At point blank range
Part 5: Waiting out the rain
By SJ (skyjade@globetrotter.net)
02-02-02/06-02
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Disclaimers: Nothing in the Star Wars Universe belong to me; everything belongs
to George Lucas. Also, everything related to the spoken parts of Heir to the
Empire belongs to Timothy Zhan. I'm only borrowing it to make more sense with
Mara's or Luke's missing thoughts (when we follow Luke's thoughts in the novel,
this story will cover Mara's, and vice versa ;). Naturally, everything related
to the events of Heir to the Empire also belong to T. Zhan. Please don't sue
me, it's only for fun; I'm not making any money out of this.
See my homepage for more details.
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Quasar/3702
Special thanks to my shy, secret beta-reader and best friend, Adrianne, for her
help with the final editing of my new stories. Thanks for giving me some of
your precious time, my friend :)
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While the rain was only making it slightly more difficult to progress forward on
the now slippery ground, it's cold nature eventually got the better of the two
young people and even Jade admitted defeat.
They wouldn't reach Hylliard City the next day.
A while later, they found a cave in which they decided to shelter themselves
from the falling rain until it stopped.
Once inside, Skywalker retrieved his shirt from under the droid and groaned when
it too proved to be sodden wet.
"Must be the price to pay for exposing yourself like this," she commented tartly
while she herself wrung water out of her relatively long hair.
She dimly reflected that they were not that long though; just a trifle more so
than their usual shoulder length.
"It was that or collapsing from the heat," the Jedi shrugged, then began to pull
off his tank top. "Besides, Artoo needed cushioning."
While she snorted in answer, she reflexively turned away from him to block out
the sight of his more-than-taunting body. Did he have to strip completely again
in front of her? she demanded to no one while she pretended to study their
surroundings. Was he truly doing this to dry himself? Or was it because he
knew what kind of effect he had on her?
She herself sure knew how he affected her.
"Artoo, do you still have that drying function?" the object of her thoughts
asked from behind her.
His droid warbled an answer, to which Skywalker answered: "No I won't be sick
from the cold. It's not too bad. And you? Did the water affect you?"
While she listened to his conversation with his droid, a droid for star's
sake!... she begrudgingly admitted that the Jedi really seemed to be a kind
man.
Earlier today, she had seen it to be true when he had cared for his droid after
three falls in a row--- Well it was also part of his plan to escape, she
reminded herself harshly.
It was only a ploy, it had to be... Like his kindness toward her was...
However, the more she eavesdropped yet again on his private conversation with
the robot, the more she 'had' to admit that keeping up that kind of charade for
that long was impossible, even for Skywalker who was skilled at duping people.
At the moment, he was truly behaving with the robot as he would with a true
human being... How he would perhaps behave with her if she were to give him the
chance... If she could trust him.
While her prisoner dried himself, she remained near the entrance of the cave,
watching the falling rain as it intensified instead of diminished; lost in her
thoughts, she eventually became aware that she too was cold.
However, she decided in disgust that she wasn't about to get rid of her clothes
like the Jedi had done, and especially not in front of him. Bending down, she
retrieved the heavy blanket that was still neatly folded at the bottom of her
pack, then blindly threw it at the Jedi.
It landed straight on his lap, surprising him.
"Cover yourself with it," she ordered him, carefully turning back toward him;
she riveted her eyes on his in order to keep herself in check.
She was all too aware that he had also removed his pants for the moment; she
didn't trust herself to not react to that kind of sight with him.
"Thank you," he told her even as he wrapped himself under it. "but what about
you?" he then asked solicitously.
"Tell your droid to dry my clothes first," she answered coolly.
"Tell..." the man frowned at her. "You can tell him yourself," he reassured her
in his calm voice.
"But he won't obey. Tell him," she repeated, stepping closer to the sitting,
blanket-covered Jedi.
"Artoo?" he asked the droid, glancing at his single eye in the same occasion,
"do it, please?"
The robot fluted something that sounded like agreement. Skywalker wordlessly
confirmed her feeling with a nod of his head.
"Now turn around," she instructed her prisoner.
Once again, he didn't complain and gave her privacy.
"And you," she warned the droid, fastening her glare on its single eye, "don't
you dare keep this in memory or I will put you through 'two' memory wipes."
Skywalker's droid barely answered her, but she understood that he would behave
too.
She hurried to take off her shirt and pants, then held them in front of the
small source of heat.
Sitting with his knees pulled against his chest, Luke patiently waited for his
companion to finish with her clothes.
"At least," he finally commented in the silence, "we won't need a bath for a
while."
"That's the least of my worries at the moment," she half-growled, half-snarled
at him.
Luke pondered her answer for a few seconds, then decided that it might be the
opening he had been waiting for.
"What is your main worry then?" he asked softly.
For a moment, she sounded as if she were about to talk to him, to understand
that he wasn't her enemy...
"Survival," she finally answered shortly, coldly.
That, Luke reflected glumly was as large an answer as he had ever heard one.
In Mara's case, it could mean her immediate survival here in the forest, with
him and Artoo in tow, or it could mean survival after what had happened to her
because of him... and it could even go as far as how she would explain to Karrde
that he had gotten away from them.
"If it can make you feel better, Mara," he began seriously, "I will tell Karrde
to blame everything on me. Had I not have my artificial hand, I wouldn't have
escaped from the compound."
The gasp of shock that followed his offer informed him that she hadn't been
expecting this from him, but instead of mellowing her, it upset her once.
"The great and diligent Jedi," she sneered while he heard her step closer to
him; he suddenly felt the cold tip of her blaster against the nape of his neck.
"Do me a favor, Skywalker, and just shut up," she growled menacingly.
Aware that he was pushing her limits instead of helping her, he nodded silently
and obeyed her new order. He patiently waited for her to finish with her
clothes.
While she let the little droid continue to dry her clothes, Mara's eyes drifted
every so often toward her prisoner.
Unlike the previous day when she had done so to make sure that he wouldn't
escape, it wasn't her main purpose this time. Now she knew that he wouldn't try
to escape her, both out of devotion for his droid, if anybody had ever heard of
such a thing... but more and more, she was growing aware that he would also stay
for her.
She wanted to kill him, had made it more than obvious and clear to him, and
yet... the man had just told her that he would take the blame for her if it ever
came to that. As if they were friends instead of foes, she pouted in confusion.
What was wrong with Skywalker anyway? More and more, she was beginning to doubt
that he had ever even been a murderer.
Perhaps, she reluctantly admitted, he had merely been a rebel fighter, against
the Empire---- and he had to die for this, her grim self stated with finality,
but perhaps..., her gentler self continued, he had only killed because of the
war. He certainly didn't have the psychological profile of an assassin, she
reflected seriously.
She, on the other hand... did.
Upon that thought, part of the answers she was looking for came to her.
