"I knew it! I knew it!" Mara spat after a frenzied swearing fit in Huttese.
"All this time..." Luke trailed off, but his blue eyes stared steadily at Thrawn.
Sensing his need for speed and eloquence, the Chiss proceeded to explain. "I needed to see if you were worthy of my trust. Oftentimes stories of Jedi were exaggerated as they passed from reality into legend. You still held loyalties for the fledgling Alliance."
This statement brought a jolt of reality into Mara Jade's system. "What?"
Smoothly, Kantasha Pellaeon answered, "He once held the Rebels in high regard, but now, I'm afraid, Red, he has realized the shortcomings of the Old Republic. It fell for a reason."
"It fell," Mara gritted, "because of Palpatine."
"Who saw its weaknesses," the raven-haired woman stated.
"All governments have weaknesses," returned the redhead.
"Not with proper leadership."
"With dictators, you mean," growled Mara.
Kantasha shrugged. "Whatever works."
Emerald eyes shot laser bolts out at green-speckled blue eyes which returned the assault in kind.
Luke, who was oblivious to the undercurrents of the battle, sighed. "This is not the way things were supposed to turn out."
Both females turned towards him with confused looks.
"What do you mean, Skywalker?" Mara inquired.
"You weren't supposed to come."
"You should be grateful I came and helped get your butt out of that prison and can protect you from these Imperials."
"You were once an Imperial yourself, Mara Jade," Thrawn said quietly, but he was ignored by the Trader.
"I would have gotten him out of that prison by myself just fine," Kantasha asserted.
"Now I'm going to have to figure out what to do with you," Luke stated calmly.
"What to do with—?" Mara furrowed her brow. "What we're going to do is go back to your sister and help her get the New Republic out of this mess—"
"I'm not going back to Leia."
"What?"
Luke elevated his chin slightly, clear sapphire eyes staring forward. "You heard me. This is Leia's battle. I'm about to begin one of my own."
"What the Sith are you talking about?"
"That's an interesting way to put it," Skywalker said, amused.
Mara's gaze flickered from the young man's face to Kantasha's, and then to Thrawn's. She was missing something important. Had Thrawn corrupted the infallible Jedi Master?
She hadn't believed the reports of Luke Skywalker's murdering someone, nor had she had the time to talk to him about it. The incident had sounded more like something she would have accidentally done, not the great Jedi Master Luke Skywalker, hero of the Rebellion. Why Luke hadn't fought against the accusation, she hadn't known for sure, putting it off to the man's lack of aggressiveness.
But maybe there was another side to Luke, a side that Thrawn had managed to tap into where Vader had failed...
Thrawn was a military genius, but was he able to look into the innermost soul of a person and bring out whatever qualities he wished to?
"What did you do to him?" Mara directed all of her malice towards Thrawn in a glare that would have made anyone but the cool Chiss flinch.
"I did nothing but free him from worrying about restraints on what he felt he should believe in," he answered.
"You made him hate his friends, you mean," Mara hissed, her anger growing by the second. She was getting annoyed by these half-truths.
"He didn't seem to harbor any ill feelings towards you when he healed your shoulder," the former Grand Admiral pointed out.
Mara subconsciously touched the said shoulder. No, he hadn't.
But she'd seen something in his eyes...Something she had only seen in one other person's eyes...
Flashbacks invaded her head, slamming against her mind like a thousand Shaaks...Memories full of pain.
She grasped at her head, trying to fight back the memories of him...
Soon she found herself on her knees, but Luke was quickly beside her, steadying her.
"Shh, it's okay," he whispered, pulling her to his chest and burying his face in her red mane. Somehow he knew. "He can't hurt you anymore."
"Who?" Kantasha muttered to Thrawn.
Softly, the Chiss replied, "She sees the darkness in him..." Sensing that Pellaeon's granddaughter was not satisfied with his answer, he continued, "It reminds her of Palpatine, and that frightens her."
"We need to get rid of her!" Kantasha hissed quietly.
"She could be a great asset."
"She's dangerous, and better off dead," Kantasha insisted.
"Dangerous to this operation, or dangerous to your relationship with Skywalker?" Thrawn inquired, eyes glinting.
Kantasha Pellaeon didn't reply, her gaze returning to where Mara was being comforted by Luke. She let her breath out slowly, the air hissing in her teeth.
Mara finally came to her senses, realizing that she was sobbing hysterically and being held by Skywalker. Stiffly, she pulled away, trying to compose herself.
Luke sensed the distance she was placing between them, and, rather than trying to regain the temporary closeness they had shared, he stood, looking by all appearances to have reverted back to the frigid man that had used the Dark Side to knock obstacles out of their path on the prison planet.
"What is our current destination?" he asked smoothly.
"A planet in the Unknown Regions where we are to receive a military welcome," Thrawn answered, pinning Kantasha with what could only be described as a warning glance.
"My grandfather shall be there," the sable-haired woman spoke sourly.
Mara had stood up and walked over to Luke swiftly. "We must go back to your sister, Skywalker."
"Organa knows nothing of the problems the Republic faces."
The redhead's jaw gaped open in disbelief. "She's your sister, Leia, remember?"
Luke's eyes flashed. "I know who she is. I also know that she waited as long as she could before sending someone else to get me out of prison in order to help her and her pitiful Republic."
"What are you saying?" Whatever intimacy a few moments before had brought was gone. Mara also conveniently neglected to mention that she wasn't supposed to actually retrieve Luke from the prison yet.
"I am saying that you know as well as I do that squabbles in the Senate are ruining the principles the Republic was laid on. Leia has been doing nothing to change matters."
"She's been doing a lot more than you have, Skywalker!" Mara shot.
"I'm afraid you are nothing more than a burden and a nuisance, Jade," Kantasha said. "If you try to go against our plans we will have to either sedate you...or dispose of you." The latter option was obviously preferred by her.
"I won't give you the pleasure," Mara gritted, glaring at her. "I'll find out what you've done to Skywalker, and I'll make you pay."
"They have done nothing to me, Mara," Luke stated. "And I think you might find it more beneficial for all of us if you retreat to the cabin and sleep off this obstinate streak."
She slapped him.
"Don't you ever speak to me like that again, Skywalker. Ever." With that, Mara stalked off. She needed to cool down.
Kantasha's eyes bored into her back the entire way, but Mara didn't give her the satisfaction of seeing her enraged face.
Thanks: Thanks for betaing, Moy!