The Awakening Part 8
Disclaimer - The characters and situations in this story are the property of Lucasfilm Ltd. I am only using them for my own enjoyment and no exchange of any currency, Imperial or New Republic has taken place. My thanks to Jackie and Mona for their help and advice.
Coruscant Spaceport
To a casual observer, the small party at the Coruscant Spaceport docking bay 523A was merely some friends saying farewell to a friend. But in reality it was far more than that. Leia stood solemnly, her dark eyes holding Mara Jade's sharp green ones in place.
"Find him and bring him out of there. I can't help the feeling that Luke is in the worst area, risking his life."
"Of course that's where he'll be. I plan to start with the worst places first and then move up to something easier." There was a brief flash of humour in Mara's gaze but her tone was grim. She and Leia knew Luke too well - far too well.
"Please, Mara - be kind to him. He's been lost for such a long time. I hoped you and he might have been able to work something out, if I was too presumptuous, I'm truly sorry. I never meant to push you into anything you weren't ready for."
Mara winced inwardly. She didn't need or want a matchmaker but Leia just wanted Luke to be happy. She had warned Mara after all. 'If you don't want him, I'll find someone who does.' Mara also noted that the diminutive Alderaanian hadn't said, '…or anything you didn't want.'
"He's special and worth the effort, but it takes time to love him properly. Anything less than love won't do – not for my brother. Luke won't run the risk of being hurt again and keeps his feelings closed up too tight. He's been heart wounded too many times in his life to let his real personality escape. I want him to experience a little joy."
"I know you do. I'm sorry I ever caused him pain. But I cannot promise you a happy ending. I'm just a little confused right now. A relationship with anyone has never been on my agenda especially with Skywalker. I don't know quite what to do about him. Nonetheless, I'll go and find him for you - just to see he's okay. He would do the same for me and I do consider him to be a friend. I don't trust these holo-reporters one bit. They won't do anything to help anyone."
Han stood listening at his wife's side, uncharacteristically silent for once, but a smirk crossed his face - one that Mara instantly wished to wipe off.
"Solo?" she growled warningly.
"Nothing, Jade. Just wondered how okay you think he really is? Remember our little talk?"
"No, you've been spouting so many bantha-like ideas to me it's a wonder you've not turned into one. In other words, Solo - butt out!"
Han merely grinned at her, a definite twinkle in his hazel eyes. "I think you're protesting over much, Jade. Go check on the kid. But I would take my time. Convince myself that I'm 'finding him' for Leia. We know the truth."
Mara sniffed and turned away, stalking into the 'Fire' with her back ramrod straight. No sooner was she in, than the ramp closed with a decidedly petulant hiss and immediately the engines started.
"Han, she'll fry us if we don't move." Leia pulled Han out of the danger zone.
"Yeah, I think you're right." He chuckled softly to himself.
"Han Solo, what have you been saying to the girl?"
Han pulled his wife close and wandered casually to a safe distance from the imminent departure of Mara's ship. "Me!" Han put on his best wide-eyed and innocent stare. "I've said nothing that you haven't wanted me to say."
The Jade's Fire blasted out of Coruscant as the Solos watched it disappearing into the blue yonder.
"By all accounts, Greoa Prime is in a bad way. With the loss of the capital city, the whole planet has descended into chaos and confusion. The death toll has been enormous. Luke is somewhere in the middle of it all as usual. I just hope she knows what she is doing." Leia's smooth brow furrowed, as worry clouded her brown eyes.
"She doesn't," Han said thoughtfully. "Not really. Oh, she knows how to plan a rescue and other useful skills. But Mara Jade doesn't have the first idea about relationships. She wants to be in control of what she does." He laughed again and pulled Leia firmly into the circle of his arms, his eyes twinkling into hers.
"Ah, relationships." Leia's eyes answered her husband's. "What did you say to her?"
"Oh, this and that." Han tapped the end of his nose and winked roguishly at his wife.
"I love you but sometimes..."
"I know, but have some faith. What did you expect? It is the master at work."
"Don't get too full of yourself, laser-brains. This is Luke and Mara we're trying to sort out. Not your average citizen."
"Hey, I tried my best." Han defended himself and brushed a light kiss on the bridge of his wife's nose.