Skywalker really wasn't anything like she was. Instead, she finally understood
that the Jedi had merely been on the wrong side of the war. But then, she dimly
wondered, why had his file described him as a murderer? Why had her master...
lied to her?--- No, her rational self instantly objected to the unfaithful
thought. No, she was mistaken. The Emperor had never hidden the truth from
her. He had told her everything, even about Vader's offer to Skywalker. He had
trusted her, hadn't needed lies to ascertain her service, but... Skywalker...,
she pondered with an increasing certitude that was going against even her
deepest training,... Skywalker wasn't a killer.
If he were, she thought seriously, calling to mind every memory of killers whom
she had hunted down, he would have attacked her at least once, or would have at
least insulted her, glared murderously at her, even attempted an escape, but
no...
Instead, he was trying to befriend her.
Well, she wouldn't let him soften her more than he already had, she resolved
while she checked the state of her clothes. And, she added in contempt, he was
crazy for not trying to escape. She was still going to kill him if only for his
being the rebel who killed the Emperor. That in itself was an awful crime...
At least, she thought so...
While Mara silently shifted from one foot to another as her clothes dried, Luke
patiently waited for her instructions; he used the silence to ponder his
attitude toward his companion.
More and more, he was beginning to wonder if the lack of Force around him was
also affecting his judgment or if he could still trust it. Up to now, he had
trusted Mara and had even attempted to open a contact with her, no matter how
often she had repeated to him that she wanted to kill him. Was his naivete
overtaking his judgment yet again, he worried slightly, drawing him into another
predicament which would be far worse than anything he had ever gotten into as a
youth?
After all, he then reflected wryly, he had never found himself at point blank
range of a self-appointed assassin, and a very deadly one at that.
Was he too mesmerized by her captivating beauty that he was failing to see her
for what she truly was? Or could he still feel the remnants of a guidance in
the Force and could he trust it? Unless, he conceded, it was just his own ethic
that was guiding him; he knew that she needed help, and as thus, he couldn't
turn his back on her. He was responsible for her predicament; it was his duty
to help her out of it, at least as much as he could.
The rest, he surmised, would be in Mara's hands... just as his father's final
decision had been in his hands, along with his very own life...
His father.
Again.
He hadn't thought as often about as his father as he had for the past two days.
At least, not in quite a while, he sighed sadly. Was Anakin/Vader somehow
related to Mara? he wondered yet again. Could Mara be----
A possibility suddenly came to his mind; he was hard pressed to not turn around
and gaze at the young woman to evaluate the worth of his new idea. Could Mara
be one of his father's agents? Or even... lovers?... although he conceded that
he had never heard that his father had ever had concubines like the Emperor did.
An agent then?
Well that would sure explain her knowledge of lightsabers.
However, it still didn't seem right.
His father hadn't been known for his use of assassins, only of spies and Mara
was definitely an ex-assassin. In fact, she was like Guri as far as her
abilities went. So who else could have sent an assassin after him?, he wondered
seriously. Xizor? Perhaps, but then the lightsaber theory failed the test, so
it wasn't the Falleen prince either.
"Your turn," Mara's voice suddenly interrupted his train of thoughts.
He realized that she was already dressed up and walking away from him. When he
turned around, his first instinct was to gaze at her retreating figure. Who did
she use to be?, he asked silently, then threw a gaze at the nearby droid. Artoo
warbled something which 'sounded' to him like a vocal shrug of shoulders.
Right, he might never know, he admitted as he picked up his damp pants and
resumed his drying operation.
Outside, the pouring rain began to dwindle in intensity.
******
Once the rain stopped, they resumed their trek.
While they hadn't been attacked at all during the rainstorm, the vornsks seemed
to multiply their efforts to get Luke now that the storm was over.
Given the muddy nature of the ground, Luke only crouched low instead of throwing
himself on the ground; Mara nailed all the vornsks, and even dealt with a few of
them with his lightsaber when the beasts attacked while their trio was faced by
tangled vines.
The more Luke saw her use his lightsaber, and the more his theory about his
father began to make sense. She knew more than basic techniques; she seemed to
have an almost complete training with the lightsaber.
More than once, he felt the urge to ask her where she had learnt to use the
weapon, but every time, he bit his tongue. Whether he could help her or not, he
had decided to not pressure her anymore in any way.
Instead, he remained silent and followed her instructions.
By mid-afternoon, the warm sun and humidity had blanketed the whole forest in a
thick fog which shortened their radius of sight. Mara kept closer to him, both
his lightsaber and her blaster ready to save his life.
Thanks to Artoo's early warning, she maintained her expert defense without ever
risking Luke's safety. However, he himself wished for the fog to lift as soon
as possible. He trusted his companion, but his tiredness was also growing and
he was beginning to be fed up to be the target of all the predatory creatures of
the area.
Unbeknown to him, Mara was also growing tired of their little game of
hunted/hunter, but she never said anything. Instead, they both trudged on until
they reached the edge of one of the warm sources of the forest; they had no
choice but to follow its littoral.
While she followed her prisoner, she reflected that they should be a little
safer now. She knew that no animal liked that kind of water because of its hot
temperature as well as its resulting, tangy, unsavory taste. However, she also
knew better than to lower her guard.
After a second day of shooting the beasts off Skywalker's path, she was almost
certain that the vornsks were hunting only for the Jedi, as if attracted by his
Force energies. Strange, she reflected seriously as she locked her gaze on the
back of the straining Jedi. He was cut off from the Force here, so, how would
the vornsks feel his presence... unless she had yet another discovery to make
about those wild creatures. Well, she smiled slightly to herself, it at least
explained how the ysalamiri had come to be.
"Were we in any other circumstances," her prisoner commented in the silence, "I
sure wouldn't turn down taking advantage of this water."
She couldn't help but roll her eyes at his comment about bathing yet again.
"You really are a vain person, Skywalker," she sneered at him even as she threw
a short glance at the nearby expanse of water. "It being clean the only thing
you can think about... or do you want to take your chance with the river?" she
suddenly challenged him as she understood that he was planning something this
time.
While the Jedi barely sighed and shook his head at her first answer, he froze
completely and turned toward her upon hearing her second theory.
"And leave Artoo to you?" he defied back, really glaring at her for the first
time since she had 'met' him. She meant to retort to this, but he didn't let
her insult him again. Instead, he locked his intense gaze with her eyes; it
literally pinned her to her spot with the emotions that were swirling in them:
frustration, worry for the droid's well-being, honesty... "I wouldn't be able to
forgive myself if I did that," he finally stated seriously.
While she reflexively glared at him in distrust, her thoughts once again came to
a halt.
That care for the droid... Either he was a fool, she reflected confusedly, or...
he was truthful about that. Who had ever heard about anyone caring about a
droid, except perhaps for pilots who had spent a lot of time alone with the
machine...
