Divided Heart
Part 2: Ghost of the Past
By SJ and Rhea (skyjade@globetrotter.net and jediknight@mail2master.com)
05-04-03/
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Disclaimers: Nothing in the Star Wars Universe belong to us; everything belongs
to George Lucas. We're only writing stories for fun. See my homepage for more
details.


Special thanks to Rhea for bringing up the plot bunny of that story and
accepting to work on it with me :) Working with you is a pleasure, my
friend!

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"Talon, would you do me a favor and ask Tarrintha to dance with you?"

Talon looked inquiringly at Mara. She continued, "Maybe you can find out what
would get her to agree to let Jade Enterprises handle the trade negotiations."

"What about Skywalker?"

"I'll take care of him," she answered almost nonchalantly, "Maybe he can help me
out too."

After studying her for a moment, he nodded, "Of course." He smiled, "After all,
A trade contract would be so much better than flowers, don't you think?"

Mara chuckled and watched him leave. She turned around--- and slammed right into
the Jedi. He put his hands out to steady her. Her normally calm demeanor
vanished the moment that Skywalker touched her. His face was intense and she
could feel him trying to read her through the Force.

"Where's your date?" he asked, deceivingly calm.

"Talon's not... He went to dance with Tarrintha, 'your' date" she added with
emphasis, "to try to charm a contract out of her for me." Aware that she was
still more-or-less pressed against the Jedi's strong body, she slightly stepped
away.

"I had no idea that you and Karrde had grown so close," he commented. "It's...
surprising."

Mara shrugged, losing herself in the azure depths of Luke's eyes, "He asked me
out," she said simply, wishing that this Jedi had done so instead of her former
employer.

"I see," the other nodded briefly but his eyes informed her that he was not done
considering her words. "May I have this dance then?"

"Sure, but in exchange, you'll tell me what will happen after tonight between
you and the princess," she warned him as she rested her hand on his strong
shoulder, slightly tightening her grip as if she were suddenly feeling
possessive of him.

As she analyzed her reaction, she dimly noticed that Luke's hand was also
holding her close to himself, as if he were feeling the same way toward her.
"Nothing will happen," he reassured her, gazing straight in her eyes. "She's
just another duty that Leia forced me to attend."

"I figured this much," she nodded.

"What about you and Karrde?" he inquired quickly before she had time to speak
again.

------"What about us?" she perched a groomed eyebrow at him.

"I know that you have a lot of affection for him," he reminded her as he quickly
spun them around, in time with the music. "You wouldn't have gone out with him
unless you felt something for him."

Mara had deftly followed his maneuver and now took the lead to guide him into a
series of intricate steps; Luke followed her as if he had always danced with her
like this. "And what if I do?" she answered him, suddenly on the defensive.
Sure, she had opened the subject of their current dates with him, but she had
not planned to open her heart to him.

"Well," Luke retorted, dipping her down and backward, surprising her with his
agile move before he righted her and spun her around on her heel. "Isn't he kind
of old for you? And what about the fact that he used to be your boss?"

Although Mara was genuinely stunned by Luke's unexpected dancing talents, she
stopped her spin and locked her gaze with his intent one. "Too old? He's hardly
that much older. Are you the type who believes that lovers should be about the
same age?" she asked him, taking his hand back in hers and leading him through
another series of quick steps.

"No, but---"

"I expected you to be much more open-minded than that about love, Jedi," she
scoffed. "After all," she added before he had had time to speak again, "you
certainly had no qualms at all to fall in love with a sixty-something year old
woman who borrowed the body of a younger woman upon her death."

The moment that her words left her lips, she realized that she had overstepped
the boundaries of their friendship. Luke's blue eyes turned to icy chips even as
his whole body turned rigid under her hands. "Never, ever, speak of Callista
that way," he warned her.

"Why?" she asked her reflexively, caught herself, then decided that it was too
late to back down anyway; the subject was now open. "Can't you face the truth of
what she was? She was a body-snatcher, Luke, and---"

"And you are a heartless ex-assassin, Jade," Luke spat, unwittingly attracting
the attention of the nearby dancers on the two of them.

Mara instantly saw red and was about to insult him worse than ever when an
unknown voice inquired from behind her: "Jade? Mara... Jade?"