Leia lifted an immaculately perfect eyebrow. "Well then, I'd better put out the wedding invitations."
"You do that." Han sauntered off with his nose stuck in the air and left Leia to sigh in exasperation after him. The scoundrel was probably right, darn it.
*************************************************
The Jade's Fire
Mara anxiously scanned the reports coming in thick and fast from Greoa Prime. Karrde's slicer, Ghent, had been told in no uncertain terms that he had to keep Mara informed. Anything that happened - anything at all - was considered to be a top priority and what Karrde thought about it - Mara cared not one bit. The New Republic, thanks to Leia, had finally decided to send a task force to the beleaguered planet.
It was also known that Jedi Master Skywalker was on the ground helping at the worst of the disaster areas. One of the holoreporters stated that the Jedi Master had obviously been in touch with other Jedi from Yavin IV, because a small group containing healers had left for Greoa just the day before. Mara snorted derisively - at least they were going. What the news groups hadn't guessed was that Skywalker was in the middle of a temporary break from Yavin. He'd not been near them since the day he'd left and come to her on Coruscant. The one who had pointed out their duty to them was a former Imperial assassin turned smuggler. Mara wondered if that would be a popular item on the holonet. Of the Jedi Master there had been no word for at least a week. It was reported he was alive and well, but where exactly he was on the planet, they didn't know. The reporters had been kept out of the worst areas. They had more than enough to report on. Misery always made for good news copy.
Mara paced round her cabin on the Jade's Fire. The report hadn't been encouraging, but Luke was alive. At least he wasn't infiltrating some enemy military installation, for once. The sight of his tired, white face had tugged on her heartstrings. She didn't want to love him, yet could not bear to see him go through such pain alone. She would get over it – she couldn't really fall in love.
Then it hit her - hard. Mara took a trembling step forward and subsided onto her bed, her knees were shaking, her hands were clammy and her heart thundered loudly in her ears. "It's too late," she said softly, her green eyes wide and stunned. "I don't have the choice any more - to love or not to love. I love that idealistic, sand-spewing, gravel-headed farmboy, whether I want to or not, and I need to have him in my life."
That was the real shock. She already knew that she loved him but had thought that it was a temporary emotion - she could control that love until it died. She knew with gut-churning certainty that she couldn't. Mara needed to be with him. The longer they were apart, the more desperately she needed to be with him.
Mara took a deep breath and stood up. Suddenly the fire and purpose she possessed in abundance returned to her gaze. "Okay, Skywalker!" she said aloud. "I'm coming to get you, but not for Leia or Han or the children. I'm not doing it for your Jedi rabble on Yavin IV, or the entire population of the galaxy who need someone to do stupid things to save their lives. I'm doing this for me - for Mara Jade and I'm doing it for you too, Luke. So you'd better beware. I'm coming after you and this time I will succeed."
The words rushed from her like a river in flood, tumbling over the sharp rocks of her fear, beyond the things that had held her back. "I'm coming, Luke. Please take care of yourself for once - please," she tried to send her words to him, but if he was receiving anything she got no sign.
The fervour of Mara's thoughts reached an ethereal spirit from the edge of the great journey. She'd existed in the void for so long - only the combined strength of her daughter and her daughter's lover could send her to her proper destination. First, she would see her daughter contented. There was only one man capable of bringing that to her difficult, brilliant child. Only one, and Mara had tried to alienate him for good. Still, if she'd caught the emotions correctly through the Force there might be hope yet.
"Set a course," Mara instructed her pilot droid.
Greoa Prime – several days later
Luke wasn't infiltrating enemy territory, but he was at that very moment perched precariously on a thin wooden plank, trying to coax a small child to safety. The ground was incredibly unstable, the slightest movement could set off a series of tremors leading to a landslide, or something far worse. He was incredibly tired and he had a tenuous grip on the Force, at best. He reckoned he'd now gone nine or perhaps if was ten days continuously without sleep, and he was becoming a liability. Luke knew this to be true, but none of those he was helping noticed how tired he was. They were too eaten up with shock, loss and grief to take in how the Jedi Master was faring. They didn't see him. Closing his eyes, just for a second, Luke reached deep into the Force to focus once more on the task ahead. Instantly Mara filled his mind's eye, her face worried and her eyes pleading. Her lips moved as she said something, but he was too fatigued to catch her words. Luke blinked as his eyes watered and his vision wavered. With effort, he banished his life's torture and joy from his mind again and concentrated on what he had to do here and now. This child's life depended on it.
