I decided to be nice and not leave you hanging.. :) Tarado.

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The wide, flat landscape stretched out in front of the ultra bright lights of the speeding Mobquet, bare and empty for as far as the eye could see. The blackness of the night closed in quickly behind the sleek, dark vehicle as if allowing it secret, silent passage through the darkness.

Mara sighed, pressing her head into the back of the tall seat in an effort to stretch her arms and legs as far as the cramped confines of the chair permitted. She'd been sitting for only three hours, but the combination of tension and boredom made time stretch to the point that it felt like days instead. On the console, the flashing white blip on the faintly blue glowing screen of the navigator gave the only sign that they were making progress in the right direction. Otherwise, Mara would have sworn they were driving in circles.

Silence, her usually long-suffering companion, seemed heavy, pressing in on her. There were no sounds save for the faint, seamless hum of the vehicle and Luke's even breathing coming from where he lay, asleep, in the back seat. Cautiously, Mara glanced back at him. She'd suggested to him earlier that he should try and get some rest. They had a long journey ahead of them, and there was no point in both of them staying awake. Reluctantly, Luke had consented on the condition that she would wake him in a couple of hours. *A couple of hours, my foot,* Mara thought sourly, still eyeing the Jedi. A couple of days was more like it. He looked as though he hadn't slept in a week.

Mara stretched again, slapping a button on her console. A readout appeared in bright blue, outlining their trajectory. They were still a good distance from Kraell. Sensors revealed no sign of people or ships in the immediate vicinity. *No Star Destroyers or TIEs, and that's all you care about,* she told herself. She sighed again, wondering darkly what impulsive power had possessed her to jeopardize her life and livelihood to help Skywalker.

A stifled moan behind her interrupted Mara's musings. She glanced back at Luke once again, frowning. The Jedi's brow was creased in a frown and the eyes moved rapidly beneath their lids. His features looked strained and troubled, as if the worries and problems he faced still plagued him in sleep. Mara looked down at the console, stiffening slightly. *You have nightmares, Skywalker?* she wondered silently.

Somehow it seemed wrong for her to see him that way--as if she'd stumbled on to a dark secret she was not supposed to know. Mara wasn't quite sure what she had expected to find when she met him again, but somehow felt unprepared for the subtle way his temperament and personality had changed over the past two months. She wondered what had happened to him in that time that could mark his features so empty and lifeless and turn his eyes into crystal pools of dark, hidden pain.

*Some people are haunted by their own demons.*

She glanced back at him again. A thin line of perspiration stood out on his forehead and upper lip, plastering damp strands of hair to his forehead and giving his features a wax-like sheen. Luke certainly seemed to be a person who possessed more than his share of demons.

She wondered if she was actually to terms with the fact that she was turning herself into an outcast for the sake of seeing Skywalker to safety. Three months ago, the thought of doing something like this would be shoved aside as treasonous, suicidal and stupid. Now here she was: doing it. But it had to be done. And if no one else--not even his friends--were going to come to the Jedi's aide, then the job fell to her. The thought of what Palpatine would do if he ever got his hands on Luke again was sickening. Mara knew: she'd seen it, heard tales, and been indoctrinated with stories of it before. She felt somehow that she had a responsibility to see that it did not happen again. Maybe she was going against the wishes of her master, but she also had to live with herself.

Besides, something she would not admit to anyone--barely even herself--was that she admired Skywalker for his tenacity and his nerve. She had never met anyone else like him, and though at times she considered his actions and attachments to his friends stupid, she quietly respected him for it.

Behind her, Luke began to toss restlessly against the seat, gripping the thin blanket around his shoulders in a white-knuckled fist, muttering something that Mara couldn't understand. She turned around, biting her lip, feeling concern inch into her mind. She'd told Skywalker she'd let him sleep--Force knew he needed it--but she hadn't really counted on him doing something like this.

