The Emerald Price Chapter 17
By Ash Darklighter
Disclaimer:- The characters and situations used in this story are the property of George Lucas and Lucasfilm Ltd. I am only using them for some entertainment and will not even make one Republican credit from this endeavour. This is set around eight to ten years after Luke and Mara met each other for the first time. This one is for all the girls on the AA list and of course for Mona – what would I do without you?
Yavin IV – two months later
Luke Skywalker carelessly flicked away the buzzing insect that had been flying around his head and watched idly as it landed on a brightly hued flower. He'd gone out for his usual early morning run but with the intent of not returning to the Jedi complex for the rest of the day. He needed some time to himself and today was the first day in a long time that he'd managed to get it.
This was his favourite route. The scenery was particularly beautiful, the terrain demanding and it helped maintain his stamina. And best of all, it was an opportunity to see the sunrise. Still a dreamer at heart, he was a sucker for the sheer spectacular beauty of a sunrise or a sunset. The sky went through so many changes in the early light of the new dawn. Yavin's daybreak could almost be said to rival Tatooine's efforts but nothing, in his opinion, could really match those. The desert planet and its twin suns would always have the home advantage.
All of his life he'd watched the sky – from the moment he'd been aware that the stars were more than shining pinpoints of light above him and that the suns gave life and energy. The fascination with what lay beyond the blue caught his imagination and fed his dreams. As the colours in the sky used the entire palette of tints, one shade always sparked a thought. It was the colour of her hair. Luke smiled at the whimsical idea of Mara's hair blending in with the red-gold of the dawn sky. Always, the glow of dawn's colours evoked the memory of Mara.
Shewas never far from his thoughts.
He was living with his feelings - contentedly existing, if the truth could be told. This was different from when he'd lost Callista. Back then he'd simmered with anger and barely healed despair. He hadn't wanted to really live. Shutting himself off from his friends and family, he'd turned into a virtual recluse alone with all his regrets and he'd already suffered too many hours of those. It had been selfish and stupid holding on to his pain instead of working through it and going on. He had too much work to do these days and Mara would not stand for his strange moods if he withdrew once again. His students needed him, the galaxy needed him and the Force needed him.
His mouth quirked into a little smile. His love for Mara Jade made everything different – the feeling he had for her was different. It was stronger, deeper and purer. He'd never had Mara as a lover – only as a friend and he would rather have her in his life as a friend than not at all. He couldn't lose Mara. He had resigned himself to a life alone without one special person to share his deepest desires. For if that was what he had to do to keep Mara in his life, then he would do it. The thought that he could have more entered his head but he never truly believed it. In his weaker moments he wondered what it could be like to have a wife and children but then he would be sent to the far reaches of the galaxy to deal with some new problem. He couldn't predict when he would be in mortal danger yet again and it was unthinkable to inflict that danger on a wife and children. What woman would put up with that?
'Mara could,' the little voice inside his head told him but he ignored it.
"I miss her," he told the little buzzing insect who seemed to turn his many faceted eyes on the strange human. "I miss her every day and with each breath. But…I have work to do and should not be idling here any longer."
He grabbed a stout piece of vegetation and swung across a small ravine, landing safely on the other side. The trees began to thin out as he continued his trek and ahead was a small hill. By now, Luke was breathing hard as he staggered up the incline, pausing to catch his breath at the top. Below him lay his secret place.
A secluded valley stretched out before him where one of Yavin's many small streams widened into a shallow, freshwater pool. No one else came here apart from him. The students' training runs tended to go in the opposite direction. Here he could take time to do what he wanted.
Luke plucked at his damply clinging vest top; already it was getting warm as the sun rose. He stumbled down the slope and headed for a small three sided shelter that he'd built a couple of years earlier. It had three sides and a covering of sorts made from the large flat leaves of a jungle tree. Calling it a roof would have been somewhat ambitious but it had kept him dry from the frequent tropical rains. With a thankful sigh, Luke pulled the backpack off his shoulders and dumped it on the ground inside the shelter. He opened the fastenings and rummaged through the contents until he found his box of ration bars and an earthenware drinking cup.
Walking down to the stream, Luke filled his cup with the cold clear water and, returning to the shelter, grabbed a ration bar and a stack of pads. Pulling out a soft bantha wool blanket, he spread it out and sat down. This was his own time – he wasn't scheduled to teach any classes for the entire day.