"Come on, precious," he crooned softly to the child, sending as much reassurance through the Force as he could to the frozen toddler. The baby inched a little closer and a shower of rocks trickled into the widening hole in the earth behind her. "Jump," Luke coaxed. "Come on, little one. Please. It'll be okay. I'll catch you." The child took a tentative step forward, then with a shriek she disappeared from view as the unstable ground shook. Luke, with his heart in his mouth, put all his trust in the Force and plucked the little girl from the air and with the last of his strength flung her to safety where she landed basically unhurt and screaming furiously.
The horrified onlookers watched as the area next to Luke subsided and the Jedi Master's limp form vanished below.
The Jade's Fire
"Luke!" Mara suddenly stopped dead, as his tired, white face appeared in a vision before her eyes. She had this feeling that the farmboy had gone and got himself into a lot of trouble. "Oh nerfspit, Skywalker. What have you done now?"
Mara had almost convinced herself that Luke's running off round the galaxy doing noble, death defying deeds had nothing to do with her, but deep in her heart she had the horrible feeling that she was the reason. If he did get himself killed - her mouth went dry at the thought of never seeing him again, never holding him in her arms. Not that she wanted to hold him in her arms. He had caused her more trouble than she'd ever needed or wanted in her life. Solo and Leia would forever hold it against her, blaming her for her rejection of his advances. "I didn't reject his advances," she whispered, her cheeks turning warm at the thought of what exactly she had done when he'd advanced in her direction. "Oh mynock droppings! I do want him in my arms. I want that more than I can say."
'You did reject him. You gave him hope, then took it away from him. All is not lost - go to him.'
"I'm going, I'm going!" She bit out angrily. "I'm claiming him as mine. I'm the only one who can match him. He needs someone to stop him careering round the galaxy doing stupid rescue stunts for one thing."
Mara's eyes widened as something glimmered, almost tangibly, within her grasp of the Force. Stretching out her hand, she thought that she might grasp the elusive something she sought, but it vanished and she was left with the nagging feeling that she hadn't quite done enough.
'*****##*!!'
Mara's head snapped round as her musings were rudely interrupted by the harsh chattering of the V1 pilot droid as it communicated incomprehensibly with Mara's astromech. The astromech gave a flat beep in reply. That droid would have to go. It had all the personality that half the Jedi Knights were adopting - none at all. She switched her attention to the Navicomputer and then stared hard at the forward view screen. The droids had reported a ship in orbit around Greoa five. Scanners indicated there were no lifeforms aboard, so Mara urged the Jade's Fire closer. The pilot droid whistled softly again to the astromech and a message flashed over her screen. "Yes, I see it," she told the droids breathlessly. "I see it and Karrde was right. It is beautiful." A silver ship floated in orbit around a small moon on the far side of Greoa Five. "Luke's ship", she voiced gently with awe. "What a beauty!"
On a sudden impulse, Mara opened a channel to the silent ship. She didn't even know if it had a name. Her enquiry was met by a burst of impassioned electronic speech.
"Artoo! Is that you?"
The answer in droid language was short and rude.
"Okay, okay! Don't panic. Where's your master? Do you have co-ordinates?" The droid blew an avaberry, then gibbered wildly in melodic whistles. Mara could see Artoo in her imagination, rocking from side to side on his wheels and rotating his head frantically back and forth." Slow down, Artoo." Mara grinned faintly to herself with a certain amount of relief. This would save an awful lot of time. Now all she needed to do was go and get him - which might not be easy if Luke turned stubborn. Artoo's message scrolled across her screen. Luke was helping the stricken population as best he could. He was also in the worst hit area. "Well, I could have predicted that. In fact I did predict it. Find the centre of the trouble and Skywalker's at its heart," Mara muttered to Artoo tartly and received an agreeing, but fed up beep.
"He's been checking in regularly?"
The whistle Artoo gave in reply was worried.
