Chapter 12

Luke shook his head and pulled himself up off the floor. He noticed for the first time several pairs of eyes staring at him in amusement. Putting on his best carefree smile, he shrugged. "Women!"

That earned him a few chuckles, and everyone seemed to turn back to the party. He shook his head to get rid of some of the bees that were still buzzing in his head. Mara certainly did know how to throw a punch.

On the other side of the room, Luke spotted a group of guests dressed in cloaks similar to that of Guru's disappear behind a partially hidden door. Going on a hunch, he followed them through a dark opening and down a winding stone staircase. He remained in the shadows as their leader lit a torch that cast long, menacing shadows along the rocky walls. The group moved rapidly down a long corridor seemingly well acquainted with its various twists and turns.

After what seemed like several meters, they suddenly stopped causing Luke to almost trip out into view. He pulled himself out of sight around a bend in the corridor and strained his ears to pick up any bits of conversation. But the buzzing in his ears was growing louder again making him fight off a brief moment of dizziness. He was growing more and more concerned about his body's reactions to whatever Force-block had been put on him and Mara. It was wreaking havoc on his equilibrium, which could be dangerous if he needed to do some fancy footwork. He just hoped she was faring better than he was.

The whispering ceased. Luke dared to peek around the corner only find that he was now alone. The group of men had vanished leaving him at the end of an empty hallway. Annaïse came to mind, and he surmised that there must be a hidden passage in the wall. He made a mental note of its location to tell Mara when he caught up with her, that is if she was still speaking to him.

Luke found his way back to the party and began roaming the hallways in search of Mara. He descended a staircase wondering absently how many staircases there were in the mansion. This one led to a dimly lit corridor that was obviously below ground level. A few guests with euphorically happy expressions on their faces entered or exited from the several closed chambers that lined the hallway. He looked away embarrassed as some of those guests seemed to have forgotten their clothes inside the room. He fervently hoped that Mara was not in any of these rooms.

A feeling in his gut warned him that he was not going to like what was behind those doors. Swallowing hard, he slowly inched one of the doors open and peered inside. The cloud of smoke nearly made him double over, and he had to fight to keep from coughing. Through the haze, he could make out several couples, in several different positions, all naked, but none with telltale speckles that made up Mara's disguise. Turning bright red, he quickly ducked back into the hallway and nearly ran smack into a woman.

"Hey!" she cried, surprised.

"Sorry," he muttered without looking up and turned to run back up the stairs. But a strong, feminine hand grasped his arm.

"That's okay, Wyll," she cooed.

"Auria," he choked out, his vision still a little blurry from the smoke.

A deep, throaty laugh bubbled up from her throat at Luke's distressed expression. Guru's assistant, Auria, was a tall woman with thick, pale blond hair and curves in all the right places. And the sparkling red dress she wore hugged all those curves leaving little to the imagination. "You look like you got blasted a bit too hard by the smoke," she said, her full, red lips moving slowly. "Let's go get some fresh air."

She led him unresisting back up the stairs and out into the gardens. Torches burned between the trees, lighting the winding pathways. The night air was balmy, but it didn't seem to clear Luke's head as much as he would've liked. His throat felt slightly scratchy, and he couldn't get his heart to return to a normal pace. Auria seemed to sense some of his discomfort and suggested he take a sip of the Champagne he still held. Hesitatingly, he obliged.

"Feel better?" she asked.

"Yes," he lied, fighting to keep his equilibrium.

"Not a big conversationalist I take it," she teased.

Luke giggled absurdly. "My brother-in-law often thinks he could have better conversations with a rock."

"Oh, I don't know," she purred and brushed seductively against him. "I'll bet you're more interesting than a rock."

They kept walking, but Luke felt his limbs getting heavier with every step. His movements became sluggish. The guests thinned out as they moved farther from the main house until finally, there was no one left on the path except them. Thunder rumbled in the distance and fat raindrops began to sprinkle down upon them. The sounds of rushing water came dimly to his ears, and he realized they were on a low bridge overlooking a river that wound across the grounds. Without the torches, the river looked like a streak of black through the deep green shadows of the rain forest.

