The Wedding of Luke Skywalker

By Ash Darklighter

Chapter 12

Disclaimer: The characters and situations in this story are the property of Lucasfilm Ltd. I am not making so much as a credit from this endeavour. Thanks to the girls as usual. Without you this story would be nowhere.

Coruscant Spaceport - The Jades Fire – Late

Mara slid out of her bed and pulled on her clothes, tightened her belt around her waist and began to hunt for her lightsaber. That was when she remembered what she had done with it. She'd thrown it at Luke as she'd renounced him and the Jedi. She only hoped he would be forgiving enough to return it.

Ten minutes later she arrived at Luke's apartment but couldn't have said how she'd gotten there. She stood outside his door and reached for his reassuring presence. The little hollow in the pit of her stomach tightened. He wasn't there. Yes, she could sense him - he was there and yet he wasn't. An echo of his presence lingered. Perhaps she sensed him because she carried a little piece of him with her. Mara placed her hand over the keypad and learned the places where his fingers had touched. A moment later the door slid aside.

The apartment was empty – absolutely empty. There wasn't one piece of furniture left in the entire place. Not that there'd been much in the first place. He wasn't there any more. He had moved out.

Mara rubbed her eyes. Force, she was tired. Where could he have gone? She hoped it wasn't to his sister's. She didn't relish the thought of having to go there and face Leia. The former Princess of Alderaan would be guarding her brother like a thranta with a single chick. She would go if she had to although, she ultimately knew the pain of such an experience would ultimately be truly something. She was willing to bear such a penance at this moment so great was her need to see the man she loved and apologise for her words. Mara wandered sadly through the empty rooms, feeling the echo of his presence as he'd laughed and cried. She'd really hurt him this time – the faint impression of despair could still be felt. She desperately needed to see that he was all right.

"I seem to be three steps behind where I should be," she muttered into the air. "See what he does to me." Shaking her head at her slow wittedness, Mara lifted her hand and traced the slight mark where a holo had been placed on the wall with a shaking finger. She realised where he had to be. He had said he was moving but she hadn't thought it was quite so soon.

Mara took one last look around Luke's former home and slipped from the building. Leaving it behind her, she caught a small air taxi and took it to what had once been the abode of Lord Darth Vader.

Mara alighted at the entrance level and walked into the palace. She'd been here many times before when she'd been the 'Emperor's Hand' and it was still as impressive now as it had been then even though the palpable atmosphere of fear pervading the walls of the palace was long gone. She gave her name to the security monitor and then patiently submitted to all the security measures needed to gain entrance to the next level of the palace. Mara gritted her teeth while she was scanned and searched for hidden weapons. The guard somehow still managed to miss her tiny blaster in its wrist holster.

Even though it was the middle of the night, the building was still teeming with beings of all nationalities and their droids. Some very important beings, too. Coruscant never slept. It was the administrative hub of the entire galaxy and somewhere, someone was awake and working. But she could still, amongst the hundreds and hundreds of beings working and living in this building, pinpoint the only one who was essential to her happiness.

Vader's Palace had been one of the biggest buildings on the planet dwarfed only by the Emperor's Palace and the Senate complexes. The new Jedi Centre only used a fraction of the vast, towering edifice. The main base of Jedi learning was still to be on Yavin IV, but Luke had wanted a presence on Coruscant. If the Jedi were needed to act quickly, they would be right in the middle of where the important decisions were made at the centre of government. It was important that they remain mobile and flexible. There were still not enough of them.

Mara strode purposefully past various offices, committee rooms and even a small restaurant when the contents of a shop window caught her eye. It sold a variety of things - including flowers.

Luke had given her flowers.

She entered the shop and cleared her throat loudly, attracting the attention of a small dozing Sullustan. Mara's command of that language was poor so she merely pointed at three rather sorry looking specimens and handed over the required amount of credits.

These flowers… the ones Luke had given her and the ones she'd bought just now, would compliment her special dress. Mara's mouth opened with a little moue of surprise. She'd never worn that dress because it had made her feel like a bride. She had her dress. Now she had to go and convince the groom. That might be a harder task than she'd ever anticipated. Not that she had ever planned on getting married at all – she hadn't. Luke Skywalker was the one man in the entire galaxy that would make her consider it. She swallowed – she had to be insane.