Upon hearing the way that the man pronounced her first name, she whirled around
in shock and disbelief. No, she shook her head. It couldn't be. It was
impossible, he was---

Her world froze as her eyes found the supposedly-dead man.

Terren Macay, former partner in training and confidant, almost lover, and
someone whom she thought had died twelve years ago, stood right before her,
looking almost as healthy as even Skywalker did.

"Terren?" she breathed, her voice strangely strangled in her throat.

Around them, more couples had stopped dancing to watch the ongoing encounter.
The moment that Luke felt the intensity of Mara's shock, he forgot their actual
argument and moved to stand between her and 'Terren', instinctively trying to
shield her. Mara's hand appeared around his wrist and kept him at her side.

"Terren?" Mara repeated. "But... you're dead."

The dark haired, handsome man performed a courtly bow, "I had to disappear in
the shadows. I'm so sorry for lying to you. I never meant to hurt you."

"Yet you did," Luke observed as he felt his friend's old pain resurface in her
faster than he himself could summon up her legendary temper.

"And you are?" the newcomer sneered in annoyance.

"Hey, what's wrong here?" Talon's distinguished voice inquired, then pushed
through the assembled guests. "Mara!," he rushed to her side. "What's wrong?
You're as white as snow."

"This," she tried to say, then licked her dry lower lip and tried again, "This
is an old friend of mine, Terren Macay. Terren, this is Luke Skywalker" she
indicated the Jedi, "and Talon Karrde," she nodded at the smuggler.

"Luke Skywalker?" Terren almost reared back, his eyes narrowing. "The Jedi
Master, Luke Skywalker?"

"Yes," Luke replied cautiously. "Why?"

The other smiled in a way that truly did not please Luke, "I'm just surprised to
find Mara Jade with the great Jedi Master, that's all."

"Actually, she's with me," Talon said assertively, wrapping a supporting arm
around her slim hips.

Luke noticed how Mara threw a silencing glare at her cohort before she refocused
her attention on their surprise guest. "Where have you been all of these years?"
she asked, some of her anger filling her voice once again.

Uh-oh, Luke thought to himself. Whoever that Terren guy was, he was not on her
favorite list at the moment.

"Come on, Mara," the other tried to soothe her, "I thought that you had died
with the Emperor on the second Death Star. I thought that this man had killed
you," he jabbed a finger in the direction of the Jedi.

Tarrintha Goule came forward at this and frowned at the scene before her. "Is
anything the matter, gentle sir?"

Luke used the distraction to check on his friend. *Will you be all right?*

"I'm out of here," she replied, half-glaring at him in warning before she
refocused on the other man. "It's not the right day to return amongst the
living, Macay," she growled at him, then she was stalking away from them; Talon
was right on her heels, trying to calm her down.

The new comer gazed after her, his eyes filled with interest although his face
was a perfect mask of regret, then he turned back toward Luke; his features
changed completely. "You might have confounded her with your lies, Jedi," he
warned him, pointing an accusing finger at him, "but you will soon find out that
she is not as overcome as you think she is."

"Mara is a free woman now," Luke replied as serenely as he could manage although
his most ardent desire was to lash out at the man for what he had just done to
his friend. "If one of you needs freedom from your common past, I believe that
it is you."

"We shall see," the younger man almost spat at him, then turned his back to him
and disappeared in the gathered crowd.

"What was that all about?" Tarrintha inquired, sidling closer to Luke once again
just as Leia arrived on the 'crime' scene.

"Is anything wrong?" his sister inquired, breaking the quiet that had settled
over the gathered group.

"Not anymore," Luke reassured her, then added to himself 'for the moment'.

All of a sudden, he had a very bad feeling about the Cariba Conference. A new
player had just scrambled the whole deck of the sabbacc game.

Around them, dignitaries began to exchange gossip about what they had just seen
and what it meant. Tarrintha, for her part, tried to convince him to leave with
her like Mara and Talon had just done.
*****
"Who's this Terren Macay?" Talon asked Mara.

They had found a small secluded spot in the outer courtyard of the casino, far
away from any other living being. They sat beside each other on a small stone
bench, surrounded by thick blue Zanitha bushes.

"Someone from my past," she answered absently, obviously lost in thought.

"Was he special?"

"Yes," she slowly nodded, then seemed to come out of her thoughts and locked her
brilliant gaze on his eyes. "Can we not talk about him right now."