Like Skywalker had, she conceded while memories of his few conversations with
the robot came back to her.
"Besides," the man added, his eyes softening slightly yet became no less
impressive. "Artoo being here or not, you could trust me, Mara,"
That care...
Unable to think of a way to react to his obvious offer of trusting him, Mara
reacted the only way she knew: she brought her blaster to bear straight between
his eyes once again.
"I. Do not. Trust. Anyone, Jedi," she snarled hatefully, her voice a low growl
which put a strain on each word she said.
"Except the one person who hurt you besides me," the annoying man commented
softly, his eyes boring straight into hers.
Upon hearing him speak this way about her master, she took a step closer and
physically pushed the tip of her blaster between the eyes of her prisoner.
"Shut. Up," she hissed vehemently even as her finger pulled slightly back on the
trigger... yet she was still unable to pull it completely.
The hated Jedi was right.
While Luke watched the ongoing fight of his companion as it raged once again
inside of her, he dimly wondered why he had said what he had just said. How had
he known that someone beside him had hurt her... that it would generate this
much confusion in her.
One thing was sure, he understood: the woman was quite temperamental, kind of
like his father, he thought more seriously.
He hadn't exactly known him very well, he conceded as he remained still, his
eyes never leaving Mara's, but what little he did know allowed him to know that
his father's temper was why he had turned to the Dark Side. He himself had had
most unpleasant encounters with him before he had finally managed to break
through to him, on Endor. During those encounters, he had learnt to detect
signs of aggressive, painful or nasty attacks coming in. They had only come
whenever he had tested his temper... As it was with Mara.
Was she----
Even as Artoo shrilled as loudly as he could in warning, both he and Mara
abandoned their inner stalemates and looked up just in time to spot the pouncing
figure of yet another Vornsk. The woman quickly shifted her aim away from his
head and fired at the incoming beast.
As always, Mara's aim was deadly and accurate, but since the beast had already
lunged down toward them, its being dead didn't stop its fall. Too late, Luke
realized that he couldn't avoid the impact this time; his actual position and
Artoo's closeness was delaying his ducking from a few, precious seconds which he
simply didn't have.
"Skywalker!" Mara warned him--- but it was already too late.
The dead weight of the animal slammed hard into Luke's half-crouched figure and
flung them both into the slightly away, knee-deep waters of the nearby river.
Thanks to the strength of the double impact, Luke wasn't aware of anything
anymore.
Mara, who had meant to shove the Jedi down, stopped her lunge just in time to
witness the collision between the half-crouched Jedi, his droid and the vornsk;
her prisoner fell head-first into the far water where he disappeared under the
dead weight of its would-be predator.
For a brief moment, she remained frozen, unable to think of anything, not even
the frantic warbling of the fallen, dangerously-tipped-toward-the-water droid.
Skywalker was about to die.
If he didn't break the surface soon, he would drown... and she would be free, at
last. No more nightmares, no more voices and harsh commands, only her own mind
and thoughts thanks to the death of this simple... kind,... unlike-anyone-she-
had-ever-met man, she slowly admitted----
He was drowning!, both her mind and his droid seemed to wail in anguish.
Forgetting the fact that she was fully clothed, or even the fact that she had
vowed to kill the Jedi, she dropped her useless blaster and jumped as far as she
could in the water, wadded closer and shoved the dead animal from the Jedi's
back. She then submerged herself until she could get a good grip on the Jedi's
tunic, and straightened herself, swiftly pulling the man from under the water
and the still remaining weight of the dead predator.
The moment they broke the surface, Skywalker coughed to catch his breath.
"Thanks," he half-whispered between two coughs.
"It's just because I want to kill you myself, Jedi," she grunted as she lugged
his dead weight toward the closest bank of the river.
However, deep down, she was growing more and more aware that something else had
made her rescue him: the Jedi was slowly getting through to her; she could feel
now that his personality wasn't a ploy to escape death.
Instead, it was who he was... but was it possible? her wary self asked while she
unceremoniously ditched the recovering man on the grassy/sandy bank. Could
someone be as nice as Skywalker seemed to be?
No, she tried to convince herself.
"We have to get moving again; the river will intensify the smell of the corpse
and the stench will attract a whole bunch of other visitors," she commented even
as she retrieved her blaster and checked around themselves for danger.
Nearby, the Jedi continued to cough weakly.
"Why didn't you try to push it off of you?" she asked him in annoyance once she
was sure that the area was clear for the moment. "Were you that afraid of the
water?" she continued, bending over him and taking hold of his shoulder to pull
him to a sitting position.
Her prisoner didn't resist her; he coughed again, then weakly shook his hair out
of his closed eyes.
"Couldn't... strain."
She meant to tease him meanly about his being tired after their light
exercise... when it slowly dawned on her that his lack of resistance wasn't due
to a weakness. The man was still barely conscious.
"It got you well, didn't it?" she asked him while she quickly checked him for
head injuries.
He barely nodded even as he tried yet again to regain consciousness.
"Well, Jedi, no time to nap. We must move quickly," she commented coolly, then
set her blaster on hard sting and shot him.
His eyes flew open in shock; she smirked meanly at him.
"Owww, was that necessary?" he complained while he reflexively brought his hand
up and rubbed his chest to alleviate the remaining sting.
"Depends if you want to be something's next meal or not, Jedi," she retorted
coolly, then studied their option.
They had to get away from there and fast, but fast and carrying the droid didn't
match together. She gazed at the recovering, dripping wet man, then at his
robot--- and made her decision.
She snatched a vine from the nearby tree and swiftly pulled the Jedi's hands in
front of him before tying them up. Skywalker didn't exactly resist her, but he
threw a worried look at his droid.
"What about Artoo? I can't carry him like this," he pointed out seriously.
"He'll follow us," she retorted while she straightened. "Right, short stuff?"
she asked the robot as she gathered their packs.
The droid, which had righted itself while she had been busy with its master,
answered her with what sounded like an indignant raspberry before it rolled
closer to the Jedi. She herself came back beside the Jedi and pulled him up to
his feet.
"Now get going," she ordered him.
Behind them, the droid followed them as fast as it could, using small mechanical
arms to clear its travois' sides from the ground.
Some ten meters ahead of Artoo, Luke and Mara walked onward, looking for a place
to settle their camp for the quickly settling night. However, they were both
aware that they had to clear the close-by radius of their latest victim if they
wanted to be relatively safe from more predators.
While he tried to pierce the gloom of the forest at twilight, Luke brought his
tied hands to his chest where Mara had shot him. It still hurt a lot.
"You know," he commented in the silence, "I'm grateful that you chose to save my
life, but the sting shot wasn't necessary."
"Would you have preferred it to be a real shot?" his companion retorted meanly
from beside him.
Luke answered with a sigh of slight annoyance.