Then just as she was about to leave the shop, something else caught her eye. Grabbing a couple, she thrust a pile of credits into the hands of the Sullustan. "Keep the change," she called as she left the shop as quickly as possible. The bewildered shopkeeper stared at the money in his hand. She had given him three times the amount that was needed.

Mara passed through several more security levels until frustration got the better of her and she started thinking. The Emperor had seen to it that she was aware of alternative routes in most of the salient structures in the capital. She paused for a moment and then dug the layout from a deep recess in her memory.

'Level forty-two – sub section A,' had an alternative route leading off it. Mara selected the required turbo lifts and then exited onto an apparent dead end.

"I can't believe that after over ten years in power they haven't discovered all of the alternate routes." She marched past a statue of a mythical winged figure and tapped one of its fangs. A panel shifted aside in the wall.

Mara emerged on level eight hundred and six not too far from the final security station. She couldn't go any farther without hitting this clearance station. The top floors had been Vader's private apartments. She would have preferred to emerge on the floor containing the Jedi Centre but if there had been any more secret passages, they had been known only to Vader. Mara had a shrewd suspicion that although the New Republic didn't know the alternate routes, Skywalker did and he hadn't taken the time to share that information.

Clutching her three lilies and a small bag containing her other purchases, and feeling rather self-conscious, Mara stepped towards the final turbolift that would take her to Luke's domain.

"Ma'am!" the guard at the station called after her. "That area is restricted to Jedi only."

"I am a Jedi," Mara answered quietly. "I'm here to see the Master."

The guard exuded a calm air, a man a little older than Mara herself with a round face and steady grey eyes. Not someone she'd seen before but the New Republic employed hundreds of thousands in their security forces. "I need proof of identity and I'll have to call ahead. You wouldn't believe the beings who want to see Master Skywalker."

"I can imagine." Mara reasoned that the only person up in the centre would be Luke himself. There would still be minimal security and she was quite sure the guard wasn't going to admit that Luke was alone. The guard appeared to be reliable and quite able to hold his own for a time if she decided to fight her way up.

'Wrong path, Jade,' Mara told herself. 'Stop thinking about using violence to get you where you want to go.' It would hardly endear her further in Luke's good books.

"No, don't do that. He knows I'm coming." The last thing she wanted was Luke warned of her approach. She was shielding her presence as best she could but she sent a light probe to where she hoped the Jedi Master would be. Mara relaxed as she felt his sleeping presence several floors above her. He was there. She'd just scored a direct hit on the thermal exhaust port with her guess. So he hadn't gone to his sister's.

She felt his dreams begin to darken and could feel him searching for her as he had done every night. Wrapping a Force tendril around him, she eased into his dream. "Everything's fine, farmboy," she whispered. "Sleep and I'll be with you soon."

"Ma'am!" The guard sounded perplexed and looked a little wary. "Ma'am! Do you have identification?"

She must have looked a little suspect staring into space and talking to herself. Mara grinned. "Do I need it? I'm Mara Jade and I'm going up to the centre to see Master Skywalker." She used the Force to persuade the guard that she was trustworthy. Luke hated doing this unless it was necessary. He felt that clouding minds was sometimes very near to the dark side. As far as Mara was concerned it was necessary. This guard, however, was not easy to influence. That's why he was the one stationed at the entrance to the Jedi Centre. He was a good man, Mara decided, but she had to see Luke and she had to go there now. She wouldn't completely tamper with the man's perception but she applied just enough pressure to let her through.

The guard's eyes bulged. "Yes, Ma'am." Now that he thought about it, he did recognise the red-headed woman. "Go ahead." Mara Jade was a friend of the Jedi Master's. There was no reason to prevent her progress any further.

"Thank you."

"My pleasure, Ma'am. It's good to see the Jedi take their rightful place back in the galaxy. Should have happened long ago."

Mara smiled and stepped into the turbolift taking the short ride up to the Jedi Centre. When the lift doors opened she exited into the white painted corridor and headed for the central office area. The secretary droid sat reading correspondence exactly where Mara had encountered it earlier that very same day.

"Good evening, Ma'am. I am Cee Zee…"

"Yes, I know."

"How may I facilitate this visit to the Coruscant Jedi Centre?"

"You only need to tell me which is the Master's apartment."

"You go along the central corridor and take the small turbo lift at the end to the top floor. The last door on the left, next to the meditation room, is the Master's apartment."