"It's very romantic out here, don't you think?" Her voice sounded hollow and distant. It echoed eerily off of his ears making him giggle once more. "Kind of reminds me of Yavin IV in a way."

He stared at her speechless.

She caressed his face lovingly. "We don't have to wait any longer, Luke."

His surprise finally pierced through the fog that was enveloping his brain. He seized her hands and forcing as much lucidity into his voice as possible. "How do you know my name?" he whispered.

She smiled. Lightning cracked over head, and before his eyes, her hair deepened to ash-blond, her crystal blue eyes dissolved into gray. Her entire form changed. His jaw dropped and he blinked several times, his mind refusing to believe that it was seeing what it had desired for so long. Suddenly he felt the strength leave his legs and he sagged against the railing. "Callista?" he murmured in a daze. "It can't be you."

"Oh, but it is. I've found my powers," she whispered excitedly. "Just like I knew I would. Now we can be together, like before."

She held out her arms, and he collapsed gratefully into them. Their damp clothing clung to their skin like the reunited lovers clung to each other. He squeezed her tightly vowing to never let her go, and still not quite believing she was really there. "I've missed you so much. I thought I would never see you again," he managed to choke out. "What are you doing here?"

"There's so much I have to tell you," she gushed. "So much you need to understand. Come away with me."

Luke pulled away from her. "What? Now?"

"Yes, let's leave this place. It's not safe here. I have a ship."

"But Mara, and the mission," he began.

Her gaze grew steely. "What about her? She can take care of herself."

"I can't just leave her," Luke insisted. "She needs me."

"I need you," she replied. "Luke, we've waited so long to be together. I still love you." She moved closer, pressing her body up against his and forcing him back against the handrail. Her face loomed close to his until their lips touched softly. "Come away with me," she whispered against him. "We have to hurry before -"

The buzzing in Luke's mind was deafening, almost drowning out the words he had longed to hear. He closed his eyes, and burrowed his face in her hair. Her scent was intoxicating. The entire forest seemed to disappear. Nothing existed but the two of them on the bridge. He wanted nothing more than to stay like that forever.

"I love you, Luke," she whispered in his ear.

"I love-" His mouth felt dry and refused to work properly. His tongue felt large and heavy in his mouth making his words slur. Something nagged at the back of his mind. "Mara," he exclaimed suddenly. "I have to stay and help Mara."

Callista jumped back as if she had been burned. He cracked open his eyes, his lids feeling strangely heavy. She drew close again, but then suddenly she was careening wildly and rapidly receding. Then he felt the impact of his body on the surface of the river, and his body was submerged in the cool swirling waters.

By some miracle, instead of sweeping him downstream and out to the ocean, the river pushed him up against a group of large rocks. His muscles refused to work properly, but he managed to get a handhold on one of the rocks and used the river's own force to keep him in place. Try as he might, he could not pull himself from the black waters. If he didn't get help soon, he was sure he was going to drown. Mara! his brain screamed. But she wouldn't be able to hear him without the Force. His hopes shrunk. He was too far out for someone to just happen to discover him. His heart wrenched. He had lost Callista once again. Despair began to cave in on him. Rain pounded against him as he laid his head against the rock and contemplated just letting go.

* * * * *

Mara had stormed off and found herself in the vicinity of the kitchen. She ducked and dodged as harried servers bustled in and out of kitchen carrying large trays of hors d'œuvres. She snatched a small, pink, gelatinous morsel that looked like some kind of seafood. It still had its eyes, and they glared at each other for a full five seconds. She couldn't help thinking that this slimy creature's blue eyes were almost the same shade as Skywalker's. And that only refueled her anger. Her green eyes glittered in cruel revenge as she popped the morsel mercilessly into her mouth.

Vaguely she became aware of someone urgently whispering her name. The crowd was thinner where she was standing, and she soon spotted a familiar blond head bobbing up from behind one of the large potted ferns. Annaïse, trying to keep as much out of sight as possible, was wildly beckoning to her. Alarmed, Mara made her way quickly across the room. As soon as she was within reach, Annaïse grabbed her hand and pulled her behind the plant.

"He's trying to poison you!" she whispered frantically.

Mara gave a small start. "How? Tonight? There are too many people around, too many witnesses."