Did she always have to play the tough girl, he wondered. Sure, he could
understand how it had probably been compulsory for her former job, but now...
was it a mask? Or was it who she truly was?
Somehow, he 'knew' that it was a mask. She seemed too unhappy to have chosen a
mood such as this.
"I thought so," she commented roughly, then shortly flicked her lightrod on to
check their surroundings.
"There!" he indicated, pointing to what he could detect on their right but ahead
of them. "Looks like a clearing of some sort."
Mara gazed in the direction that the Jedi was indicating, squinted slightly,
then she saw what he meant... It indeed looked like a good place to send their
receiving antenna up before resting for the night.
"All right, your pick, Jedi," she commented dryly before she urged him onward
with a jab of her blaster against his back even as she tried to ignore the
growing coldness of her yet again sodden clothes.
"A simple instruction would have sufficed," he grunted in slight annoyance, but
obeyed her without any other prompting.
"And a please to top it?" she offered coolly while she scanned their
surroundings for moving shadows.
"Never hurt anyone," he commented lightly.
"Dream on, Skywalker," she growled at him. "Vornsks will fly before I become
friend with you."
"Yet you saved my life back there... and all day long," he added as if in
afterthought.
He should have kept that thought for himself though. The moment that her brain
registered his words, she stepped up to his side, hooked her arm around his neck
and wedged her blaster in his jaw while forcing him off balance, then she
squeezed his neck as strongly as she could against her ribcage as if meaning to
strangle him.
"Just get one thing straight, Jedi," she spat at his close-by, suddenly worried
features. "The only reason why you're still alive is because I will not let
anyone deprive me from the pleasure of killing you. Am I clear on that?" she
asked vehemently.
No more smart retort answered her.
"Am I clear?" she asked again, tightening her arm around the Jedi's neck and
wishing against wish that she could see his horrified features just before she
pulled the trigger---
"I'm so sorry, Mara," he finally answered her softly, earnestly.
He caught her completely off guard once again. She angrily let go of him, then
refrained herself from hurting him. She had enough to bear up with him without
having to bear up with an injured Skywalker.
"Move," she spat, "and shut up," she warned him when he opened his mouth to
answer her.
Despite the surrounding darkness, she saw him nod in obedience, then he turned
his back to her and headed toward the general direction of their chosen night
camp.
The most frustrating thing, she thought as she followed him, was that he was
right once again. She 'had' saved his life more times than she could count.
And she 'had' chosen to let him live tonight. Even a moment ago, she hadn't
been able to kill him even though the temptation had been there.
Just much dimmer than it had ever been since she had captured him.
And then, he had had to apologize to her. What was his game? she wanted to
shout at him. What was he trying to achieve if not to escape from her? Did he
mean to torment her as revenge for her capturing him? For a brief moment, she
believed so, but the thought was quicksilver and gone before she could really
grasp it. Instead, his latest offer of trust came back foremost in her mind.
Trust...
Who would offer this to someone who wanted to kill him?... What was Skywalker
hiding?, she wondered for the hundredth time since meeting him for real. There
was undoubtedly more to Skywalker than met the eye... and she was unfortunately
faced with it now, unable to tell from where his attacks came, yet they came all
the same.
And they confused her... a lot.
In fact, they distracted her so much that her sole remaining stable point in her
life was once again her master's order.
'You will kill Luke Skywalker.'
If only she could make her body obey it, she sighed to herself in defeat.
While Mara tried to fight against the truth, Luke tried to uncover it.
When she had been holding him against her, he had realized something about his
companion. Despite her gruff exterior, she really had a heart; she just didn't
want to acknowledge its existence even though it was beating in her chest while
living in her mind.
Had she been heartless... he wouldn't be alive anymore, he reflected once again
seriously. While he had been underwater, he hadn't been aware of much except
that he couldn't hold his breath for much longer, and that he couldn't expect
any help except from Artoo which wouldn't be able to save him in time.
Then, just when the void of death had been ready to snatch his last breath, she
had come out of nowhere and pulled him out of the water, allowing him to live
on.
Much like how his father had saved him in extremis from the Emperor, he thought
seriously. However, unlike his father, Mara hadn't had to give her life to save
his and they were now both alive to figure out why she had done what she had.
As he should have expected though, the woman was obviously less than interested
to examine this fact which now stood between them. Something powerful was
keeping her attached to the belief that she had to kill him, but what was it? he
wondered yet again. He could feel that when he would pierce the mystery of her
past, everything would become clear and he would be able to help her... or at
least make it up to her for what he had done to her, but preferably without
having to die, he thought forlornly.
They finally reached the place that he had spotted.
And not too soon, he reflected while he tried to shift his tightly bounded
wrists; the vines were really beginning to cut into his skin while his clothes
were slowly freezing him.
Mara swept her luma all over the place. It would be as good a place as any to
spend the night except for one, most welcome advantage; they were still close to
the warm source.
If Skywalker deigned turn off whatever he was broadcasting to the vornsks, they
wouldn't have any unwanted visitors.
"Sit down," she ordered her prisoner while she herself dropped her packs and
stretched her shoulders.
"Would it be too much to ask that you free my hands now?" he asked her
seriously, turning toward her instead of obeying her.
Even though she couldn't see his eyes thanks to the surrounding gloom, she knew
exactly where they were. She glared at him, just in case he could see her.
"Why? I kinda like you in bonds," she commented meanly.
"Then at least slacken them," he retorted in the same fashion, surprising her
with both his lack of reaction to her allusion as well as his willingness to let
her tie him up again if that was what she wanted.
For a moment, she debated whether to do just that, then her brain woke up and
she became wary of a trap. Why would anyone want to be tied up unless it served
their purpose? Nice or not, Skywalker wasn't an idiot. She knew that now.
Making her decision, she pulled out her vibroblade and swiftly slashed at his
bonds; the Jedi reflexively jumped away to avoid being hurt by her wide thrust.
Upon seeing this, an image of herself testing the Jedi's skills against a
vibroblade coalesced in her mind, but she didn't allow it to become reality.
Even though he hadn't tried to escape her up to now, she knew better than to
give him a reason to try it, and attacking him would be a good push in that
direction.
Reluctantly, she turned off her weapon and stashed it back in her utility belt.
"Thanks," the other told her as he rubbed his left wrist.
"Shut up," she snapped curtly. "Now sit down and prepare the balloon."
Skywalker didn't say anything and sat down as he was told. Meanwhile, she
herself undid their night equipment and set the glowlamp on its lowest setting.
By the time the droid finally caught up with them, they were all set for another
night in the wild forest of Myrkr.
TBC in part 6: A nice man?
Well, liked it? Had fun? Hope so ;)
2002, SJ (skyjade@globetrotter.net)
Any positive stuff is welcome, but any mean stuff will be thrown down the
Sarlacc's throat without even being read.)
