Author's rambling: Sorry folks about the false update the other day. I added a scene to Chapter 17 near the end of the chapter. Also, I've really enjoyed reading your reviews. They inspire me to keep writing. It looks like we're at about the ¾ mark in my story, but don't worry, I'm not done with Mara and Luke yet. But as the great Jedi Master once said, "you must have patience."

Chapter 19

"AHHHH!" Callista screamed in frustration. She sat in her meditation chamber and seethed. The situation between Luke and that space trollop had been a nuisance to begin with, but now it was downright intolerable. The nerve of her coming on to him like that! Especially in his vulnerable condition. She had barely been able to break through that insufferable bond that existed between them.

At that thought, she did have to allow herself a congratulatory smile. As soon as she had projected her image into his mind, Luke had remembered who he his heart rightfully belonged to. Luke had pulled away from her as if he had been stung. Jade would never even come a close second to her. But still, she would have to step up plans to insure that Luke forgot all about the Emperor's former whore. She could not afford to let him fall under that vixen's spell.

"Guru!" she yelled into the comm.

His face appeared in a few brief moments. He obviously was not pleased to be summoned.

"Yes, ma'am?"

"Send a team out to capture Jade," she ordered. "They are nearing the base of Mt. Uzbira."

"But I thought you wanted us to ambush them at their ship," he interjected.

"I don't care what I said before!" she screamed. "I want Jade now, and I don't care how many pieces she is in when you bring her to me!"

"Ma'am - "

"You will call me Master," she demanded petulantly.

"Master," Guru complied reluctantly, "You're agitated. Think about this strategically. If we go to them, they'll see us coming. If we wait for them to come to us, we can ambush them."

Callista narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "I thought you hated my plan. You wanted to simply kill them. Why are you suddenly so agreeable?"

"I've merely seen the merit of your plan and the rashness of mine," he replied, causing Callista to roll her eyes clearly not buying any of it. "Besides, I wouldn't mind having my own encounter with Ms. Jade."

Callista sneered at his lewdness. "You may do what you like with her when I am through. But whatever it is you do, she will not survive it."

Guru nodded. "So we shall proceed with your original plan?"

"Yes," she snapped. "Now stop bothering me."

She jammed her finger down on the "off" button and began to pace across the room. She had an uneasy feeling about leaving this matter for any longer than necessary, but she would just have to keep her senses trained on Luke. The moment Jade stepped too close, she would find a way to come between them.

* * * * *

The sky grew dark as dull, gray clouds blotted out the sun. The first few fat drops began to fall as Luke sat alone in the grass trying to clear his head. He paid the rain no mind. He berated himself for clinging to a dream that would never come true. He berated himself for allowing a ghost from the past to interfere with a possible future. Finally, he berated himself for berating himself, laid down on his back and let the raindrops hit him where they may. His lips still burned from the passionate kiss they had shared. The back of his neck tingled in remembrance of her touch. The image of her lying beneath him, her hair spilled around her like a fiery halo against the green carpet of grass seared into his memory.

He had felt the small tremors that coursed through her body as he had stared down into her turbulent emerald green eyes. Her full lower lip had quivered ever so slightly, proving too tempting to resist. He had given into impulse. He couldn't stop the small smile of satisfaction that crept across his face at the remembrance of how she had responded to him. To say the least, he was surprised.

Even more surprising were the emotions he felt coming from her when their minds touched. He felt them pushing against walls that had kept them prisoner for so long. Feelings of friendship and admiration came freely to him. They warmed his mind with their gentle affection. He felt something else from her too, something elusive and wary. He had tried to coax it into the light, but it hid behind a curtain of fear and mistrust, of him or herself he couldn't tell.

He wasn't supposed to feel this way about Mara. They were friends, and tentatively at that. What had changed it all? She refused to handle him with kid gloves when he was the most fragile. She pushed him to the limits and beyond of Jedi patience. She drove him nearly insane, but instead of being angry or annoyed by it, he only felt excited. The world somehow became more colorful when she was around. It was a feeling he had never really experienced with anyone else, not even Callista. His breathing quickened as his brain acknowledged a fact his heart had long since known: he was in love with Mara, and he couldn't deny it anymore.

But where did that leave Callista? After all this time, was he even still in love with her? It seemed so long ago that they were together. Han's words echoed in his head. Maybe he had been clinging to his imagined future to keep from being disappointed by the real one. At that moment, he made a decision. He couldn't keep holding onto a fantasy. There would always be a part of him that would love Callista, but it was time to move on.

Now came the tricky part. He jumped to his feet and took off in the direction Mara had taken. His tunic and pants hung limply from his sodden body, but he didn't care. He would prove to her that she did not come in second with him. He stretched out with the Force and easily found her nearly a kilometer ahead. Her mental barriers were up in full force, but he could feel the agitation and whirling of emotions emanating from her. He grinned foolishly, his eyes bright with determination and hope. At least she is just as surprised as I am with this strange turn of events.

* * * * *

Mara charged brusquely up a small hill, snaking along a natural path in the rock. Rain began to pelt her, but she didn't notice. Thoughts and feelings came unbidden to her and danced in a whirlwind in her mind. Her lips tingled from the kiss they had shared, and her body ached to feel his pressed against her. Her eyes stung with unshed tears.

"Oh, this is stupid!" she berated herself out loud. "All this over Skywalker?!"