"Sorry. I didn't mean to pry." He leaned back on the stone bench.

They lapsed into silence. The night breeze was cool and comfortable, rustling
the branches of the trees. It was a quiet evening.

Mara's emotions, were at odds to their surroundings. She was in turmoil. She was
confused about Terren's return from the dead. She longed to talk to Skywalker;
she felt a pang of regret when she remembered how Princess Tarrintha clung to
the Jedi's arm. Feeling unusually glum, Mara gazed up at Talon Karrde. Life
would be so much simpler if she could only fall in love with the man seated
beside her. He was honorable, kind, generous, and she knew he would do
everything within his power to make her happy.

Talon returned her gaze and his expression softened. Her eyes explored the lines
of his handsome face. He leaned toward Mara and asked, "Would it be too soon, if
I kissed you?"

After a brief pause, Mara shook her head.

Talon closed the distance between them, lightly brushing her lips with his own.
Mara put her arms around him, deepening the kiss. It was pleasant and
comfortable. Her heart continued to beat its normal steady rhythm. Talon pulled
her closer, growing more passionate. She tried to equal his fervor, but it was
useless.

He didn't make her blood stir.

This was a mistake.

Talon was the first to pull back. He gazed down at Mara and a small, sad smile
appeared on his face. "Should I stop?"

Mara placed a hand alongside his face and stroked his cheek, "I'm sorry, Talon.
I don't deserve you."

Talon laughed; the sound made her heart ache. "You're in love with someone
else," he said matter-of-factly.

Mara was about to protest when Luke Skywalker's face came unbidden in her mind;
just being near him affected her more deeply than kissing Talon Karrde could.
She lowered her face, her hair becoming a shield.

Talon brushed her hair aside and nudged her chin upward to meet her gaze. "It's
Terren, isn't it?" he asked.

Mara's first impulse was to shake her head and deny his assumption, but she
stopped herself in time, aware that if she denied his statement, she'd have to
admit who had captured her heart. "I really don't want to talk about it. I'm
sorry that I went out with you. I didn't mean to be cruel. I just thought..."

"It's alright, Mara, really," the ever courteous trader smiled gently. "I'm
willing to work this out with you. I'm a patient man. I'll wait for you."

Mara shook her head, but Talon interrupted, "Think about it. Give it some time."

Their eyes met and they gazed silently at each other for a long moment. Talon
stood up and said, "Come on. I'll take you home."
******
The next day, Mara sat in her small office in the lower rent area of Coruscant.
It was close enough to the center of commerce to serve her purposes, but not too
costly that it cut too deeply into her profits. She even paid below market for
this particular location, although how much of that was due to the neighboring
office, she couldn't say.

Just one door over, was the Central application office for the Retention of
Restricted and Hazardous Life. Thanks to the dangerous species that constantly
came in the area, she never ventured out into the corridor without her blaster
in her hand.

She had just finished filing the preliminary contract that Karrde had negotiated
for her while he had been dancing with Princess Goule. Oddly, she didn't feel
the satisfaction that she had expected. She thought about him, and decided that
if he continued to pursue their relationship after last night's kiss, she would
have to find a way to let him know it was just not going to work. Better to end
it now, before their friendship suffered.

As if freed by such thought, the image of Luke Skywalker came unbidden to her
mind. Just how close had he gotten to Tarrintha Goule? And when would she learn
that Skywalker's romantic affairs were none of her business? She remembered the
way her skin had tingled when he had casually touched her while they had danced.
She recalled how breathtakingly handsome he had been in his rarely worn dress
attire. And she winced when she replayed the heated words they had exchanged on
the dance floor.

Then Terren Macay had shown up. It was as if he had risen from the dead. His
reappearance in her life had been a shock, but she had begun to adjust the idea
that he was still alive. He had once meant so much to her. There was a time when
she would have said that she was in love with him. Granted, she had been young,
but even the Emperor had approved of the match. Terren had been charming and
handsome and had saved her life at least once when a job had gone sour.

As if her thoughts of him had become real, her door, slid aside and in stepped
Terren, looking as dashing as ever. "Good morning, Mara," he said with his
sensually deep, baritone voice.

For a long moment, she could only stare at him, unable to process her tumbling
thoughts. What was he doing here? How had he find her? Where had he been all
those years?