If he'd stayed in his office there would have been constant interruptions by students or, perhaps more likely, other teachers. Even on his rest day Tionne persisted in asking him to deal with administration matters. She meant well - she had the welfare of the Jedi at heart - but he couldn't fathom why she had to consult him on practically everything now that he was back on Yavin. Well, he did know - he was the head of the order after all. But he had hoped that he would be able to move away from the more rudimentary techniques in the training of the Jedi and be able to deal with what was happening around him in the galaxy. He would be able to go when and where he was needed. Luke knew that Tionne was much better at organisation than he would ever be and Kam ran the Academy in an exemplary fashion. Perhaps it was time to say something.
No one knew exactly where he was, only that he was close. If there was an emergency he could be summoned. He had the Force and a comlink. Luke chuckled and then took a bite of his ration bar. He stared at it darkly, giving it a look of disgust. Someone had to make these more edible. It could do a lot for morale amongst the troops. He glanced around at his basic surroundings – he didn't need much. If he built his shelter out a little more, he could maybe fashion himself a kitchen area. So if he wanted to do any cooking, he could have somewhere reserved for that. Then he wouldn't have to eat so many ration bars. Luke took a huge bite and chewed hungrily but the idea took root. It was a good one. Then the little nagging voice in his head surfaced again. 'If you'd stayed and worked in your office then you could have had lunch with all the other Jedi in the dining hall. No need to worry about the taste of a ration bar or working out where to cook in the open air.'
"Oh be quiet," Luke muttered to himself and finished the ration bar with a massive final bite. "Mmm, lovely," he said with his mouth full. He was almost convinced but there were some things even a Jedi Master could not do. Making a ration bar taste enjoyable was one of them.
He picked up his data reader and was about to select one of the pads Tionne had been trying to get him to look at for weeks when another card drew his attention. His hand ignored the first one and then picked up the other.
Something about this one was urging him to read it. This was the information Han had sent him last night. He'd been alone in the com centre when he'd had a call from his brother-in-law.
"Han!" Luke had settled into the seat in front of the com unit. "Good to hear from you."
"Hey, Junior! How's things in the jungle?" Han could be seen on the monitor slouched in Leia's nerf-leather chair in the office of their Coruscant apartment.
"Hot and sticky but pretty good otherwise," Luke replied with a grin. "Some of the trainees have come on quite far in a very short time and I'm incredibly impressed with the work that Kam, Tionne and the others have been doing with them."
"That's good to know. Hopefully it means you can come home more often. Your sister would like that as would your niece and nephews."
"I'd like that too," Luke admitted wistfully. Han shifted in front the monitor and Luke felt that he could almost reach out and touch him but they were millions of miles apart. "Yes, Han, I would really like that. Soon, maybe."
"I'll hold you to that, Kid." The Corellian had flashed a quick, sympathetic smile. "I've got a report to forward to you, Junior. It's from Altra Adremetis."
"Altra!" Luke's face had broken into a smile. He'd really liked the pretty and capable woman with her air of quiet strength. "You heard from them? How is she? How are they getting on…any success?"
"Slow down," Han chided laconically. "She's fine. She said to say hello and wanted you to read some report."
"Have you looked at it?"
"Yup, it makes good reading - although there's not very much to read just yet. I guess they're too busy destroying a slaving syndicate to write reports."
"I'll look forward to reading it." Luke grinned. "How's everyone?"
"Everyone? Oh…everyone?" Han's grin broadened. "Everyone is fine. In fact, she's been out of the Manarai for over a month now…"
"She?" Luke questioned casually but it hadn't fooled Han one bit. What he couldn't understand was why Luke had run away from Coruscant as soon as he could, leaving Mara to the tender mercies of Lando Calrissian. But then, this was Luke. He'd known the kid for nearly twenty years and sometimes he couldn't say exactly how his mind worked.
"Mara, of course. Weren't you asking about her?" But then other times he knew him oh too well and if anyone was going to call the Jedi's bluff it was Han.
"Actually, I was wondering how my sister and my niece and nephews were getting on but now that you mention it, I was going to…" Luke began to say. If Luke had needed to find out how Mara was, he could have opened his carefully constructed shields and searched out her shining presence through the Force but he hadn't wanted to do that.
"She's been seen in Lando's company quite a bit." Han kept the smile from his face. It wouldn't be any problem to tighten the hydrospanner in the works. "I ran into them at some fancy dinner. Your sister made me wear that suit with the durasteel collar…well, it felt like durasteel… you know, that blue one with the braid round the edges? She says it looks good but to me…I feel as if I'm trussed up in…"
"Mara?" Luke questioned tersely.
"Oh, yeah! She looked fabulous. Doesn't seem to be suffering any after effects from her illness and the ordeal of her capture. Lando's hands seemed to be all over Jade's luscious figure and I don't blame him. She is one well put together woman. I thought Lando was quite brave to even try and put his hands there…"
There was no mistaking the ice in the Jedi's voice as he cut off Han's rambling sentences. "It's to be expected. They've been together for some time now."