"I overheard them when I was passing by the kitchen earlier. I tried to warn you, but you had already gone," she rambled on.

Mara had to take her by the shoulders and give her a little shake. "Okay, take a deep breath and start again. How are they going to poison us?"

"They wanted to do it tonight, because the poison makes you act drunk. It's a new drug that can't be traced, so when they found the bodies it would look like an accident."

"Where is it?"

"The fruit basket, the one in your room."

Mara's eyes grew round, and her face grew pale. She had tasted the fruit and spit it out in disgust. But Skywalker, he had nearly devoured the entire bowl. And then his odd behavior earlier ... Mara felt guilty for being so angry at him. She turned to Annaïse with panic in her voice. "I have to find Skywalker, fast."

Without another word, she leaped out from behind the plant, startling a passing couple, and dashed back to the ballroom. She scanned the room but saw no sign of Luke. She spotted Guru in the opposite corner and resisted the urge to march over and throttle him. There was a couple conversing in the corner they had occupied only minutes before. Mara questioned them with the compassion of an interrogation droid as to whether or not they had seen where the man she had been talking to earlier had gone. They laughed at her seeming change of heart and nodded toward the door that led out on to the pavilion.

A few people still lingered on the decks overlooking the rain forest, but due to the late hour and soft rumbling in the distance, most had retired with old, new or borrowed loves for the night. The temperature had dropped noticeably, and black clouds blotted out the stars. Many of the torches along the pathways had already been put out throwing the ground into complete darkness. Every instinct in her body told her to follow the darkened path, so she grabbed one of the still burning torches and obeyed.

The torch did not offer much in the way of illumination, but the path was kept well-groomed and free of roots. The first large raindrops began to fall, hissing as they encountered the flame. Small puddles grew, and Mara nearly slipped in the pooling mud. Within minutes, the few drops became sheets of rain soaking her through to the bone. The torch was now useless, so she tossed it heedlessly behind her. She paid no attention to the dark, wet discomfort. Her only thought was of getting to Luke in time, and her gut told her that he did not have much time left.

Ahead, a break in the trees appeared as if some great god had slashed through the canopy with a knife. The path dipped sharply, and Mara found herself looking down on a narrow wooden bridge traversing a small river. Lightning cut across the sky illuminating two people who stood intimately close to each other. Her eyes narrowed into slits as she recognized the slim form of Luke with a dark-haired woman pressed up against him. The woman leaned forward with one hand on his chest in what looking like an attempt to kiss him. But instead of kissing him, she pushed Luke backwards over the railing, and he disappeared from view. The resounding thunderclap drowned out the sound of his body as it hit the water, but not Mara's cry of surprise and fear. The woman froze as if caught in the headlights of an oncoming speeder. A bolt of lightning illuminated her face revealing her to be Auria. Then just as quickly, she bolted into the forest.

Mara half-slipped, half-ran kamikaze down the slope, thoughts of accidental drowning swimming in her head. She could just see it in the news: Jedi Master drowns after getting smashed at S & M Guru's hidden palace. She would have laughed if the circumstances hadn't been so dire.

She came to a skidding halt at the railing on the bridge and peered anxiously into the murky depths. The water swirled black and ominous giving her an odd sense of déjà vu. "Skywalker!" she yelled. "Luke!"

No response came. She squinted into the night praying that the river hadn't swept him too far downstream. Lightning flashed again, and something glinted back at her in the sudden brightness. Thank the gods for those neon flowers on his shirt! She could barely make out Luke's body clinging helplessly to a large rock jutting out of the middle of the current that was pulling at him hungrily. Without a second thought, she tossed off her shoes and hurled herself over the railing and into the choppy waters below. She fought back a gasp as the shock of the cold water made her lungs suddenly contract. There was no time to concern herself with that as the river swept her rapidly toward her friend. She had to swim hard to keep from passing him. In moments, she was at his side and grasping the rock. "Nice night for a swim."

He opened his eyes slowly. "She's gone. She's really gone."

"Yeah, well, I never thought blondes were your type anyway," she replied flippantly.

He didn't respond.

"Well, now that I'm here, how about we swim to shore?" she replied, her voice strained with relief, fear and physical exertion.