"No?" Mara sighed. She should have expected it. More words scrolled across her screen, but she'd known immediately from Artoo's pathetic tone. "You've not heard from him for two weeks, but you've monitored all broadcasts coming from the planet and he's fine." Mara shrugged her shoulders, easing some of her tension away. "Well, that's something I suppose."
Artoo gave Mara the droid equivalent of a disdainful human snort. Mara peered at Artoo's words. "According to the broadcasts, he's fine. According to you, he's not." Mara shrugged her shoulders. "Well, I guess you know him better than the holo-reporters."
Artoo gave another burst of information and Mara frowned in response. "You don't think he's had any rest at all. Biological lifeforms need to power down too. Yes Artoo, we do and I think you're right on this one. Skywalker's back to his old bad habits - he's trying to do it all and its my fault. Artoo?" She moved decisively towards her equipment and weapons locker and began to stow things into bags and cases. "Get me the co-ordinates of his last known position - Now!" Mara's voice strengthened with certainty. "I've got a bad feeling about this."
Artoo moaned, but Mara didn't wait for the translation to scroll across her data screen. If she had looked at it - it said. "Not you too."
Mara pulled a couple of breath masks from a rack and stowed one in her baggage and placed the other around her neck, clipping the cylinder of oxygen to her belt next to the lightsaber Luke had given her. Artoo's co-ordinates fed into her own navicomp and the V1 pilot droid brought the 'Fire' and Luke's silver ship into synchronous orbit around the fifth planet. Moving the survival and safety gear onto a small repulsorlift loading droid, she stowed it onto a larger version of the Skipray blastboat. This one had room for a small cabin and could carry a speeder.
Moving into the smaller ship Mara fired up the engine converters before easing the Skipray out of the 'Fire's' main docking bay. Checking the controls, she linked up with Luke's faithful astromech droid. Artoo was the best assistant to have under the circumstances.
"Alright Artoo, how near have you got me?"
The forward viewscreen showed a reddish planet covered by clouds of thick yellowish smoke. As she travelled closer through gaps in the clouds, Mara could see a world that had taken a beating. A large blackened patch marred the surface. Even from such a distance she could see the still smouldering areas where the volcano had exploded, destroying a once thriving and prosperous city.
"Emperor's bones!" Mara uttered in horror. "They need more than a couple of Jedi down there." The sense of urgency in her breast grew and with it, the fear. Fear that the Jedi Master wouldn't be there when she arrived. There was a reluctance to use her abilities, but already she could feel the many presences of a scarred people. The pain, suffering and loss felt by the beings who'd been in the midst of the chaos overwhelmed her senses. How would this affect the Jedi Master? She could also feel the agony of the dead as they'd died, suffocating in sulphurous fumes or being entombed in a fiery black death as a shower of scalding black rain descended upon their unprotected heads from on high. They hadn't stood a chance.
'Use the Force, Mara. It can be a powerful ally when you use it for good. You have a strength few others can attain. Don't deny what is yours by right. It is your birthright, your heritage. Don't be afraid, Mara. Fear is of the dark side.' Luke's words echoed in her mind. He said these words to her so many times and had she ever really listened to him? Had the words ever registered where it mattered? She could repeat any number of Jedi platitudes, but had she been merely paying them lip service and not absorbing them into her soul?
'I gave you my soul…."
"Luke - I'm afraid for you!" Mara burst into speech, shattering the tense stillness of the Skipray's cockpit. "I don't want anything to happen to you. If I don't love you, then you'll be safe and so will I. I'll be free to go about my business and never … hurt again. But it's too late for that now. I do love you and no matter how hard I try, I cannot keep you from doing stupid idealistic things that get you hurt. If I'd been with you…"
Mara froze; she couldn't remember feeling pain because of another person, not since she'd been with the Emperor. Since she'd met Luke Skywalker, she'd been fighting to keep him from discovering the depth of pain, which was somehow still in her body. Pain that she couldn't remember, but must have experienced once. Mara Jade had shut away her heart, but hadn't bargained for Luke Skywalker. She'd admitted she loved him and had thought that it made her a better person, but it had not. In some ways, it was worse because, afraid to feel properly, she had refused to let her love burst forth and let it grow in the sunshine which would accompany Luke's love for her. That's if he loved her. He did love her - he had to. She hoped she wasn't too late and he still carried her in his heart. Something of her usual dry wit seeped through her worry. "Luke Skywalker! You're the only person who has ever driven me to talking to myself."
