Authoress' Notes: I know, I'm so sorry for making you wait for so long. Cruel, aren't I? I had every intention of continuing this fic and then I got…sidetracked. I did! I was on a trip to England, then I worked like mad, and now I've got school. The good news is, I've got TONS more free time on my hands now so the updates should come a bit more regularly…as long as I don't go braindead. So, here's the long awaited Part 9!

Hyperspace: Somewhere between Wayland and Coruscant…

(quick recap:

Taking her hands in his, eyes downcast, he braced himself and decided to speak. Glancing up into her keen, emerald gaze, he choked out what he'd been longing to say for weeks.

"What was that? I couldn't hear you," Mara said, leaning in. Her hostility had been pushed aside in favor of curiosity. Luke's hand came up to touch her hair gently, his eyes crystal blue. Haltingly, he tried again.

"Mara Jade…I love you."

…end recap)

For a long moment Mara Jade could do naught but gape in disbelief. There was simply no way Luke Skywalker, Jedi Knight and Rebel Commander—her sworn adversary at one point and now her only ally—could have said the words she'd just heard. True, it had sounded like Skywaker's voice, but…there was simply no way. None. At all…

…was there?

But, considering the look on his face and the deathgrip he had on her hands, there was a way. He had asked, and she couldn't back away from it.

Oh, why the hell did I pester him to tell me in the first place? She snapped acidly to herself, more out of panic than real anger. Because panicked she was. Of all the things in the galaxy she least expected, this one topped the cake…because she'd never meant, never wanted, never dreamed of loving Luke Skywalker, but she did. Utterly stupid of her. There was no way Mara was good enough for him. She knew that. Luke Skywalker was the pillar of all that was good and honest in the galaxy. He was the man that every woman dreamed of being with. After his numerous heroic exploits, after being plastered all over the holonet, after all of that he'd never stopped being the humble, hot-shot-pilot-turned-Jedi. The one who claimed to be in love with her, Mara Jade, the ex-Emperor's Hand, ex-Hand of Thrawn, ex-assassin who'd once wished to kill him with every fiber in her being.

Oh no, Luke could do better than her…

His blue eyes bored into her emerald ones, struggling to read the conflicting emotions. All he had to do was tap into her thoughts but he'd never do that. Ever. So he held tightly onto her hands and felt his heart slam repeatedly into his ribcage and waited, just like a normal man.

"Mara?" he ventured after several long moments, and she swallowed.

"Skywalker—"

Reflexively pain welled up in him and, due to their physical contact, overwhelmed her. His surname…she'd used his surname and it had torn open a fresh wound. For a moment she panicked again, needing to get through this with his attention before he drew away completely.

"Luke," she amended, and he refocused, the pain dulling to a lingering ache. "Luke, I…I can't return your feelings."

If she thought the surname had brought pain, it was no comparison to the agony that washed through the young man now. He jerked his hands back to relieve as much of it from her sense as he could and struggled to regain control of his sudden lack of breathing. His shields slammed up faster than ever before, and he couldn't stop the tears that welled up, though none fell to his cheeks. The sudden emotion made his eyes bright, shiny blue and she had to turn away as she grappled with her own pain.

A vision came to her then, a dark one, brief but full of loneliness and loss. Luke with a strange woman…a willowy, beautiful woman, much like his sister…but she was telling him that she would not leave her planet, could not marry a Jedi because her people didn't abide by the Jedi, and then, a brief flash of her death colored the vision. Another strange woman came from the depths of Mara's mind…she had grey eyes and long hair and Luke called her "Callista," but there was no Force presence in her—no presence at all—and there was something else. Something distinctly wrong with her; a craving for power, the sense that she didn't fit in her body, and that astounding emptiness that Mara had never encountered before. But Callista didn't stay either. She abandoned Luke in search of something else—the Force, Mara realized—and left the Jedi, now referred to as 'Master,' alone and shattered. She saw Luke drift through the depression for a long time, neglecting his family and friends, withering away, a shadow of the man Mara knew now.

The vision faded then, leaving her reeling from the implications, breathless from the strong sense of depression and loneliness that had come on its heels. Still, she reminded herself, determined not to fall prey and allow Luke to love her when there was so much more waiting for him. Still, the future is always in motion. He'd told her that himself, hadn't he?

"I…I see." He stood, helplessly looking for a way out. "I understand. Hell, I half-expected it," he added with a bitter laugh, then turned his gaze back to her, just for a moment. "I'm sorry. I should have kept that to myself. I'll leave you in peace now."

He moved quickly for the door and was gone before Mara could recover from the vision. Not that she would have called him back. There was nothing more to say. Further explaining would prove fruitless. And she didn't want him to try and talk her into changing her mind, either. It was for the best, she was sure.

However, she'd never felt so lonely, so lost before. Not even when the Emperor died had there been a hole like this. The pain of it was so sharp that she almost felt sick. Something in her had died—something that he'd brought to life in the first place—and at rejecting his offer of love, of a future, she knew it wouldn't return.

She sank into her bed, eyes tightly shut. Soon after, she was fast asleep, but it was plagued with nightmares of Luke in the arms of another woman, then Luke withering away from loneliness that was somehow all her fault.