"I knew you'd come," he said, his voice taking on an eerie tone. "Never doubted it for a minute. You always come for me. You never give up."

"Yeah, well-" Mara wasn't sure what to say. Luke was smiling like a madman at her, his earlier despondency vanishing as suddenly as it had come. He was downright scaring her with these weird mood swings.

"Are you still mad?" he asked suddenly.

"I'll be mad later. Right now I'd like to get off this rock."

"Well, that's easy, silly," he snorted with laughter. "Just let go. Look no hands!"

"Skywalker!" Mara grabbed him furiously by the collar to keep him from being swept away. "Hold on!"

"You have no sense of humor," he grumbled.

"And you have no common sense. Now can we please swim to shore?"

"No can do. Don't know how to swim, and my arms and legs feel funny. Can't move them very fast. See?" He let go of the rock with one hand and waved it slowly in front of her face, nearly slipping again in the process.

Mara grabbed him to keep him from floating away. "Stop doing that!"

"Oh, yeah, I forgot," he replied sheepishly.

Mara's next comment was drowned out as a nearby explosion showered their faces with jagged shards of rock. She whipped her head around and through the rain and darkness saw the briefly illuminated face of their attackers as they took another pot shot at them. This time the red bolt of energy came within centimeters of slamming into her head.

"Looks like we've worn out our welcome here," she commented tersely. She wiped the water from her eyes and searched frantically for some kind of cover, but they were dangerously out in the open. "Do you think you can remember to hold on to me until I can get us back to shore?"

A dopey grin spread across his face oblivious to the peril they were in. He reached out, but quickly drew back and looked at her skeptically. He looked like a child who had finally been given the toy he had been coveting for hours, but questioned why it was being given to him. "Are you going to hit me again?"

She didn't know whether to laugh or scream. "No, I'm not going to hit you! But I might leave without you if you don't get it in gear. Now grab onto my waist. And try to keep your head above water."

Skywalker obediently wrapped his arms around Mara's waist. She pushed off the rock toward shore not a moment too soon. Behind her the rock exploded into pieces as a blaster bolt hit it. Simply trying to get herself from the rock to the shore would have been hard work, but carrying the dead weight around her waist was impossible. She kicked her powerful legs against the current, but it was too strong. The shore continued to slip by them in the inky darkness as they were washed down river, but at least it was taking them out of range of the snipers.

They had been swept several kilometers downstream when a new sound deafened Mara's ears. There was roaring up ahead, and it was getting consistently louder. She felt her stomach drop as she realized they were moving faster and farther from the shore.

"Skywalker, try to kick!" she shouted desperately. His legs began awkwardly thrashing below her. Occasionally a foot would find its way painfully thrust into her legs. They made no progress against the current, and Skywalker's flailing was causing him to lose his grip on her waist. She could not see more than a meter or so in front of her, but the roaring water and the rapid current told her that they were almost upon the falls. Instead of struggling, she turned and wrapped her legs and one arm around Skywalker using the other arm to tread water.

"Skywalker, it's no use. Stop kicking," she instructed. "Just hang on to me and don't let go. And remember to hold your breath."

Lucidity flitted across his face as the seriousness of the situation finally hit home. "I'm sorry I got you into this mess," he said woefully. "Just let me go. You can't save us both."

"Shut up, Skywalker," she ordered. "I'm not going to let you go! We're going to make it. I know it. Now hold on to me!" She was relieved to feel his arms tighten around her. At least he wasn't going to be stubborn this time.

A few seconds later, they tumbled over the falls like leaves scattered in the wind. They fell for what seemed like forever, the waterfall pushing them faster and faster toward the river below them. Mara clung to Skywalker by sheer force of will. She was not going to let him die like this. After an eternity, they finally hit the water below with a sickening slap that nearly knocked all the air out of her lungs. Mara began kicking with all her might toward the surface. She felt her lungs screaming for air. She began to see spots has her brain began to shut down from lack of oxygen.