Mara took a deep breath and sifted carefully through the maelstrom of emotions coming from the planet. They buffeted her wary mind and her heart ached for the people suffering such pain. Mara had known pain; she'd known pain before she could remember it. Something always held her back from making that final commitment as a Jedi. Perhaps it was the refusal to acknowledge and access her pain.
'Embrace my destiny,' Mara grimaced. 'It sounds so pretentious, but it's what I have to do if I want to be victorious over my past. I need to accept my future. I cannot control it; I must reach out and grab it with all that I am.'
His presence called to her, his power attracted her, but she wasn't held in thrawl to that power. He was in trouble; she could feel it. "Gods, Luke - hold on." Mara closed her eyes and immersed herself as deeply as she could in her own sense of the Force. Not since the days of her servitude as Palpatine's messenger had she been able to see and hear as clearly. "Luke…"
She touched lightly over the shining presences of Kam Solusar and Cilgahl, the Calamarian healer, as they worked in a field hospital on the outskirts of the danger zone. Kam lifted his head a little and a wry smile approached the edge of his lips, before he turned back to his task. Mara continued her search. It began as a small flicker and grew into a roaring fire. His presence called to her closer and closer. 'Luke!' her mind screamed and her stomach churned sickly. "Sith!"
Snapping out of the almost hypnotic state she'd achieved, Mara shouted at her astromech. "Get us the hell down there as fast as possible. All power to the thrusters. I don't care how many circuits you overload - just do it!"
The Skipray accelerated towards the planet, with the pilot straining her will along with its engines to get them there.
Greoa Prime
Luke came to with a faint groan. He lay dazed and winded on a narrow ledge halfway up or down, whichever way you preferred to look at the situation he'd got himself into again. A long ago conversation between Han and him many years ago trickled into his befuddled brain.
"How we doin?
"Same as always."
"That bad, huh?"
Luke tried not to think about the gaping hole to his left. He tried not to think about the crumbling rock rushing to meet the red-hot innards of the earth. He tried - he really did - not to think about the effect the molten fiery core would do to his fragile human body. The thought of what his father must have suffered flashed into his brain along with a picture of Mara Jade looking absolutely terrified and screaming his name. Automatically, the way he had always done, he strove to reassure her.
"Hey…. Don't worry, I'm fine."
Luke hesitated, suddenly cold despite the heat rising from below him. Mara Jade was as far from him as she had ever been. How he wished she was with him - there wasn't a day when he didn't long for her presence by his side. Truth be told - he wasn't fine. Luke ran a brief check on himself. A badly sprained ankle and another bang on the head. It was just as well he had a very strong skull. He ignored the burns, bruises and other contusions liberally sprinkled over his body. Everything was intact - his artificial hand was working perfectly. He lifted his aching head a little and cautiously opened one eye.
"Uh -oh!"
Getting out of here seemed like a good idea and immediately seemed like the best bet.
"Master Skywalker?" An anxious voice came over the comlink miraculously still pinned to his chest.
"Yeah! I'm here - not going anywhere at the moment." Luke tried to laugh, but the chuckle emerged as a feeble attempt, especially when it ended on a groan of pain. His ankle and his much abused head decided at that point to raise a protest to the treatment they had been given.
"Just hold on, Master Skywalker," the anxious voice continued. "We're trying to get you out of there as soon as we can."
"Fine, but I wouldn't take too long about it, guys. My current spot for sunbathing is getting a little too warm."
Luke heard someone say. "He's conscious, but we think he's in some pain. We don't know if he has concussion or broken anything."
"I'm fine guys," Luke interjected as firmly as he could. "How much time do we have?" His head ached, a dull gnawing pain, which counterpointed beautifully with the throbbing of his ankle. All the other parts of him that hurt, he'd tuned out completely.
"We don't know how long the ledge you're on will stay. The ground isn't stable at all."
