The hologram chuckled. "What can I say? I needed a break."
She looked directly ahead at this point, her face becoming serious. "Finally, it was time for the coup de grace. It took me nearly a year, but I discovered that Callista had gone to ground on Dagobah.
The hologram gestured in the direction of what would've been the direction of the lightsaber before packaging. "As you can see, I went there and killed her. I know you would never believe that it was in fair combat, so I recorded the entire episode. Obviously, as it preceded my little speech."
Maara took a deep breath and let it slowly out. She suddenly looked older, weary, worn out. She looked intently at the camera and spoke, softly, almost too low to hear, "Now I've finished my mission and all of you, including The Hand, can collectively go to hell. I fully intend to disappear and become my own person. I want nothing to do with Mara Jade, Jedi, The Hand..." She grimaced in anger. "I want nothing to do with anyone. I just want to be left alone to discover who I am and find out for myself what I believe, not what I've been programmed to think. May our paths never cross, and good bye." The hologram turned as if to walk away, then stopped. Maara's head dropped and they heard her speak one last time in a barely audible whisper. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry."
The holo winked out and disappeared.
Mara and Luke sat in horrified silence for several minutes. Finally, they turned to look at each other and simply stared, unable to form words.
Luke finally broke the silence. Quietly and with conviction, he said, "This can't get out. Not ever."
Mara wheeled on him and shouted, "WHAT? What do you mean, never?! We have to give this to the New Republic so they can..."
"So they can what?" Luke countered. "Hunt her down like Colonel Bremen wanted to hunt you?" He sighed and continued, "Mara, she is in nearly the same place you were in not too many years ago. The difference is while you served Palpatine willingly, she was created to serve this `Hand' person and was flash-taught what to think." He looked into her eyes searchingly, "If there was hope for you, don't you think there's hope for her? Let her go!"
The Jedi looked down at the weapon in his hand, sadly. He placed the it on the table next to the bed and decisively erased the holograms. Finally, he took a deep breath, then turned to see his wife. Mara was standing at the open viewport, apparently lost in her thoughts. Luke moved behind her and put his arms around her.
Mara put her hand on his arm, turned and asked, eyes looking at him questioningly. "Luke, was I ever really that murderous?"
Luke folded her into a warm and comforting embrace, sending thoughts of love and peace to ease her mind and said, "I got through to you before you could get that far. The potential was there, but we beat the program."
Mara looked out of the window and whispered, "Yes, we did. I just hope you're right about her."
PART SIX
Epilogue
Sunshine filled the skies of Yavin IV as its yellow primary peeked over the horizon, tentatively at first, then more boldly over time. Thick mists shrouded the verdant forests of the moon, covering the lush growth with a cold blanket as though tucked into a bed. Animals cried out in pain and joy, greeting their mates and their prey with equal abandon, venturing out into the dawning new day to survive.
As the sun burned the mist away from the Massassi temple that housed Luke Skywalker's Jedi Praxeum, the sounds of students at their morning exercises greeted it just as warmly as it greeted them.
Jedi Master Luke Skywalker surveyed his students as he ran with them through the jungle, noting their individual strengths and weaknesses and planning tests for them. He often did the physical training with them, more for his own discipline than for the obvious show of solidarity, which was an added benefit. Most importantly, it set a rather pointed precedent that no one was above any one else at the Academy.
As they exited the jungle's edge, Luke saw Streen waiting for him at the temple's entrance. Even at a distance Luke could see the concern on his top pupils face. Luke turned to the group leader and gestured for her to continue on without him. He split away from the group, returning their waved farewell as he left. He jogged over to Streen and saw that he was holding a package and a towel.
Luke regarded him with a smile and asked, "Are those both for me?"
Streen looked slightly embarrassed and said, "Yes, Master Skywalker, they are. The towel is from Mistress Mara and the package is from Callista."
Suddenly Luke understood Streen's discomfort.
Callista.
After all these years of silence, why would she seek him out and send a package?
Luke looked at Streen and smiled. "Thank you, Streen. Have you seen Mara?"
"Yes, she's in your chambers practicing with the remotes." He paused then said, "Is there anything else I can do for you Master Luke?"
Luke sighed and replied, "No Streen. I'll just go in to see Mara and take care of this package."
Much to Luke's surprise, Streen looked relieved as he handed over the package. In fact, he visibly shivered when he handed it over.
"Streen, are you all right?" Luke queried.