Mara nodded her thanks and left before the droid asked what she was doing there so late in the evening or, even worse, activated the security. Mara suspected that Luke hadn't any security in place up in the Jedi Centre yet. His sister would not be happy about that if she knew. Luke disliked detachments of guards or Noghri following him around but Leia would insist on it if she thought he was in any danger. Mara exited the small lift and moved silently along the corridor counting the unmarked doors until she reached the double doors marked with ancient Jedi script. Turning to her left was a simple polished wooden door.

Luke's apartment.

The door was locked! Mara clenched her fists in frustration. Of course the door was locked. It was the middle of the night after all. Did she think Luke would leave his door open so that she could pop in if she felt like it? Problem… how was she going to get in? She did not have her lightsaber and somehow she didn't think the Force would work on this door the way it had on the ones in the meditation chamber.

Mara cast a longing look at the double doors guarding the beautiful octagonal room. The peacefulness and happiness she'd felt for a short while inside made her long to experience it again. She rubbed her hands wearily over her eyes. She'd have no peace and happiness without the friendship and forgiveness of the man sleeping inside this apartment.

However she had to make an attempt to get inside. Mara stretched out with the Force, trying not to disturb the Jedi Master and tried to visualise the workings of the door, she could almost see the connections but… Sith! There was a Force lock on it. She would have to try a more traditional route.

She bit her lip and glanced along the corridor. She didn't want to have to return and ask the droid to wake Luke up. He needed his rest and part of her didn't want Luke to refuse her entry.

'Droid.'

Her eyes brightened and she flipped on her comlink. "Artoo!" she whispered. "I need to get inside to see Luke. No, I don't want you to wake him up."

Artoo tooted quietly but firmly. "No!"

"What do you mean 'no'? Artoo, he's going to have those nightmares again. He's having them now. You have to let me in. I can help him."

Artoo sounded unsure. "He's upset because of you."

Mara wasn't as adept at reading Artoo without a screen as Luke was but something told her the gist of what he was saying. "I can help him," she insisted. "I'm sorry I hurt him - I didn't mean to. We argued… we always argue."

There was silence at the other end.

"Artoo, if you don't let me in how can I apologise? I'll just start hammering on the door and cause a scene. I'll wake your Master up from a badly needed sleep and we'll just argue some more because I didn't get a chance to say that I was sorry," she finally hissed into the com. Mara couldn't bend mechanicals to do her bidding through the Force. She had to persuade. "Please, Artoo."

The door slid aside just a fraction but it was enough for Mara to squeeze her slim body through the gap. Luke's faithful droid was not going to throw her a complete welcoming party. Artoo had his own ideas about things.

She found herself in a tiny entrance hall barred by opaque glass doors, surrounded by sweetly smelling fijisi wood embellished with the same Jedi script that had been etched on the doors for the meditation room. The doors opened away from her and she found herself walking into a central atrium with balconies running right around it on all four sides. Above her head was a dome-shaped roof with pieces of stained glass in the same Naboo styling of the meditation chamber. This would be very light and elegant during daylight hours, Mara guessed wanly. If she was still here to experience them.

Stairs were situated at the corners of the central area leading to the upper balconies. Dim lighting meant that Mara could see that the Jedi's new home was full of boxes and packing cases, with materials spilling out onto the polished wooden floor. Mara could see that this place would be indeed beautiful.

Luke's new home was bigger than she had thought. This was not a place for a single person. Had he planned it with his new bride in mind? With her in mind…?

Artoo detached himself from the charging unit in the droid station at the back of the atrium and rolled forward to meet his Master's surprise visitor. Mara knelt down and rubbed her hand gently over the top of the droid's little domed head. "Thank you, Artoo," she whispered.

Artoo beeped softly and, satisfied she wasn't here to do harm, he returned to finish his recharge.

Mara rose slowly to her feet and first, opened several doors until she found a small 'fresher where she left the wilting lilies in water, then dropped the bag with her other items on a small table and headed for one of the sets of stairs.

"Mara!"

The cry came from nowhere out of the dark. He knew she was here? She tensed then calmed her rapidly beating heart. Luke's nightmares had begun with their usual regularity. As soon as he relaxed into sleep, his subconscious let all his fears out of the box he kept them in and as usual he called for her.