"Tell me something I don't know," he grouched dryly, but lay as still as possible because he sensed the precariousness of his position. He didn't need to be a Jedi Master to work that one out. He watched idly as a pile of small stones trickled past him and dropped into the churning smoke filled pit below. The ledge would never withstand a Force leap and neither would his ankle. If he'd had more time to recover he might have attempted to levitate himself from his perch, but he knew what he was currently capable of and that wasn't on his sabacc deck. Could he risk a healing trance? An ominous sounding crack from just below him ruled that idea out. Yup, he knew. "Time's run out, guys, so if you have any ideas we need them now. Or I need them now, to be more accurate."
Mara's face appeared before him. 'Hold on, Luke. Please hold on!'
"Sithspawn!" Luke swore as a large piece of rock came hurtling past his ledge and thundered into the chasm below with a crash and a burst of sulphurous smoke. Luke curved himself as close to the wall as he could as it set off a chain reaction and other large boulders followed the first. Part of the ledge he was on slid into the molten, bubbling lava.
"Master Skywalker! You still there?" The shaken voice sounded on his comlink.
"Yeah," Luke cleared his throat and coughed, trying to clear smoke and dust from his lungs. "I'm still there, but if it gets too dangerous, I want you to go. Do you hear?"
"Master Skywalker, we've got some rope. We'll put it down to you. Attach it to your belt and we'll pull you up." The man's voice was nervous. Luke could tell that even though the man was wearing a breath mask.
"Primitive, but it might just work. Okay, go for it, I don't figure I have much option anyway." He took a steady breath of the tainted air. Luke wasn't wearing a breath mask. The child they'd been trying to reach had reacted with horror anytime one of them had approached wearing a mask. Luke had learned the Jedi art of filtering out toxins in his lungs and bloodstream. He'd been the one to go for the child as she'd seen his human face. However, as Luke's strength had waned so had his ability to rid himself of the poisonous elements in the atmosphere. Time was not now on his side. He had to hope the Force was still with him.
"Go for it."
Mara flew as low over the danger zone as she dared. She'd already been warned off several times by the Greoan military, but she'd dazzled them with stolen ID codes she'd got from Karrde. It gave her clearance into all sorts of areas. Nothing would stop her from getting to Luke – nothing.
The area where the volcano had erupted was a disaster. The ground cleaved in many places. Some patches were still on fire weeks after the event had happened. She could see trails of lava, the crust black, but occasionally splitting to show it's red-hot inner core. Charred shapes rose from where a civilisation had lived, loved and died. Bile rose to Mara's lips and she looked away, sickened by the destruction.
She received co-ordinates for landing and gracefully set the Skipray down. She was still too far away, but her landspeeder was one of the most up to date models and would take her there quicker than any other form of transport. Mara pulled her breath mask over her bright head and set off to find the one man in the galaxy who would leave no stone unturned until he had found her. "Hold on, Luke. I'm coming for you."
"I'm sorry, Ma'am. No civilians allowed past this point." The guard was polite but inflexible.
"I need to see Master Skywalker."
"You can wait for him at the field hospital in sector eight."
"I don't think you got my meaning," Mara returned crisply. "I need to see Master Skywalker, and I will see Master Skywalker. I'm going in."
"I can't let you, Ma'am. It's too dangerous." The guard lifted his weapon and brought it to bear on the determined woman in front of him. "It's not safe."
Mara fumed silently, her green eyes narrow. "Listen," she spoke low and with the Force. "Do I look stupid to you?" The man shook his head mutely, still clutching his rifle. "I'm going in and you're going to let me."
"You're going in."
"Good." Mara swung the speeder around and shot past the suddenly motionless guard. Nothing would stop her reaching her man – nothing.
Deep in the void, a being chuckled silently. Every step her daughter took towards her knighthood meant that her Mother would soon be free to complete the journey long denied her.
****************************************
The guard stood in a stupor for several moments before he suddenly came to life and futilely waved at the lights of Mara's speeder as it vanished from his view. He shrugged - he'd done what he was supposed to. If she got herself killed, it wasn't his fault.
Greoa City proved to be a strange alien landscape as Mara moved the speeder among burnt ruins and gaping fissures in the ground. Adjusting her breathmask, she reached through the Force for Luke. What had he been doing to himself? His presence was very weak - dangerously so. "Luke!" she called softly and felt a stunned reaction in return. "Luke!" as the tears began to run down her face. He was alive, but injured. "Typical Skywalker," she scolded him.