By the time that she found her voice, he was standing across from her, looking
expectantly in her direction. "Terren," she greeted as coolly as she could.

"I've always loved the way you said my name. Your voice is so sexy."

Mara meant to growl something less charming to him when she spotted the presence
of a small, black oily mass slipping into the room through the air duct
overhead. She recognized it as a Deverian Bloodbeast, one of her less-than-
savory neighbors from the Application office. The slick animal slid down the
ceiling, coming right toward Terren. She picked the blaster up off the desk and
aimed. Terren's eyes grew wide and he stumbled back. She fired and the creature
caught flame, burning quickly, and leaving a small black stain on the carpet
where it fell.

A man barged into her room and saw the blackened spot marking the man's
Bloodbeast's demise. "Consider that a denial of your application for restricted
lifeforms." Mara stated.

The man saw the blaster in her hand and nodded. "Sorry about your carpet. " He
backed away without another word.

"Nice place you have here," Terren said, slowly sitting down in the chair.

"It suits my purpose. Why did you come here, Terren?" she asked him gruffly.
"Since you didn't bother to contact me before, I doubt that you were in an
emergency to contact me again."

"Do I need a reason to see you , Mara? I thought that we had progressed beyond
that point long ago."

"You said it," she spat, upset. "It was 'long ago'. I haven't heard from you in
years, I moved on with my life, and now you expect me to just----"

"Yeah, you moved on, with Skywalker," he spat out.

Mara, who had slowly begun to rise out of her chair, stood up and locked her
green glare on the man from her past. "Luke Skywalker is none of your business."

"I beg to differ."

"What??"

"If he's a part of your life, then he is important to me as well." Terren
answered, recovering his cool facade, then said suggestively. "Meet with me,
please," he asked her more warmly. "Give me a chance to explain. For old times
sakes?"

Mara considered this and then nodded, "I'll meet you in an hour for lunch."

"At the Grand Hotel?"

"Fine," she dismissed him, turning her attention back toward her datadisk-filled
desk. "Now I have some work to finish."

Terren nodded, longingly looked at her for a long moment, then left the room.
*****
As Mara was walking toward the Grand Hotel, she remembered that she had
forgotten to ask Karrde if the king had agreed to all of her terms. Not wanting
to let someone else declare the contract invalid, Mara pulled out her comlink
and contacted Karrde.

"Karrde here."

"Where are you?" she inquired rhetorically.

"Checking up on me already, Mara? Why, I'm flattered."

"Karrde," she warned him.

"I'm at the office. Where are you?"

"I'm on my way to the Grand Hotel."

"The Grand Hotel?"

"I'll tell you about it later. I just wanted to ask you..." her voice trailed
off as she noticed that a group of thugs were converging on her path.

"Mara? Is everything okay?"

"Looks like trouble's heading my way. I gotta go. It seems that the Grand Hotel
needs to improve their security."

She cut the connection, and pulled out her blaster. They stalked toward her.
There was no doubt of their malice or that she was their intended victim. They
quickly formed a loose circle around her. She pointed her blaster at the nearest
thug, a Riordian with only one eye. "Stay back," she warned.

They laughed and lunged toward her. Mara shot off three blasts, falling the
first attackers before the remaining two reached her.

"You better be worth this, you little Sith whore," the nearest man swore, ducked
under her roundhouse kick, then grabbed her from behind.

She reflexively struggled against his grip, using her infallible techniques to
escape him--- but no matter what maneuver she tried, she could not break free.

"20,000 credits is not enough," a metallic voice echoed hollowly as the third
one walked closer to them and peered closely at her. He was almost entirely made
up of cybernetic parts. "I think she killed them," he said indicating the other
three, then motioned to his acolyte to follow his lead while he stopped Mara's
attempt to kick him. He didn't let go of her leg, then scooped her off her feet
and led the three of them in a side alley. She reached out with the force to
unhook her lightsaber hilt from her belt. The cybernetic man grabbed the hilt,
preventing Mara from using the weapon. She felt the beginning of fear, but she
pushed it ruthlessly out of her mind.

However, despite her best training, in the Force or otherwise, Mara found
herself unable to escape them.
"Mara?!" Karrde called in the comlink once again, then, when he realized that
she was in trouble, stashed the silent device in his breast pocket and ran
toward the shelf where he had left his blaster holster.