Part 5: Waiting out the rain
By SJ (skyjade@globetrotter.net)
02-02-02/06-02
________________
Disclaimers: Nothing in the Star Wars Universe belong to me; everything belongs
to George Lucas. Also, everything related to the spoken parts of Heir to the
Empire belongs to Timothy Zhan. I'm only borrowing it to make more sense with
Mara's or Luke's missing thoughts (when we follow Luke's thoughts in the novel,
this story will cover Mara's, and vice versa ;). Naturally, everything related
to the events of Heir to the Empire also belong to T. Zhan. Please don't sue
me, it's only for fun; I'm not making any money out of this.
See my homepage for more details.
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Quasar/3702
Special thanks to my shy, secret beta-reader and best friend, Adrianne, for her
help with the final editing of my new stories. Thanks for giving me some of
your precious time, my friend :)
__________________
While the rain was only making it slightly more difficult to progress forward on
the now slippery ground, it's cold nature eventually got the better of the two
young people and even Jade admitted defeat.
They wouldn't reach Hylliard City the next day.
A while later, they found a cave in which they decided to shelter themselves
from the falling rain until it stopped.
Once inside, Skywalker retrieved his shirt from under the droid and groaned when
it too proved to be sodden wet.
"Must be the price to pay for exposing yourself like this," she commented tartly
while she herself wrung water out of her relatively long hair.
She dimly reflected that they were not that long though; just a trifle more so
than their usual shoulder length.
"It was that or collapsing from the heat," the Jedi shrugged, then began to pull
off his tank top. "Besides, Artoo needed cushioning."
While she snorted in answer, she reflexively turned away from him to block out
the sight of his more-than-taunting body. Did he have to strip completely again
in front of her? she demanded to no one while she pretended to study their
surroundings. Was he truly doing this to dry himself? Or was it because he
knew what kind of effect he had on her?
She herself sure knew how he affected her.
"Artoo, do you still have that drying function?" the object of her thoughts
asked from behind her.
His droid warbled an answer, to which Skywalker answered: "No I won't be sick
from the cold. It's not too bad. And you? Did the water affect you?"
While she listened to his conversation with his droid, a droid for star's
sake!... she begrudgingly admitted that the Jedi really seemed to be a kind
man.
Earlier today, she had seen it to be true when he had cared for his droid after
three falls in a row--- Well it was also part of his plan to escape, she
reminded herself harshly.
It was only a ploy, it had to be... Like his kindness toward her was...
However, the more she eavesdropped yet again on his private conversation with
the robot, the more she 'had' to admit that keeping up that kind of charade for
that long was impossible, even for Skywalker who was skilled at duping people.
At the moment, he was truly behaving with the robot as he would with a true
human being... How he would perhaps behave with her if she were to give him the
chance... If she could trust him.
While her prisoner dried himself, she remained near the entrance of the cave,
watching the falling rain as it intensified instead of diminished; lost in her
thoughts, she eventually became aware that she too was cold.
However, she decided in disgust that she wasn't about to get rid of her clothes
like the Jedi had done, and especially not in front of him. Bending down, she
retrieved the heavy blanket that was still neatly folded at the bottom of her
pack, then blindly threw it at the Jedi.
It landed straight on his lap, surprising him.
"Cover yourself with it," she ordered him, carefully turning back toward him;
she riveted her eyes on his in order to keep herself in check.
She was all too aware that he had also removed his pants for the moment; she
didn't trust herself to not react to that kind of sight with him.
"Thank you," he told her even as he wrapped himself under it. "but what about
you?" he then asked solicitously.
"Tell your droid to dry my clothes first," she answered coolly.
"Tell..." the man frowned at her. "You can tell him yourself," he reassured her
in his calm voice.
"But he won't obey. Tell him," she repeated, stepping closer to the sitting,
blanket-covered Jedi.
"Artoo?" he asked the droid, glancing at his single eye in the same occasion,
"do it, please?"
The robot fluted something that sounded like agreement. Skywalker wordlessly
confirmed her feeling with a nod of his head.
"Now turn around," she instructed her prisoner.
Once again, he didn't complain and gave her privacy.
"And you," she warned the droid, fastening her glare on its single eye, "don't
you dare keep this in memory or I will put you through 'two' memory wipes."
Skywalker's droid barely answered her, but she understood that he would behave
too.
She hurried to take off her shirt and pants, then held them in front of the
small source of heat.
Sitting with his knees pulled against his chest, Luke patiently waited for his
companion to finish with her clothes.
"At least," he finally commented in the silence, "we won't need a bath for a
while."
"That's the least of my worries at the moment," she half-growled, half-snarled
at him.
Luke pondered her answer for a few seconds, then decided that it might be the
opening he had been waiting for.
"What is your main worry then?" he asked softly.
For a moment, she sounded as if she were about to talk to him, to understand
that he wasn't her enemy...
"Survival," she finally answered shortly, coldly.
That, Luke reflected glumly was as large an answer as he had ever heard one.
In Mara's case, it could mean her immediate survival here in the forest, with
him and Artoo in tow, or it could mean survival after what had happened to her
because of him... and it could even go as far as how she would explain to Karrde
that he had gotten away from them.
"If it can make you feel better, Mara," he began seriously, "I will tell Karrde
to blame everything on me. Had I not have my artificial hand, I wouldn't have
escaped from the compound."
The gasp of shock that followed his offer informed him that she hadn't been
expecting this from him, but instead of mellowing her, it upset her once.
"The great and diligent Jedi," she sneered while he heard her step closer to
him; he suddenly felt the cold tip of her blaster against the nape of his neck.
"Do me a favor, Skywalker, and just shut up," she growled menacingly.
Aware that he was pushing her limits instead of helping her, he nodded silently
and obeyed her new order. He patiently waited for her to finish with her
clothes.
While she let the little droid continue to dry her clothes, Mara's eyes drifted
every so often toward her prisoner.
Unlike the previous day when she had done so to make sure that he wouldn't
escape, it wasn't her main purpose this time. Now she knew that he wouldn't try
to escape her, both out of devotion for his droid, if anybody had ever heard of
such a thing... but more and more, she was growing aware that he would also stay
for her.
She wanted to kill him, had made it more than obvious and clear to him, and
yet... the man had just told her that he would take the blame for her if it ever
came to that. As if they were friends instead of foes, she pouted in confusion.
What was wrong with Skywalker anyway? More and more, she was beginning to doubt
that he had ever even been a murderer.
Perhaps, she reluctantly admitted, he had merely been a rebel fighter, against
the Empire---- and he had to die for this, her grim self stated with finality,
but perhaps..., her gentler self continued, he had only killed because of the
war. He certainly didn't have the psychological profile of an assassin, she
reflected seriously.
She, on the other hand... did.
Upon that thought, part of the answers she was looking for came to her.