A sudden flicker in her danger sense alerted her and she jerked the speeder wildly to the side as a jet of sulphurous steam burst up in exactly the spot she'd been in. The ground rippled beneath the speeder and a new impression of foreboding gripped her. Mara tried to pinpoint Luke's exact position. She was close - so close - she could feel his presence. She also felt several terrified others in front of her. Leaping out of the landspeeder, she ran across shaky ground to where they stood in front of another vehicle.
"You all need to get out of here - fast."
"But the Master!"
"Where is he?" Her heart leapt into her mouth.
The ground twisted and shook and Mara barely kept her footing. "Where is he?" she shrieked above the rumbling earth. One of the party lifted a trembling hand and pointed to where two men were pulling something using thick ropes.
Mara squinted through smoke and blowing soot, but she couldn't see Luke. She could feel him and he was very weak. Where was he and what was wrong with him? The two men pulled hard and with a major effort dragged something over the top of a widening crack in the earth. As they did so, the ground shook violently. Valiantly keeping her footing, Mara assessed the situation. If they didn't get out of this situation now, they were dead.
"Get the hell out of here!" Mara yelled, horrified to realise one of the men next to her was cradling a sleeping child. The little one was thin and dirty and her face was covered with soot and small burns, but otherwise she was alive. Mara realised this was the reason Luke was still here. He had risked his life to save a child and she couldn't fault him for that. She had to get them to move or it could all have been in vain. The snap hiss of her saber awoke them from their petrified state and acted like the shock of cold water hitting them. "Get in." Mara indicated the landspeeder. "The child should be out of here. For Sith's sake, what are you playing at?"
"But…"
Mara modified her tone. "Come on. I'll deal with the Jedi Master; he's a friend. You get this child to the medics. There are Jedi healers at the field hospital in sector eight. They will know what to do."
"She wanted to know if he was safe."
"Safe?" Mara sighed, as things became clear. "He will be. Now go." She pushed them towards their own transport and ran towards where the two men were helping a blond man in black to stand. He brushed them away, murmuring that 'he was fine', and they ran towards Mara. The ground shook again. "Get the hell out of here - Now!" she repeated.
One of the two men opened his mouth. "The Master…."
"You need to get the child to the hospital."
"The Master too, he's been hurt."
"Tell me something new. Get in the speeder with the others." The smoke drifted across her face obscuring her vision. "Where is he?"
"He's over there, but you'll need help…."
"I'll manage." Ignoring him. Ignoring them all, Mara ran, closing down her saber as she went. The ground shifted beneath her feet like liquid.
"Go!" It was Luke's voice. It sounded like the loudest shout, yet he had spoken in a whisper. The figure of one man, standing unsteadily before her. The figure of a man she would know anywhere, his blue eyes glittering in his thin, soot-encrusted face. "Please, go."
Mara pulled her mask from her face and stood motionless for an instant, her eyes drinking in his battered form, her heart in her mouth. She took a hesitant step towards him and watched as Luke blinked in disbelief and a kind of dawning hope that she was real. He hadn't dreamt her. Shakily, he lifted his arms and held them out to her.
"Stars, Luke! What have you been doing to yourself?" and she was in his arms, clutching at his thin body, covering his face with frantic kisses, before finally placing her lips over his. Luke's lips were hot and dry and they clung, the kiss deepening between them, saying things without sound. Things they already knew in their hearts.
It was a single moment, but one charged with the certainty of eternity. Mara forgot her doubts, her fears and all her insecurities, because she was in the arms of the man she loved. Tears ran down her face and mingled with the tears on Luke's face. Reluctantly, they drew apart and she stared deeply into Luke's cloudy blue eyes. "I had to come, don't you see," she whispered. "I had to come. I couldn't stay away any longer."
"Mara…." His voice barely spoke. "Oh Mara…" His eyes closed and he clutched at her shoulders, drawing her closer as he gathered comfort from just holding her within the circle of his arms.
"Come on. I have to get you out of here."
"Sure, you'll get no argument from me." Luke's words expelled from him in a burst of air and she barely had time to catch him as he crumpled into a heap in front of her.