Streen started guiltily, almost as if Luke had caught him out at something. "Um, yes, I am," he stammered. "I just could have sworn that I felt a disturbance in the Force when the package arrived on the courier ship, as if a Dark Side presence was here."
Luke grimaced and nodded. "I felt it also. You say it was when the package arrived?"
Streen nodded. "Yes. I was most surprised to see that it was from Callista."
Luke sighed and nodded. Yes, very surprising, he thought. "All right, Streen, thank you." He turned to go and reached out in the Force for Mara's presence and found her to still be fighting the remotes. Her mind seemed very active for remote practice, and this puzzled him. As he walked into the practice room, he immediately understood her frame of mind. Mara was battling three of the devices simultaneously.
Battling them well.
Mara twisted, spun, and parried, her grace and fluidity prosaic in its poetry, keeping its own rhythm and entwined with the rhythm of the Force.
At least she did until she felt his presence as he walked into the room, calm and confident, yet troubled. She risked stealing a glance at him and immediately regretted it. All three remotes fired simultaneously with two catching her legs and the third stunning her sabre arm. Mara, true to form, began to curse vehemently as her stunned legs dropped her onto the hard floor.
Luke chuckled and spoke the command override for the remotes and shut them off. He went up to Mara, set the package down, and began to massage feeling back into her legs.
"Oh, I hate this, I HATE this! I can't feel my legs," she groused. Mara began to rub her arm with her hand, trying to get feeling back into it as well. She flopped backwards onto her back and moaned under Luke's ministrations. "Ah, Sith spawn, that hurts when the feeling comes back in."
Luke picked her up in his arms and levitated the package as he carried her into their room. He laughed as Mara began to complain.
"Now they're starting to tingle! Ahhh!" He set her on the bed, still laughing as she began to beat him and demand that he stop laughing at her.
His laughing eased off to amused chuckles as he began rubbing her legs again, his eyes twinkling with mischief as the rubbing became more purposeful. Mara stretched with feline grace, arms over her head and eyes saying more than she was speaking. She reached over and folded her hands behind his neck and pulled him down to her as a low moan escaped her lips...
***
Sometime later, Luke opened his eyes and found Mara propped on her elbows, staring at him, green eyes sparkling in the fading light of the day. He smiled and reached up to tenderly stroke her face. She rolled her neck to rub her face against his hand, much as a cat would rub against a stroking caress. Mara smiled down at him and said, "Why did she send you a package?"
Startled, Luke sat upright in bed. "I completely forgot about it!" He jumped up to get the mystery package and found that Mara had it, hidden behind her back.
Mara held it out to him and spoke in a low monotone. "Luke, she's been gone for years. Why is she doing this now?"
Luke gaped at Mara, a shocked expression on his visage. Realization smacked him dead in the face as he muttered, "I don't believe this; you're jealous."
Mara exploded. "Of course I'm jealous! Skies, Luke, she's an old lover! Hello! Did you forget I'm your wife?! Why shouldn't I be jealous?!"
He reached out to hold her and found her stiff and unyielding. He spoke soothing words to her to heal her wounded heart, gently reminding her of his vows to her. "Mara, she is the past and you are my present. I swore to be faithful to you and I have. I always will be. What kind of husband would I be if I wasn't?"
Her expression softened and she leaned into his embrace, "I can be fiercely overprotective, can't I? What kind of wife would I be if I weren't?"
Luke smiled and said, "Boring!"
Her mouth fell open, a look of sheer amazement spread across her lovely features. "Boring? Boring! I'll show YOU boring!" With a battle cry, she leapt upon him and they fell together, poking and tickling each other until they were both so winded they could laugh no more.
Mara grinned wickedly, then kissed Luke and said, "So, open it."
Luke turned the box over in his hands and shook it lightly. They could both hear something rattling about on the inside and the box felt substantial in weight without being heavy. The Jedi Master reached out with the Force and felt the presence of coldness and death. He cast a significant glance at Mara who had paled and suddenly become very serious. Luke found the thumb plate and pressed his digit to it. The lock de-activated with a "snap" and the pressure seal released its grip upon the contents, allowing the lid to rise.
Mara gasped and a low moan escaped from Luke's lips as the box's contents became visible.
Callista's lightsaber. Dented and bloody, covered in mud and swamp detritus, but plainly and obviously the weapon of Luke's former lover.