She searched for his presence and let his cries guide her to a door on the far side of the balcony. This had to be Luke's room. She pushed open the door and stood gazing across at the restlessly moving figure in the large bed. Her eyes had grown used to the dark which helped her move past more boxes and packing crates.

"Oh, Luke!" she murmured as she sank down into a chair beside his bed. The Jedi Master's hands clutched convulsively at the counterpane and his rigid frame shifted, tossing and turning, as he tried to find ease from whatever demons were keeping her from him this time.

"Mara!"

Luke's hands stretched out into the air and Mara carefully took one, clasping it gently, stroking his heated skin. Carefully she opened herself to the Force, gasping as Luke's presence joined with hers. With her other hand Mara tenderly wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead. Stars! He was hot. "I'm here now, Luke. I'm here with you. Everything's all right. No one will keep me from you. Sleep, my love."

Mara's heart missed a beat. She'd admitted it in her heart but she'd never said it to him and now she had. It was just a pity he was asleep and wouldn't have heard it.

In the midst of his nightmarish dream, her soft soothing words brought relief. Without waking, he grew still and his body relaxed. She continued to hold his hand and sat for an hour just watching him sleep, his chest rising and falling evenly without any hint of distress.

Ten years ago she could never have imagined herself doing this. Sure she'd sat at his bedside and watched him sleep before but it was usually in a medicentre after his being dunked in a bacta tank. This was different… more intimate, more heart wrenching, more… loving. As much as she wanted his blue eyes to open and gaze into hers, as much as she wanted to repair the damage between them, Mara knew that months of disturbed sleep had taken its toll on this gentle man. They still had problems that needed to be sorted out but not right now.

Her eyes began to feel heavy. Mara realised she was tired, too. She couldn't sleep in the chair next to Luke's bed. Extricating her hand with care from Luke's who, despite a murmured protest, didn't awaken, Mara crept from the bedroom and made her way down the stairs. In the middle of the central atrium sat Luke's sofa from his old apartment. Mara lay down, curled into a ball and determinedly closed her eyes. She must have fallen asleep very quickly because she didn't feel Artoo's attempts to cover her with a blanket he found in one of the packing cases. In her sleep, Mara clutched at the covering and pulled it over herself properly.

Secure in the knowledge that his Master was not in any more distress and that Mara Jade was also recharging, Artoo returned to the droid station and powered down for the rest of the night.

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Luke opened his eyes to the weak light of Coruscant's early dawn streaming through the skylight windows in the roof of his bedchamber. With a flick of his wrist he opened the heavy black-out curtains covering the transparisteel full length windows which opened out onto his private balcony. Filmy drapes were left giving the room a more romantic feel. Luke didn't quite know why he'd had them installed as well as the heavy curtains but they looked stylish.

He felt almost refreshed. The nightmares had come but hadn't continued to plague him all night. He hadn't awakened time after time with his blankets on the floor or knotted uncomfortably about his body. Luke lay back against his white pillows and stared at the roof. He could have sworn that Mara had been here with him in his dreams, guarding him from the terrors and soothing them away from him with a soft kiss and gentle words. Oh, if only that were true. He gave a wry smile and sat up.

"I'm here now, Luke. I'm here with you. Everything's all right. No one will keep me from you. Sleep, my love."

He could hear her voice again, soft and melodious as he knew it could be, her touch on his skin, loving and kind. "Yeah, right," he muttered, pulling the white quilt tightly around his body. He hadn't decided on what he was going to do. He had the Knighting today and then Bebo and Khata's wedding tomorrow. He would have to speak to Mara after that. He still wanted to set everything straight between them even if there was no hope for a relationship. But if there was no hope for a relationship why did he still have in his possession the betrothal gifts? He'd almost suspected that they would vanish into nothingness if he failed.

Whatever happened he would make sure he told her everything and that, more importantly, she listened.

He eased himself from his bed and stared around the bedchamber. He'd had whole apartments that he could have fitted inside this one room. Grabbing his robe he headed for the ensuite 'fresher.

Ten minutes later, showered and wrapped in a white towelling robe, Luke climbed down the stairs to find his new kitchen and, hopefully, a hot cup of stim tea. "Morning, Artoo," he said as he headed past the droid station and stepped into the kitchen.

Luke stopped dead in the middle of filling the water heater. He wasn't alone. He came immediately back out again to find that Artoo had placed himself directly in his path.