--

"You look like hell, kid," Han commented as Luke flopped down into a seat beside him.

"I bet," was the mumbled answer, and then the smaller man went silent. For a moment, Han sat in silence, wondering what to say.

"You told her then?"

Luke nodded.

"And…she said…?"

"She said…that she doesn't share my feelings."

"Were those her exact words?"

"What does it matter?" There was a bit of anger Luke's tone as he replied.

"Hey, kid, I'm just trying to help. If she didn't say those exact words…she might be calling your bluff."

Hope sparked in Luke's eyes, but he was wary. "I don't know, Han…I mean, I guess she never really liked me in the first place."

Han shook his head. After a moment, he said, "You sure do know how to pick 'em, Luke."

There was a small smile at that. "I guess I do." Then, quieter, "Thanks, Han."

"Anytime, kid," was the older man's response, and Luke drifted back toward his cabin.

--

The nightmares came to Luke, too, and he reached for something in his sleep—anything—that might offer comfort. His sense automatically sought out Mara's, as had become his habit over the past several months, but there was nothing soothing about her sense. She was as torn and plagued as he was. He grappled with the horrific dreams all night, then came into a restless wakefulness sometime in the early morning hours and headed toward the Wild Karrde's hold. The ship was large enough to carry a few one-person ships in its secondary hold, and he selected one without really focusing. A few moments later he was blasting away into open space, his destination firmly implanted in his mind. He was a Jedi, and he had a promise to keep.

Later that Morning: Hyperspace…

The moment Mara woke up she knew something was wrong. For one, while she could still sense Luke, he was far away. For two, there was something grim and determined that had a hold of his mind, and though his shields were firmly in place, she guessed his intentions immediately.

"Sithspit!" she snapped, tripping in her haste to get out of bed. She went down hard on her elbow, but she was too distracted to care. She raced down the hall, shouting into her comlink as she made her way to the hold. Sure enough, a small ship had been taken in the night.

"Hey, Organa, Solo!"

A slightly disoriented male voice answered. "What is it?" Han grumbled.

"That pesky Jedi of yours took off last night," she bit out, and there was a flurry of noise as Han absorbed and reacted to that bit of information.

"The kid left?" he asked sharply.

"Sure did." And Mara had the nagging feeling that it was all her fault.

"Well…can you use your…Force thing and contact him?"

"I can try, but I can't guarantee he'll answer. He's trying to block me out."

"Well, hang on. Leia, Chewie and I will be there in a minute."

"Hurry up, Solo," Mara replied, then shut off the comlink and stretched out hard in the Force. She reached for Luke with everything she had left.

//…farmboy…?//

For a long time there was no response, but finally he returned contact. His Force presence was turbulent and dim.

//What is it, Mara?//

//Where are you going?//

//To fulfil my promise. As a Jedi, that is the only path I can take.//

Dread clutched at her heart, and she took in a breath. //They'll use you and kill you,// she warned. Bitterness crossed his sense.

//So be it. If I die, then it's my time. The future is always in motion.//

//Please…// She paused, then, quietly, //Please don't do this Luke, not alone.//

It was only the third time she'd ever used his first name, and he could sense her sincerity…but he hardened his heart and refused to believe that he could go back after being rejected and pretend that nothing had happened.

//I've faced worse alone, Mara.//

//I can help you.//

//Stay where you're safe, stay out of it. C'boath and Thrawn are my problem..//

//They're the galaxy's problem,// she reminded him sharply. //Stop taking suicide missions and wait for us to catch up so we can all face them.//

He ignored her comments and said a terse farewell, making her curse out loud several times more. She was using a few colorful ones when Leia, Han, and Chewbacca arrived.

"He's determined, and nothing's gonna stop him," she informed the others, then growled to herself.

"We talked to Karrde—he's already turning this bucket around," Han offered. Mara shook her head.

"Not good enough. We'll never make it in time…this ship's a freighter, not a fighter or pleasure yacht. We'll have to take something smaller and faster."

"If I had the Falcon," Han muttered.

"But you don't." Mara shook her head. "No point in thinking about what we haven't got…instead we've got to use what we do."

"You're not acting like a woman who doesn't love my brother," Leia commented softly, and Mara's eyes blazed at the words.

"Drop it," she snapped acidly, and with an uncomfortable look, Leia did so. Han shook his head and motioned to the ships.

"We'll have to split up…Chewie, you think you can fit into one of those?"

Chewbacca rumbled an affirmative, and Han nooded. "Good…I'll get a hold of Lando—he might be able to help."

"Calrissian?" Mara asked, and Han nodded.

"He helped on Endor—" he ignored the red-head's scathing glare at the mention of Endor—"and he's a good friend of Luke's, so…"

"All right…let's get going. You can call him on the way," Mara replied, and they split up, each taking a ship. Soon they were hot on the tail of their missing Jedi Knight, and yet there was a sense of deep foreboding in both Mara and Leia. It didn't look as if they could talk Luke out of this one.

I think I'm gonna shorten the chapters a bit…that way updates will be faster and the story might end up a bit longer…plus I love cliffhangers. Review and let me know what you think about the plot and the shorter chapters, please…thanks for all your amazing patience and support! Love you guys!