Skywalker really wasn't anything like she was. Instead, she finally understood
that the Jedi had merely been on the wrong side of the war. But then, she dimly
wondered, why had his file described him as a murderer? Why had her master...
lied to her?--- No, her rational self instantly objected to the unfaithful
thought. No, she was mistaken. The Emperor had never hidden the truth from
her. He had told her everything, even about Vader's offer to Skywalker. He had
trusted her, hadn't needed lies to ascertain her service, but... Skywalker...,
she pondered with an increasing certitude that was going against even her
deepest training,... Skywalker wasn't a killer.
If he were, she thought seriously, calling to mind every memory of killers whom
she had hunted down, he would have attacked her at least once, or would have at
least insulted her, glared murderously at her, even attempted an escape, but
no...
Instead, he was trying to befriend her.
Well, she wouldn't let him soften her more than he already had, she resolved
while she checked the state of her clothes. And, she added in contempt, he was
crazy for not trying to escape. She was still going to kill him if only for his
being the rebel who killed the Emperor. That in itself was an awful crime...
At least, she thought so...
While Mara silently shifted from one foot to another as her clothes dried, Luke
patiently waited for her instructions; he used the silence to ponder his
attitude toward his companion.
More and more, he was beginning to wonder if the lack of Force around him was
also affecting his judgment or if he could still trust it. Up to now, he had
trusted Mara and had even attempted to open a contact with her, no matter how
often she had repeated to him that she wanted to kill him. Was his naivete
overtaking his judgment yet again, he worried slightly, drawing him into another
predicament which would be far worse than anything he had ever gotten into as a
youth?
After all, he then reflected wryly, he had never found himself at point blank
range of a self-appointed assassin, and a very deadly one at that.
Was he too mesmerized by her captivating beauty that he was failing to see her
for what she truly was? Or could he still feel the remnants of a guidance in
the Force and could he trust it? Unless, he conceded, it was just his own ethic
that was guiding him; he knew that she needed help, and as thus, he couldn't
turn his back on her. He was responsible for her predicament; it was his duty
to help her out of it, at least as much as he could.
The rest, he surmised, would be in Mara's hands... just as his father's final
decision had been in his hands, along with his very own life...
His father.
Again.
He hadn't thought as often about as his father as he had for the past two days.
At least, not in quite a while, he sighed sadly. Was Anakin/Vader somehow
related to Mara? he wondered yet again. Could Mara be----
A possibility suddenly came to his mind; he was hard pressed to not turn around
and gaze at the young woman to evaluate the worth of his new idea. Could Mara
be one of his father's agents? Or even... lovers?... although he conceded that
he had never heard that his father had ever had concubines like the Emperor did.
An agent then?
Well that would sure explain her knowledge of lightsabers.
However, it still didn't seem right.
His father hadn't been known for his use of assassins, only of spies and Mara
was definitely an ex-assassin. In fact, she was like Guri as far as her
abilities went. So who else could have sent an assassin after him?, he wondered
seriously. Xizor? Perhaps, but then the lightsaber theory failed the test, so
it wasn't the Falleen prince either.
"Your turn," Mara's voice suddenly interrupted his train of thoughts.
He realized that she was already dressed up and walking away from him. When he
turned around, his first instinct was to gaze at her retreating figure. Who did
she use to be?, he asked silently, then threw a gaze at the nearby droid. Artoo
warbled something which 'sounded' to him like a vocal shrug of shoulders.
Right, he might never know, he admitted as he picked up his damp pants and
resumed his drying operation.
Outside, the pouring rain began to dwindle in intensity.
******
Once the rain stopped, they resumed their trek.
While they hadn't been attacked at all during the rainstorm, the vornsks seemed
to multiply their efforts to get Luke now that the storm was over.
Given the muddy nature of the ground, Luke only crouched low instead of throwing
himself on the ground; Mara nailed all the vornsks, and even dealt with a few of
them with his lightsaber when the beasts attacked while their trio was faced by
tangled vines.
The more Luke saw her use his lightsaber, and the more his theory about his
father began to make sense. She knew more than basic techniques; she seemed to
have an almost complete training with the lightsaber.
More than once, he felt the urge to ask her where she had learnt to use the
weapon, but every time, he bit his tongue. Whether he could help her or not, he
had decided to not pressure her anymore in any way.
Instead, he remained silent and followed her instructions.
By mid-afternoon, the warm sun and humidity had blanketed the whole forest in a
thick fog which shortened their radius of sight. Mara kept closer to him, both
his lightsaber and her blaster ready to save his life.
Thanks to Artoo's early warning, she maintained her expert defense without ever
risking Luke's safety. However, he himself wished for the fog to lift as soon
as possible. He trusted his companion, but his tiredness was also growing and
he was beginning to be fed up to be the target of all the predatory creatures of
the area.
Unbeknown to him, Mara was also growing tired of their little game of
hunted/hunter, but she never said anything. Instead, they both trudged on until
they reached the edge of one of the warm sources of the forest; they had no
choice but to follow its littoral.
While she followed her prisoner, she reflected that they should be a little
safer now. She knew that no animal liked that kind of water because of its hot
temperature as well as its resulting, tangy, unsavory taste. However, she also
knew better than to lower her guard.
After a second day of shooting the beasts off Skywalker's path, she was almost
certain that the vornsks were hunting only for the Jedi, as if attracted by his
Force energies. Strange, she reflected seriously as she locked her gaze on the
back of the straining Jedi. He was cut off from the Force here, so, how would
the vornsks feel his presence... unless she had yet another discovery to make
about those wild creatures. Well, she smiled slightly to herself, it at least
explained how the ysalamiri had come to be.
"Were we in any other circumstances," her prisoner commented in the silence, "I
sure wouldn't turn down taking advantage of this water."
She couldn't help but roll her eyes at his comment about bathing yet again.
"You really are a vain person, Skywalker," she sneered at him even as she threw
a short glance at the nearby expanse of water. "It being clean the only thing
you can think about... or do you want to take your chance with the river?" she
suddenly challenged him as she understood that he was planning something this
time.
While the Jedi barely sighed and shook his head at her first answer, he froze
completely and turned toward her upon hearing her second theory.
"And leave Artoo to you?" he defied back, really glaring at her for the first
time since she had 'met' him. She meant to retort to this, but he didn't let
her insult him again. Instead, he locked his intense gaze with her eyes; it
literally pinned her to her spot with the emotions that were swirling in them:
frustration, worry for the droid's well-being, honesty... "I wouldn't be able to
forgive myself if I did that," he finally stated seriously.
While she reflexively glared at him in distrust, her thoughts once again came to
a halt.
That care for the droid... Either he was a fool, she reflected confusedly, or...
he was truthful about that. Who had ever heard about anyone caring about a
droid, except perhaps for pilots who had spent a lot of time alone with the
machine...