"What is it, Artoo?"

The droid began to beep very quietly.

"'Be quiet, she's sleeping.' Whatever do you mean by that? Who's sleeping?" He lifted his head and caught the huddled shape of a figure on his sofa covered by an old blanket.

The droid hooted softly.

"Artoo!"

Luke didn't need to ask who it was. He knew who it was by her presence in the Force and confirmed it the minute he saw the fiery red-gold curls. Stars, he didn't need this today. But her presence in his new home wasn't an unwelcome one. She had come to him when he needed her yet again. She had eased his nightmares just like in the dream he'd had last night. Only, it hadn't been a dream. It had been real. Just by being near him she'd eased his sleep and he had rested peacefully all through the night.

He stood and watched her, her thick eyelashes resting on her creamy skin, her tumbled curls spilling over the fabric of his old sofa. The sight lifted and lightened his heavy heart. Even in her sleep he could see that she'd spent their time apart regretting what had transpired between them, there were still faint shadows beneath her eyelashes. Despite that, Luke had never seen anything so beautiful.

"How did she get in, Artoo?"

The droid whirled his head and beeped defiantly.

"You let her in. I suspected as much."

The droid trilled a soft cascade of sound.

"She's sorry…" Luke turned and stared at Artoo in surprise. "She said that?"

Artoo beeped and rolled away to his station.

"She's sorry," he repeated softly.

 "I'm here now, Luke. I'm here with you. Everything's all right. No one will keep me from you. Sleep, my love."  Had she really said that too?

Luke knelt down, his hand hovering over her. The green eyes snapped open, instantly awake, and met Luke's wary blue ones. Neither of them gave an inch even though Mara felt at a complete disadvantage lying on her back wrapped in an old blanket. She had meant to be up and ready. The Emperor would have had her punished for such laxity.

"Jade?" Luke said quietly, he felt distinctly disadvantaged dressed in his white towelling robe, his feet still bare and his hair damp.

"Skywalker!"

They stared at each other trying to divine what the situation was between them. But both Luke and Mara were experts at keeping their faces impassive.

"What are you doing here, Mara?"

Her natural instinct was to snap at him and then flee but that had got her into trouble more times than she cared to remember. She had to get beyond this. There were lives at stake – their lives. "We had a date," she croaked.

Luke's eyes widened. "What!"

"Yes," she said and swung her legs off the sofa and onto the floor. Luke backed away as she stood up. "Our date never happened." She handed him a small bag and as he was staring open-mouthed at the contents, she slipped into the small 'fresher and grabbed the three lilies she'd tried to save by leaving them overnight in water. "Here." She pushed the wet, sorry-looking flowers into one of his hands and stepped back to watch his astounded face.

Luke placed the small bag down on the arm of the sofa and stared at the flowers, a muscle working in his cheek. Artoo rolled forward with an empty wine bottle. "Good idea, little fella," Luke murmured and moved into the kitchen to fill the bottle with water. It was the empty bottle from their meal together in his old apartment. Luke hadn't quite managed to throw it away.

Mara stood nervously waiting for him to say something she could at least react to but instead he'd spoken to the droid and just stared at her.

Luke returned with the bottle in his hand, the lilies plonked unceremoniously inside. "Yes, Artoo. It is pretty."

Mara stifled a snort but Luke gave her a sharp look.

He stared at the flowers and, clearing some stuff carelessly onto the floor, placed them on a table as if it were the largest bouquet of rare and expensive blooms from the most unusual places in the galaxy. His shaking finger traced the outline of a petal. "Thank you," he said still staring at the flowers. He then turned to face her, the expression in his eyes intense. "Why, Mara?"

"To say sorry?"

"That's why you're here with flowers and these…" He held out the two music discs she'd found along with the flowers.

"You asked me to teach you to dance."

"I remember." Luke's face and voice gave nothing away.

Mara tried a careful probe to see if she could gauge his mood but the Jedi Master was far too experienced in keeping his emotions locked away when he wanted to. "If you'll let me?"

"I don't know."

"Please," she said.

Luke placed the discs on the table next to the flowers and held out his arms in a classic waltz position. He said nothing more, but just stood waiting. Mara gazed at him, her eyes wide - almost frightened, but moved in towards him and, raising her arms gracefully to match his, placed her hands in his suddenly shaking grasp. This was more than just a dance – much more.