She forced the tears away. She would not cry over him or anyone. Her foot kicked a rock as she walked. Picking it up, she hurled it has hard as she could through the trees. It didn't help. She leaned with her hands spread wide on a large boulder. From her elevated position, she realized with start that she could see Skywalker still down in the clearing. Little rivulets of rainwater trickled down her face as she gazed down on him laying the grass.

He doesn't even look concerned, she seethed, even though she could tell from his presence in the Force that that was far from the truth. What did she want from him anyway? He was in love with Callista. Annaïse didn't know what she was talking about. Mara turned away from the sight of Luke's sprawled body and leaned on the boulder with her arms crossed. This was all Annaïse's fault. How dare she disappear and reappear in our lives and plant these insane ideas in my head! Mara couldn't admit to herself or anyone that she had wanted Annaïse to be right. She was a fool to ever entertain the idea, even for a split second, that Luke could fall in love with her.

Taking a deep breath, Mara got her mind under control. No one would ever no how close she came to making a fool of herself. As soon as they completed this mission, she would say good-bye to Luke Skywalker and hyperspace it as far away as she could get from him. He just brought too many complications into her life. She would go back to what she knew was stable, her trading business. She gave herself a little push off the rock and continued along the path toward the mountain, her ship and hopefully the end of this damned mission.

Mara had not gone far when she felt Luke's presence coming up fast behind her.

"Mara, wait!" he cried.

"Go away, Skywalker!" she yelled furiously swatting a dripping branch out of her path.

Luke rapidly closed the distance between them. "Mara, please, just hold on a second."

She uttered a small growl of frustration but kept her back to him. In two more strides, he came up directly behind her, caught her by the arm and turned her to face him. She opened her mouth to speak, but Mara had no time to utter a syllable as Luke's mouth crashed in hers. His other arm snaked around her waist and held her close. Surprise, then enjoyment, then rage racked her body. When her mind had finally registered the kiss, she pushed him violently away.

"How dare you! Let me go!" she hissed, jerking her arm free of his grasp.

He stepped close again and firmly but gently clasped both of her arms. "I'm not letting you go, Mara. Not ever," he replied earnestly. He looked deep into her burning gaze, willing her to believe his next statement. "Mara, I'm in love with you."

Her eyes widened, and her heart began to race, but she refused to allow herself to accept it. "You mean you love Callista," she spat. "I told you before, Skywalker, I will not play runner-up."

She tried wriggle free of his grasp, but he held on as if his life depended on it.

"You will never be runner-up to me. I think I've loved you from the first time I saw you. I was just too naive to see it. Whatever I had or might have had with Callista is over." Her face remained hard and rigid, but she made no move to flee or dismember him. "You're the one I want. I need you in my life. I need you more than I've ever needed anyone."

Wet hair plastered itself against her forehead, and he tenderly brushed it back. Conflict raged within her, and she felt paralyzed, unable to move or speak. She had never realized how much she wanted to hear those words until that moment. But her survival instincts were in full overdrive, begging her to flee. She could feel Luke's alarm at her fear. He took her hand and brought it to his chest.

"Open yourself up to the Force," he pleaded softly and lowered all his mental barriers. The outside world melted away. Nothing existed beyond them and their bond. He laid his heart bare, letting her see every hope, thought and fear, holding nothing back. Mara involuntarily took a step back as such a powerful surge of emotion hit her taking her breath away. Images from their past bombarded her. Every innocent touch, every hidden meaning behind every word spoken and every time they had saved each other from their enemies. Now they needed to save each other from a life of loneliness and despair.

Little by little, the hard lines on her face began to soften, and she finally gave up the fight to keep from unleashing her own surge of emotion. With her heart in her throat, her carefully erected barriers came crashing down letting him see how much she loved him. No words passed between them. None were necessary. Mara reached up with shaking hands and pulled Luke's head down to hers. They drank of each other's souls as their lips met for a long, lingering kiss. They held each other tight, afraid that the most gentle breeze would tear them apart. Luke laid her down on the carpet of wet leaves and grass. They made love under a turbulent sky, paying no heed to the rain or the dangerous mission that lay out before them.

* * * * *

A servant approached Auria's quarters with her evening meal hot on a silver tray. As he reached up to knock on the door, he heard a resounding crash and an inhuman scream. Fearing for his master's favorite assistant, he barged into the room to find it and its occupant in a state of chaos. Shocked, he dropped the tray of food. Auria was no where to be seen, and in the center of shattered glass and broken furniture stood a woman with a wild mass of ash-blonde hair and a feral look in her gray eyes.

"What have to done with Miss Auria!" he demanded.

He began to approach her threateningly, but with a wave of her hand, a vise gripped his throat and raised him off the floor. His eyes bugged and he gasped for breath. He did not suffer long, for he was thrown through the wall-sized window, the glass shattering in a terrific crash, and he landed in a broken heap on the flagstones several stories down.

* * * * *

More author's ramblings: You knew they had to get together! Now wasn't that worth the torment? But don't think I'm done with Luke and Mara yet. Just wait and see what I throw at them next. *insert evil cackle*

Also, I have built a website and posted this story on it. Actually, the story is the only thing on it, so if you'd like to read this with a more colorful background, please visit my website at www.geocities.com/jen_sfire/guardiansoflight.html.

And for any artists out there, if this story has inspired you to create images relating to the story, and would like to see them posted, please send them to me, and I'll see about adding them to my website. Tasteful pictures please, and of course I reserve the right to post them or not.

See you next chapter!