He quickly retrieved his weapon, then turned on his heel and ran toward the
door---- he almost ran right into a black clad Jedi Skywalker. "What's wrong?"
his friend inquired, obviously sensing how distraught he was.

"It's Mara, she's in trouble," he explained quickly, catching his balance before
he walked around the younger man and headed toward the nearest turbolift.

Not surprisingly, Skywalker was right on his heels, unclipping his lightsaber
from his belt. "I got her," he warned him, then pulled on his hand and led him
toward the nearest balcony. "This way, it'll be quicker!"

"But the lifts are that way!" Karrde objected as he ran after the Jedi.

"We're not taking the lifts," the Jedi replied grimly as he hastened his step,
then, taking his hand in a firm grip, exchanged a quick glance with him. "When I
say, jump as high as you can," he barely panted.

They had not slowed down; instead, they were running a little faster now that
the younger man was pulling him after himself---- then the trader finally
understood what the daredevil Jedi was planning. The open balcony was rushing
closer and closer now.

"Skywalker, I'm not---"

"Three, two, one, now!" He jumped.

In less time than he could think, Talon Karrde found himself air born and
vaulting way over the high-railed balcony and on his way to a crash landing with
the solid ground that was five meters under them. He reflexively shut his eyes
while he tried to not scream in anguish--- then he felt himself slow down, just
enough to understand that he would not crash on the ground.

Beside him, Luke's feet had barely hit the ground that the younger man was
already sprinting at full speed toward the infamous area of the Grand Hotel.
Although shaken to the core by his new, flying experience, Karrde locked his
knees together and forced himself to follow the Jedi.

His lover was in danger.

Together, they ran to her rescue.
The thugs had dragged Mara all the way to a side alley where no one would bother
them. Their strength was superhuman

"What do you want?" she spat out for the tenth time since they had caught her.

"Just a little fun." The man began to caress her face with his cold durasteel
fingers. She yanked her head away, unable to move far enough because of the
restraining grip of the other man.

"They did not tell me how pretty you were."

"Who?" Mara asked.

The man's foul breath made her gag and she prepared to head-but him---- when a
blaster shot rang out in the alley.

The man in front of her slumped to the ground with a surprised grunt. Shocked
yet relieved, Mara turned toward her would-be rescuer, expecting to see Luke, or
even Karrde if he had found a way to come to her help this quickly...

Instead, Terren Macay walked forward, blaster held high, as if he were
invincible... once again.

"You!" The man holding Mara cried out and he shifted her forward, using her body
as a shield against this new assailant. Mara tried to drive her heel hard into
the man's foot; he didn't budge anymore than the last time that she had tried
that move on him.

Terren silently leveled his blaster right at her---- and shot the man, narrowly
missing her head. As the thug fell, he maintained his implacable grip on her
arms and pulled her backwards with him.

Her rescuer rushed forward, pulling her free. Mara, who had yet to understand
both why she had been caught that easily by those men, as well as how Terren had
just almost killed her, she stood up on shaky legs and looked down at the man.
She picked up her lightsaber.

"Mara," Terren pulled her to him, and before she could register his intent,
kissed her hard on the lips.

Grateful for his rescue, and still shaken by this encounter, she held onto him,
relieved to be alive. His kiss also brought back a flood of memories. She began
to return the kiss. It was pleasant and familiar, reminding her of the few
things of her past that she missed.

"Mara?" Luke Skywalker's voice intruded upon them.

Startled, she pulled away. Terren smiled down at her.

Luke was standing in the alley, shutting down his lightsaber. Behind him, Talon
Karrde lowered his blaster; both men were visibly distraught by the current
circumstances. Suddenly realizing what she had just done, Mara backed away from
Terren. She could not do that to Talon.

"It seems we came a little too late," Talon said dryly.

"Thanks for coming," she nodded at them.

Luke stepped forward his eyes inspecting Mara's face. "Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine," she reassured him.

His expression became shuttered when Terren put his arm around Mara, "She's just
fine, Jedi."

Displeased by the arrogance that she could now detect in her rescuer, Mara
shrugged out of his embrace and said: "Let's get out of here before more of
those thugs come after us."

After exchanging a suspicious glare with each other, Luke and Terren followed,
and Karrde hurried after them to catch up with his wayward companion.
TBC in part 3

Written 2003