Luke reached into the box and pulled the weapon out of the darkness and into the light. As he did so, the box's holoprojector activated and began to project a shimmering depiction of a battle. The image clearly depicted Callista and someone who looked exactly like Mara locked in mortal combat. The hologram continued to run until the grisly end, showing Callista die and then vanish. As it did so, the swamp battle scene faded out and into a single figure. The figure standing over the box was grainy but instantly recognizable as the exact image of Mara.
Mara gasped and Luke muttered, "Sith."
The holo began to speak...
"Greetings. If you are seeing this hologram then you have already removed Callista's lightsaber from the box and have seen her die. Sorry about how it looks. It is a bit messy, isn't it?" The hologram woman laughed and continued. "My name is Maara Jade, and I am a clone of your wife. How I came to be is rather irrelevant at this time so I'll cut to the chase. My creator made me to hunt and kill several people that you hold dear, the last of whom was Callista. Kyp Durron was first. I came on to him, letting him think that I was your wife. He was so drunk; fooling him by appealing to his masculinity and his lust for Mara was easy."
At this, Luke raised an eyebrow, glancing at Mara. "Oh yes, he had a thing for her. That just made it SO much easier." The Holo Maara chuckled quietly before pausing in reflection. After a few seconds of silence, she somberly continued.
"Qwi Xux was also easy. I simply planted a fake datacard telling her that Wedge would be unable to make it home for their anniversary and then arranged a little delay to keep him from getting home on time. Then I just played the sympathetic friend and took her out. When I finished with her I used a disruptor to get rid of the evidence. I've enclosed the before and after holos for your perusal."
Mara pulled the holos out of the box and looked at them. She paled and her mouth hardened to a thin, rigid line.
Maara's holo image clasped its hands behind its back and began to pace. "I then killed Admiral Daala and her lover, Vorn." She spoke the word "Admiral" with quite a bit of venom and contempt. "It was much quicker for them, though. Thermal detonators are rather efficient in that regard." The image stopped and turned to face the camera directly. "I took a short break at this point to eradicate all of the New Republic Y-wing fighters, may their remains rust in peace."
Luke sucked in a sharp breath, shocked and stunned at this revelation. Space me, SHE did that?
The hologram chuckled. "What can I say? I needed a break."
She looked directly ahead at this point, her face becoming serious. "Finally, it was time for the coup de grace. It took me nearly a year, but I discovered that Callista had gone to ground on Dagobah.
The hologram gestured in the direction of what would've been the direction of the lightsaber before packaging. "As you can see, I went there and killed her. I know you would never believe that it was in fair combat, so I recorded the entire episode. Obviously, as it preceded my little speech."
Maara took a deep breath and let it slowly out. She suddenly looked older, weary, worn out. She looked intently at the camera and spoke, softly, almost too low to hear, "Now I've finished my mission and all of you, including The Hand, can collectively go to hell. I fully intend to disappear and become my own person. I want nothing to do with Mara Jade, Jedi, The Hand..." She grimaced in anger. "I want nothing to do with anyone. I just want to be left alone to discover who I am and find out for myself what I believe, not what I've been programmed to think. May our paths never cross, and good bye." The hologram turned as if to walk away, then stopped. Maara's head dropped and they heard her speak one last time in a barely audible whisper. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry."
The holo winked out and disappeared.
Mara and Luke sat in horrified silence for several minutes. Finally, they turned to look at each other and simply stared, unable to form words.
Luke finally broke the silence. Quietly and with conviction, he said, "This can't get out. Not ever."
Mara wheeled on him and shouted, "WHAT? What do you mean, never?! We have to give this to the New Republic so they can..."
"So they can what?" Luke countered. "Hunt her down like Colonel Bremen wanted to hunt you?" He sighed and continued, "Mara, she is in nearly the same place you were in not too many years ago. The difference is while you served Palpatine willingly, she was created to serve this `Hand' person and was flash-taught what to think." He looked into her eyes searchingly, "If there was hope for you, don't you think there's hope for her? Let her go!"
The Jedi looked down at the weapon in his hand, sadly. He placed the it on the table next to the bed and decisively erased the holograms. Finally, he took a deep breath, then turned to see his wife. Mara was standing at the open viewport, apparently lost in her thoughts. Luke moved behind her and put his arms around her.
Mara put her hand on his arm, turned and asked, eyes looking at him questioningly. "Luke, was I ever really that murderous?"
Luke folded her into a warm and comforting embrace, sending thoughts of love and peace to ease her mind and said, "I got through to you before you could get that far. The potential was there, but we beat the program."
Mara looked out of the window and whispered, "Yes, we did. I just hope you're right about her."