Like Skywalker had, she conceded while memories of his few conversations with
the robot came back to her.
"Besides," the man added, his eyes softening slightly yet became no less
impressive. "Artoo being here or not, you could trust me, Mara,"
That care...
Unable to think of a way to react to his obvious offer of trusting him, Mara
reacted the only way she knew: she brought her blaster to bear straight between
his eyes once again.
"I. Do not. Trust. Anyone, Jedi," she snarled hatefully, her voice a low growl
which put a strain on each word she said.
"Except the one person who hurt you besides me," the annoying man commented
softly, his eyes boring straight into hers.
Upon hearing him speak this way about her master, she took a step closer and
physically pushed the tip of her blaster between the eyes of her prisoner.
"Shut. Up," she hissed vehemently even as her finger pulled slightly back on the
trigger... yet she was still unable to pull it completely.
The hated Jedi was right.
While Luke watched the ongoing fight of his companion as it raged once again
inside of her, he dimly wondered why he had said what he had just said. How had
he known that someone beside him had hurt her... that it would generate this
much confusion in her.
One thing was sure, he understood: the woman was quite temperamental, kind of
like his father, he thought more seriously.
He hadn't exactly known him very well, he conceded as he remained still, his
eyes never leaving Mara's, but what little he did know allowed him to know that
his father's temper was why he had turned to the Dark Side. He himself had had
most unpleasant encounters with him before he had finally managed to break
through to him, on Endor. During those encounters, he had learnt to detect
signs of aggressive, painful or nasty attacks coming in. They had only come
whenever he had tested his temper... As it was with Mara.
Was she----
Even as Artoo shrilled as loudly as he could in warning, both he and Mara
abandoned their inner stalemates and looked up just in time to spot the pouncing
figure of yet another Vornsk. The woman quickly shifted her aim away from his
head and fired at the incoming beast.
As always, Mara's aim was deadly and accurate, but since the beast had already
lunged down toward them, its being dead didn't stop its fall. Too late, Luke
realized that he couldn't avoid the impact this time; his actual position and
Artoo's closeness was delaying his ducking from a few, precious seconds which he
simply didn't have.
"Skywalker!" Mara warned him--- but it was already too late.
The dead weight of the animal slammed hard into Luke's half-crouched figure and
flung them both into the slightly away, knee-deep waters of the nearby river.
Thanks to the strength of the double impact, Luke wasn't aware of anything
anymore.
Mara, who had meant to shove the Jedi down, stopped her lunge just in time to
witness the collision between the half-crouched Jedi, his droid and the vornsk;
her prisoner fell head-first into the far water where he disappeared under the
dead weight of its would-be predator.
For a brief moment, she remained frozen, unable to think of anything, not even
the frantic warbling of the fallen, dangerously-tipped-toward-the-water droid.
Skywalker was about to die.
If he didn't break the surface soon, he would drown... and she would be free, at
last. No more nightmares, no more voices and harsh commands, only her own mind
and thoughts thanks to the death of this simple... kind,... unlike-anyone-she-
had-ever-met man, she slowly admitted----
He was drowning!, both her mind and his droid seemed to wail in anguish.
Forgetting the fact that she was fully clothed, or even the fact that she had
vowed to kill the Jedi, she dropped her useless blaster and jumped as far as she
could in the water, wadded closer and shoved the dead animal from the Jedi's
back. She then submerged herself until she could get a good grip on the Jedi's
tunic, and straightened herself, swiftly pulling the man from under the water
and the still remaining weight of the dead predator.
The moment they broke the surface, Skywalker coughed to catch his breath.
"Thanks," he half-whispered between two coughs.
"It's just because I want to kill you myself, Jedi," she grunted as she lugged
his dead weight toward the closest bank of the river.
However, deep down, she was growing more and more aware that something else had
made her rescue him: the Jedi was slowly getting through to her; she could feel
now that his personality wasn't a ploy to escape death.
Instead, it was who he was... but was it possible? her wary self asked while she
unceremoniously ditched the recovering man on the grassy/sandy bank. Could
someone be as nice as Skywalker seemed to be?
No, she tried to convince herself.
"We have to get moving again; the river will intensify the smell of the corpse
and the stench will attract a whole bunch of other visitors," she commented even
as she retrieved her blaster and checked around themselves for danger.
Nearby, the Jedi continued to cough weakly.
"Why didn't you try to push it off of you?" she asked him in annoyance once she
was sure that the area was clear for the moment. "Were you that afraid of the
water?" she continued, bending over him and taking hold of his shoulder to pull
him to a sitting position.
Her prisoner didn't resist her; he coughed again, then weakly shook his hair out
of his closed eyes.
"Couldn't... strain."
She meant to tease him meanly about his being tired after their light
exercise... when it slowly dawned on her that his lack of resistance wasn't due
to a weakness. The man was still barely conscious.
"It got you well, didn't it?" she asked him while she quickly checked him for
head injuries.
He barely nodded even as he tried yet again to regain consciousness.
"Well, Jedi, no time to nap. We must move quickly," she commented coolly, then
set her blaster on hard sting and shot him.
His eyes flew open in shock; she smirked meanly at him.
"Owww, was that necessary?" he complained while he reflexively brought his hand
up and rubbed his chest to alleviate the remaining sting.
"Depends if you want to be something's next meal or not, Jedi," she retorted
coolly, then studied their option.
They had to get away from there and fast, but fast and carrying the droid didn't
match together. She gazed at the recovering, dripping wet man, then at his
robot--- and made her decision.
She snatched a vine from the nearby tree and swiftly pulled the Jedi's hands in
front of him before tying them up. Skywalker didn't exactly resist her, but he
threw a worried look at his droid.
"What about Artoo? I can't carry him like this," he pointed out seriously.
"He'll follow us," she retorted while she straightened. "Right, short stuff?"
she asked the robot as she gathered their packs.
The droid, which had righted itself while she had been busy with its master,
answered her with what sounded like an indignant raspberry before it rolled
closer to the Jedi. She herself came back beside the Jedi and pulled him up to
his feet.
"Now get going," she ordered him.
Behind them, the droid followed them as fast as it could, using small mechanical
arms to clear its travois' sides from the ground.
Some ten meters ahead of Artoo, Luke and Mara walked onward, looking for a place
to settle their camp for the quickly settling night. However, they were both
aware that they had to clear the close-by radius of their latest victim if they
wanted to be relatively safe from more predators.
While he tried to pierce the gloom of the forest at twilight, Luke brought his
tied hands to his chest where Mara had shot him. It still hurt a lot.
"You know," he commented in the silence, "I'm grateful that you chose to save my
life, but the sting shot wasn't necessary."
"Would you have preferred it to be a real shot?" his companion retorted meanly
from beside him.
Luke answered with a sigh of slight annoyance.