"I'm still not so sure. They seem more like friends to me than lovers and that night…I don't think Mara was feeling too friendly towards him."
"Not if his hands were…were…" Luke stuttered stiffly trying to keep his jealousy at bay. He had no right to feel like this.
"He was trying it on. There's no real closeness between them. Remember when Leia and I got married?"
Luke nodded. "Yes…"
"We couldn't keep out hands off one another."
Luke rolled his eyes. "I remember that."
"No…well… yeah, I guess so. But even if we were in company I had to reach out and touch her. It was comforting to know that she was there, the person you belong to and vice versa. Just a touch, a look or a whispered word and you feel loved."
"But he doesn't love her, Han," Luke whispered. He had never known that kind of closeness to another person. Callista had somehow kept part of herself from him. Even in his relationship with Callista it had always been just out of reach, a wall he had never been able to break down.
Han grinned. He'd hopefully got the kid thinking. It was time to keep tightening the screw. "I love your sister but how many other couples can you say that about these days?"
"I know a few."
"Of course you do but not Lando and Mara – of course, he may eventually wear her down. Anyway, as I said…Mara kept slapping them off, before she turned and stalked from the ballroom in a temper with Lando following. I think if she'd been armed he would have been regretting his actions"
Luke's lips twitched. "She'll have been armed," he said wryly. "There is no doubt in my mind on that issue. She is all right?"
Han laughed. "I think so. No one compares to your sister in my book but Jade appeared to be her usual gorgeous, irritable self."
"As long as she's suffered no after effects."
"She looked just fine. She did ask for you. Wondered how you were and where you were. I told her you'd returned to Yavin like you'd said you would and had been there ever since, mouldering in the jungle. Nothing more than pleasantries. She can be very charming when she's not pointing a blaster at you. I think she's planning a visit to Yavin sometime soon by the way she was talking."
"I don't moulder," Luke snapped but his heart had leapt at the words. A visit? Mara was coming to Yavin and soon?
"Just a joke, kid," Han soothed. His brother-in-law was very touchy where the beautiful redhead and the matter of her Jedi training were concerned.
"It will be good to see her. Mara's always welcome amongst the Jedi." Luke appeared to have regained his calm.
Han frowned. Luke was attempting to be very casual about his friendship with Mara these days but Han knew there was more to this than met the eye. He still hadn't forgotten how proprietorial the Jedi had been about her. His old smuggler's instincts had never let him down yet. "Mara isn't going to see the Jedi; she'll be coming to see you. She's your friend."
"Yes," the smile vanished from Luke's face and for a moment he looked sad and tired. "She's my friend."
"Luke…"
The Jedi could hear the question in his friend's voice. "What?"
"Why can't you tell Jade that it was you who went for her? I think enough time has passed now. Maybe it is time that you fill her in on what you did for her."
"Not just me," Luke returned evenly. "I couldn't have done it without you. I don't want her to know that she was treated so terribly. I don't want her to suffer. It could add untold damage to her psyche and she's been through too much already…"
Han wanted to say, 'What about you and the things that you've suffered? When are you going to be happy? Don't you think you deserve happiness?' But he kept his mouth shut. Typical, the kid always thought about others before himself.
"You don't think she has remembered anything?" Luke asked almost anxious.
Han shook his head. "No, I don't think so, but do you really think it's going to stop her from questioning? Karrde says most of her time was a blank. She remembers her capture and then odd fleeting images of fighting to get free. He's not told her very much but Mara doesn't give up easily. Maybe, you're right, Kid. No one should have to remember those kinds of experiences but..."
"Leia still does and never will forget," Luke's face showed his agony. "And I…I will never forget…my family, my hand…all the darkness…"
"Hey, Kid," Han said gently as Luke seemed to lose himself in memories of a not so pleasant past. "Would you want to forget about those things?"
Luke swallowed. The sight of his uncle and aunt's smouldering bodies still haunted him but he didn't want to forget. That would not honour what they had done for him. He could not unlearn what he now knew. "I would want these things not to have happened," he said softly.
"But they did happen."
"I know they did but…No." Luke's face showed his pain. "I don't want to forget. I can't. Still, is it wrong of me to not want others to suffer?"
"Oh, Kid." Han paused to allow his own emotions to subside. Time after time, Luke showed him what a selfless giving individual he was. The Corellian wondered if it was worth telling the Jedi his next piece of news but appreciated that Luke would want to know. Anything that threatened Mara Jade mattered to the Jedi. "Karrde is taking the Wild Karrde to Aaris III to pick up the Jade's Fire."
Luke's mouth tightened. "Is Mara going?"