Just as she was about give up and take a breath, her head splashed out of the water. Coughing and sputtering, she hauled Skywalker's head into the misty air at the bottom of the waterfall, but he wasn't breathing. She fought down her panic and swam toward the calmer waters of the cove the powerful falls had created. When her feet finally touched the rocky ground, Mara dragged herself and Skywalker up the beach where she immediately rolled him on his back, pinched his nose, covered his mouth with hers and began forcing air into his lungs. Still his didn't respond.

"Come on, Skywalker, wake up!" She slapped him smartly on the face and continued to give him air until she felt light headed. His body remained unmoving. She fought down tears and tried frantically pumping his stomach, anything to get the water dislodged.

"Damn you! You are not going out like this! Breathe!" She pressed her lips against his, and this time she was rewarded with a small response. Suddenly, he began to spasmodically cough up all the river water he had swallowed. She backed up to give him breathing room, but all she really wanted to do was throw her arms around him and thank the gods he was still alive.

They collapsed in an exhausted heap on the rocky sand. The rain continued to pound on their bodies, but she didn't have the energy to find immediate shelter. She lay on the ground for several minutes breathing heavily and contemplating how much river water she had swallowed until she felt Skywalker's eyes on her.

"What?" she demanded blinking water from her eyes.

He was laying next to her on his stomach with his chin resting on his hands. He looked completely at ease and maybe even a little pensive despite being so near death only moments before. "You look great wet."

She groaned. "Poisoned or not, I should've left you for the fishes."

"You've been poisoned?!"

"Not me, you. You know those dates you liked so much?"

He nodded.

"Well, our gracious host added something to give them a bit more kick."

"But I feel fine," he protested. Then with a wicked half-smile he added, "In fact, I'm feeling better than I have in ages. You saved my life."

He inched closer, his face hanging precariously over hers. Rivulets of water rolled down his face and dropped on to hers. Lightning stuck again, lighting up his features and making Mara's heart skip a beat. He was going to kiss her, and she had to stop it. He wasn't thinking clearly. She said the first thing that popped into her mind. "Callista."

That seemed to make him pause. His brow furrowed. Mara wasn't sure if it was in sorrow, anger, frustration or confusion. After all, she did promise not to speak of her again. Thunder raged overhead.

"What about Callista?" he finally asked dejectedly. "She's gone, just like all the others. I had my chance, and I blew it. You'll leave one day too, you know." The playfulness was gone from his voice to be replaced with a fatalistic hopelessness that gave Mara chills. She tried to shrug it off as drug induced rambling, but her instincts told her that she was hearing a fear that he had been burying for years.

As quickly as it came, it was gone. Once again he was grinning down at her playfully. This time she didn't try to stop him from kissing her. She didn't have to. His sluggish muscles miraculously came to life as he jumped to his feet and dashed into the trees. She grimaced at the sounds of his uncontrollable retching.

He emerged from the forest a few minutes later wiping his mouth and shaking uncontrollably. He sank to his knees on the sand and wrapped his arms around his body to keep them from trembling. Mara knelt beside him and put a comforting arm across his shoulders. She brushed his wet hair away from his eyes. His forehead was incredibly hot, and she suspected that more than rain water was streaming down his face. She felt him shudder against the cold night air.

"Do you think you can walk?" she asked softly. "We should try to find some shelter."

She felt him nod.

Draping his arm across her shoulders, she tried to help him to his feet. Her muscles strained under his weight. "How do you get yourself into these messes, Skywalker?" she demanded light-heartedly, but she could hear the worry in her own voice.

She searched his pants pockets for his lightsabre. He didn't even seem to notice. The rain drops sizzled against the green blade. The dim glow didn't not extend more than a meter or so from the lightsabre, so she picked a direction at kept them in a valley between two small mountains and hoped it would lead to some kind of shelter. It was slow going as she had to cut a path through the dense foliage. Her eyes began to adjust to the dim light, picking out the shadows of night against the darker shadows of obstacles in her way. The region appeared to have been hit hard by storms the evidence of which often presented itself as large fallen trees and broken rocks littering her makeshift path.

Luke had to stop every few meters to empty his stomach, and after the third trip behind a tree, she wondered if there was anything left for him to throw up. At first he refused her help, but after nearly tumbling into his own vomit, he reluctantly allowed her to help keep him steady. "You owe me big after this," was all she said.