At the touch of her hand, Luke's eyes closed and a sigh eased from between his lips as he pulled her close. For a moment they moved together silently in the age old rhythm of the dance, their feet moving in perfect synchronisation. Then the movement ceased and Mara's head dropped to Luke's towel clad shoulder.

They swayed like that for what seemed like ages. Mara lifted her head and glanced at the discs lying on the table. "I brought music."

Luke managed a brief smile. "I heard it," he said and stepped away from her. "And it was the most beautiful melody I've ever heard."

Mara felt as if she could cry. They hadn't needed music to guide their steps together. It had been instinctive.

There was an awkward silence. "Caf or stim tea?"

"Caf would be nice, thank you," Mara said for the want of something to say and her gaze fastened on his bare legs as he vanished into the kitchen. She'd been in his arms where she wanted to be and he'd been dressed in nothing but a robe. Was he wearing anything underneath? Her brow furrowed worriedly. The apology had been offered and accepted but the problems between them were still there. Mara didn't know what to say to make things better and she suspected that Luke felt the same.

He emerged from the kitchen with two mugs. "Here." He handed her a mug. "Don't worry about it."

Mara took a sip and let the warmth of the caf seep into her bones. "But Luke…"

"It's not the right time..."

"I am sorry," she interrupted. "I said some awful things to you."

"You're the only person I allow to do that," he said ruefully. "That should tell you something, Mara. I've got things to apologise for, too. When I said I was deceiving you it wasn't about Khata. She's a lovely girl but so in love with Bebo that I couldn't, even if I wanted to, which I don't. I never have." He shrugged. "That sounded complicated even to my ears." He downed the rest of his stim tea. "I have to get dressed. I can't go to the knighting ceremony in my dressing gown."

Mara gave a small smile but a real one. "Oh, I don't know, Skywalker. It has a certain style."

He wrinkled his nose and took off at a run up the stairs. He emerged a few minutes later on the balcony dressed in his best black tunic. He came back down the stairs clutching something in his hand. It was Mara's lightsaber. He paused on the bottom stair, his blue eyes burning with a fierce light into hers. "I confer upon you the rank of Jedi Knight, Mara Jade. This is not returnable again. It's yours. I want you to have it and this time to keep it."

Mara's lip trembled. "But this is yours. It was your father's."

"I want you to have it; you've earned it."

"Do you mean it?"

"I meant it ten years ago, Mara. Why should I change my mind? You haven't changed yours, have you?"

She shook her head. "No."

"Are you coming with me to the ceremony?" Luke stepped in front of her the saber extended towards her.

"You're still asking me?" Mara held out her hand and curled her fingers around the solid weight of her saber. It felt good to have it back.

"Who else would I ask?"

"I don't know. Your intended bride?"

Luke's mouth firmed. "Can we leave her out of the equation? That's one of things I have to explain and…"

Mara placed her hand over his lips, stopping the words. "I know, farmboy. I know."

Luke's face showed his astonishment. "You do?"

Mara nodded.

As he looked up, for just a moment all the facades were gone and his face seemed to show all his hopes and fears. But it was only for a moment and the Jedi Master's mask slipped back in place. "It's all right, we can forget all of it," he said carefully.

Mara shook her head. "I don't want to forget any of it, Luke." Their eyes held each other's, and the past ten years seemed to pass before them. "Took me a while but yes, I'm smart and I worked it out. Go and get ready for your Jedi. I'll meet you back here in an hour. I feel like I've slept in this tunic."

Luke assessed her slightly dishevelled appearance. "That's because you did."

"Well, I'm going to go home, shower and get into something else, more suitable for a Jedi Knighting Ceremony."

"Bring your evening clothes with you and you can change here after the ceremony. If Leia is organising it, I guess it will be formal."

Mara frowned. "Whatever for?"

"You said you would attend the Jedi Reception with me."

"I did but that was before…"

"That's over and done with."

Mara shook her head. "No, Luke. It's not over. We still have to talk but yes, I would rather think of the future."

Luke took her hand and brought it to his lips. "Agreed. The past can be laid to rest later."

Mara's green eyes widened as the touch of his lips on the back of her hand sent thrills running throughout her body. "If you're sure?"

Luke's eyes betrayed a sudden touch of vulnerability. "I have to be, Mara."

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