"No," Luke whispered hoarsely, shaking his head against the arm of the seat. His features had turned a new shade of waxen gray. His expression was one of blank, hollow despair, seeing things that were only visible to him. "No." he repeated, his voice rising in volume. "Leia no." He jerked, glazed eyes snapping open and staring sightlessly through Mara.

Mara felt a stab of fear, seeing his empty eyes gaze back at her, knowing he was still in the grip of this nightmare. "Skywalker--wake up." She shook his shoulder. He did not respond.

"You can't," his voice pleaded. "No."

"Luke, wake up!" Fear churning unnervingly in her gut, she took her half- full bottle of drinking water and doused it in his face.

The Jedi's thrashing suddenly ceased. Luke went limp against the seat for a moment before life returned to his eyes. He took a deep breath as recognition suddenly changed his features.

"Mara?" He whispered.

"Yeah," she nodded, pursing her lips. "Are you okay?"

He shut his eyes briefly and then pressed a trembling hand to his eyes, wiping away the icy water. Mara watched him with concern. "I'm fine now," he answered hoarsely. "Thanks."

She wasn't convinced. "Do you have nightmares like this often, Skywalker?"

Luke didn't answer as he pulled himself up into a more-or-less sitting position. His hands were shaking. Exhaling a ragged breath, he raked his fingers through disheveled hair and shut his eyes tightly as if to shut out the images that still plagued his vision.

"You sure you're all right?" Mara asked again.

He nodded again, swallowing. "I'm sorry. Going to sleep was a mistake."

Mara eyed him as he cautiously climbed to the front seat of the Mobquet and pulled the thin emergency blanket around his shoulders. The speeder was silent once again. Without asking questions, she settled into her seat to gaze again at the dark landscape beyond. Briefly, she checked the autopilot and the navigator and surreptitiously cast a sideways glance at Luke. He leaned back in his seat in an exhausted sort of slump, staring listlessly at nothing. The glow of the navigator cast his face a pale, sickly shade of blue, accentuating the dark circles under his eyes. She turned away.

"How far are we from Kraell?" Luke asked quietly, turning to look at her.

As Mara once again regarded his eyes, she was struck by the foreboding sense of dread that suddenly gripped her. "Five hours," she answered hesitantly. "What's.wrong?"

He just shook his head and looked away. "It's nothing."

Still frowning, Mara dug under her seat for the survival kit and managed to muscle it up to her lap. "Water?" she asked, handing him a small bottle.

Luke accepted it gratefully.

"Feel any better?" Mara asked as she watched him take a long swallow.

He nodded, trying to smile. "Already," he answered. "Thanks."

"My pleasure," Mara murmured, rifling through the bag again. "There are a couple of other things in here if you want them." She held a couple of packets. "Painkillers, nutrient pills.sleeping pills."

Luke threw her a glance and shook his head. "Thanks, but no thanks." He took another drink of water. "I have five hours to catch up on sleep--not a week."

Mara shrugged. "Point taken," she conceded. "I would definitely have to raise my rates if I had to carry your unconscious body to the ship."

Luke spread his hands, a faint smile coming to his features, momentarily replacing the dark pain in his eyes. "It's too bad I don't have enough money to spare for that."

"Don't push it, Skywalker," Mara growled, trying her best to feel annoyed, but failing. "I'm doing you a favor as it is."

His expression sobered. "Yes," he nodded, glancing up at her. "And I never thanked you for your help."

"Forget it," she replied, brushing him off. "It's not a problem."

Mara could feel his eyes still on her face and she shifted uncomfortably, pretending she didn't notice.

She had a feeling that this was going to be a long, awkward five hours.

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In the thick darkness of night on Derra IV, two white Lambda-class Imperial shuttles descended, unnoticed, toward the darkened town of Kraell. In the shadow of the early morning, no one took note of the two ships as they landed. No one really paid attention as, with the hiss of repulsors, the shuttles' ramps lowered. Preceded by white-armored soldiers, two dark figures emerged from the ships, shrouded by black shadows and equally ill intentions.

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