Did she always have to play the tough girl, he wondered. Sure, he could
understand how it had probably been compulsory for her former job, but now...
was it a mask? Or was it who she truly was?
Somehow, he 'knew' that it was a mask. She seemed too unhappy to have chosen a
mood such as this.
"I thought so," she commented roughly, then shortly flicked her lightrod on to
check their surroundings.
"There!" he indicated, pointing to what he could detect on their right but ahead
of them. "Looks like a clearing of some sort."
Mara gazed in the direction that the Jedi was indicating, squinted slightly,
then she saw what he meant... It indeed looked like a good place to send their
receiving antenna up before resting for the night.
"All right, your pick, Jedi," she commented dryly before she urged him onward
with a jab of her blaster against his back even as she tried to ignore the
growing coldness of her yet again sodden clothes.
"A simple instruction would have sufficed," he grunted in slight annoyance, but
obeyed her without any other prompting.
"And a please to top it?" she offered coolly while she scanned their
surroundings for moving shadows.
"Never hurt anyone," he commented lightly.
"Dream on, Skywalker," she growled at him. "Vornsks will fly before I become
friend with you."
"Yet you saved my life back there... and all day long," he added as if in
afterthought.
He should have kept that thought for himself though. The moment that her brain
registered his words, she stepped up to his side, hooked her arm around his neck
and wedged her blaster in his jaw while forcing him off balance, then she
squeezed his neck as strongly as she could against her ribcage as if meaning to
strangle him.
"Just get one thing straight, Jedi," she spat at his close-by, suddenly worried
features. "The only reason why you're still alive is because I will not let
anyone deprive me from the pleasure of killing you. Am I clear on that?" she
asked vehemently.
No more smart retort answered her.
"Am I clear?" she asked again, tightening her arm around the Jedi's neck and
wishing against wish that she could see his horrified features just before she
pulled the trigger---
"I'm so sorry, Mara," he finally answered her softly, earnestly.
He caught her completely off guard once again. She angrily let go of him, then
refrained herself from hurting him. She had enough to bear up with him without
having to bear up with an injured Skywalker.
"Move," she spat, "and shut up," she warned him when he opened his mouth to
answer her.
Despite the surrounding darkness, she saw him nod in obedience, then he turned
his back to her and headed toward the general direction of their chosen night
camp.
The most frustrating thing, she thought as she followed him, was that he was
right once again. She 'had' saved his life more times than she could count.
And she 'had' chosen to let him live tonight. Even a moment ago, she hadn't
been able to kill him even though the temptation had been there.
Just much dimmer than it had ever been since she had captured him.
And then, he had had to apologize to her. What was his game? she wanted to
shout at him. What was he trying to achieve if not to escape from her? Did he
mean to torment her as revenge for her capturing him? For a brief moment, she
believed so, but the thought was quicksilver and gone before she could really
grasp it. Instead, his latest offer of trust came back foremost in her mind.
Trust...
Who would offer this to someone who wanted to kill him?... What was Skywalker
hiding?, she wondered for the hundredth time since meeting him for real. There
was undoubtedly more to Skywalker than met the eye... and she was unfortunately
faced with it now, unable to tell from where his attacks came, yet they came all
the same.
And they confused her... a lot.
In fact, they distracted her so much that her sole remaining stable point in her
life was once again her master's order.
'You will kill Luke Skywalker.'
If only she could make her body obey it, she sighed to herself in defeat.
While Mara tried to fight against the truth, Luke tried to uncover it.
When she had been holding him against her, he had realized something about his
companion. Despite her gruff exterior, she really had a heart; she just didn't
want to acknowledge its existence even though it was beating in her chest while
living in her mind.
Had she been heartless... he wouldn't be alive anymore, he reflected once again
seriously. While he had been underwater, he hadn't been aware of much except
that he couldn't hold his breath for much longer, and that he couldn't expect
any help except from Artoo which wouldn't be able to save him in time.
Then, just when the void of death had been ready to snatch his last breath, she
had come out of nowhere and pulled him out of the water, allowing him to live
on.
Much like how his father had saved him in extremis from the Emperor, he thought
seriously. However, unlike his father, Mara hadn't had to give her life to save
his and they were now both alive to figure out why she had done what she had.
As he should have expected though, the woman was obviously less than interested
to examine this fact which now stood between them. Something powerful was
keeping her attached to the belief that she had to kill him, but what was it? he
wondered yet again. He could feel that when he would pierce the mystery of her
past, everything would become clear and he would be able to help her... or at
least make it up to her for what he had done to her, but preferably without
having to die, he thought forlornly.
They finally reached the place that he had spotted.
And not too soon, he reflected while he tried to shift his tightly bounded
wrists; the vines were really beginning to cut into his skin while his clothes
were slowly freezing him.
Mara swept her luma all over the place. It would be as good a place as any to
spend the night except for one, most welcome advantage; they were still close to
the warm source.
If Skywalker deigned turn off whatever he was broadcasting to the vornsks, they
wouldn't have any unwanted visitors.
"Sit down," she ordered her prisoner while she herself dropped her packs and
stretched her shoulders.
"Would it be too much to ask that you free my hands now?" he asked her
seriously, turning toward her instead of obeying her.
Even though she couldn't see his eyes thanks to the surrounding gloom, she knew
exactly where they were. She glared at him, just in case he could see her.
"Why? I kinda like you in bonds," she commented meanly.
"Then at least slacken them," he retorted in the same fashion, surprising her
with both his lack of reaction to her allusion as well as his willingness to let
her tie him up again if that was what she wanted.
For a moment, she debated whether to do just that, then her brain woke up and
she became wary of a trap. Why would anyone want to be tied up unless it served
their purpose? Nice or not, Skywalker wasn't an idiot. She knew that now.
Making her decision, she pulled out her vibroblade and swiftly slashed at his
bonds; the Jedi reflexively jumped away to avoid being hurt by her wide thrust.
Upon seeing this, an image of herself testing the Jedi's skills against a
vibroblade coalesced in her mind, but she didn't allow it to become reality.
Even though he hadn't tried to escape her up to now, she knew better than to
give him a reason to try it, and attacking him would be a good push in that
direction.
Reluctantly, she turned off her weapon and stashed it back in her utility belt.
"Thanks," the other told her as he rubbed his left wrist.
"Shut up," she snapped curtly. "Now sit down and prepare the balloon."
Skywalker didn't say anything and sat down as he was told. Meanwhile, she
herself undid their night equipment and set the glowlamp on its lowest setting.
By the time the droid finally caught up with them, they were all set for another
night in the wild forest of Myrkr.
TBC in part 6: A nice man?
Well, liked it? Had fun? Hope so ;)
2002, SJ (skyjade@globetrotter.net)
Any positive stuff is welcome, but any mean stuff will be thrown down the
Sarlacc's throat without even being read.)