Han nodded. "I think so. Karrde would perhaps rather she stayed away but he knows that there's not a snowball's chance on Tatooine of that happening. She wants to face what she had to endure and the Jade's Fire is her ship. She wants it back."
"The Fire is more than just a ship to Mara – it's her freedom and her independence." Luke dropped his eyes and his voice softened. "She's a strong woman. Not many could do that."
"Karrde and the crew are going with her."
"So I should hope," Luke muttered. "She will face what she has to. Still, for her sake I hope the memories never return."
Han sighed. "Kid, I mean it. Mara should know that it was you that went for her. I keep thinking about this and I reckon we were wrong in keeping it all from her. She was kept in the dark by the Emperor. Mara will not want you making decisions for her. Just tell her you were in the area and found her or something."
"You agreed to it too, Han," Luke said, dragging his focus back to the comscreen."
"I know I did but if she does ever remember…"
"It's too late to tell her now. I can't just call her up and say, 'I heard your voice through the Force and Han and I travelled to the other end of the galaxy to find you.' We'll worry about that if the time comes."
"I don't think it's a matter of 'if', Kid. Mara's getting stronger with each day. I don't think she's going to be content to just close the file on this."
Something inside him knew what Han was saying was all too true of Mara Jade. But for all concerned he begged the Force that this time would be different. "Well then, Chewie will protect you and I'm a Jedi Master," Luke gave a feeble chuckle.
"And you think that all your power in the Force will protect you if Jade gets really mad?"
"It might."
Han rolled his eyes. "I hope I'm nowhere near the pair of you if that ever happens. She must be apprehensive about the trip to Elrood."
"If she is, she won't let anyone know that she feels that way. It's a sign of weakness in her eyes. Karrde will make sure that she's kept safe."
"You think? He won't just drop her off and leave her alone…"
Luke's eyes darkened. "Not funny, Han."
Han winced inwardly at his mistake. He'd thought that a quip might lighten things but no. Mara's safety was not a laughing matter. "Of course, he'll keep her safe. He's not going to take any chances. I think he knows that a certain Jedi Master will come after him wielding his lightsaber if he doesn't."
"He's probably correct," Luke agreed but Han could tell that he was worried.
"Mara will be fine."
"Yeah!"
Luke stared at the data card and then slotted it carefully into the reader. 'Mara will be fine,' he told himself. 'She will.' He peered at the rolling script on the pad's screen.
Hey, Kid. I got this from Altra. There's not much on it but I think you will like it.
He activated the file and heard Altra's cool tones saying clearly, "Phase one a success."
Luke grinned. Well, whatever phase one was, he was glad it had worked. He read further. As Han had indicated, there wasn't much more.
Han, tell Luke that we managed to infiltrate the main base area and have
found several weaknesses. We've also located the headquarters of slave lords Tharakan and Diptil. They won't be trading for a little while. Elscol and I managed to create a little accident inside their premises with those thermal detonators you left behind. If Luke has any influence with the prince, please tell him he could be useful again sometime.
Luke chuckled. Phase one indeed.
Your wife's influence has already had far reaching effects out here. When
information reached us telling us that a delegation from the NewRepublic
High Council was arriving on Elrood to speak to the government on issues
of equal rights for all beings, several of the slave lords were immediately
brought in for questioning. That's well into phase two in my holo viewer.
Unfortunately for us and perhaps fortunately for him, General Raitt suffered
a heart attack while he was being questioned. He died later that evening.
He will never be punished for what he put Mara and countless others through.
So Raitt was dead. Luke couldn't pretend that he was sorry. He had regrets though. Regrets that the man never got what he deserved but satisfaction that he didn't live to enjoy the riches he'd gained from the misery of others.
Phase two had been initiated. Altra was right.
He paused as the sun crested the brow of the valley and finally bathed his little place with warmth and sunshine. "Be well, Mara Jade," he whispered into the sweetly scented morning air, his eyes taking in the lush tropical growth around him. "Be well and happy – you deserve it." A strange lassitude washed over him, the pads dropped from his hands and Luke closed his eyes and slept with a smile on his face. In his dreams, the beautiful face of the woman he loved smiled back at him.
The Wild Karrde – somewhere in hyperspace
Mara tossed and turned in her narrow bunk. Expelling an exasperated sigh she sat up, switched on the light and tried to squash her pillow into something that was remotely comfortable. "I'm not going to get to sleep yet, that's obvious," she muttered irritably as she pounded and pummelled the inanimate object into submission. The pillow was winning this fight without even throwing a punch. With a mumbled curse and a final thump, Mara thrust the offending pillow behind her back. She grabbed a holo-book from the shelf above her bunk and began to try to read but her mind was too restless to follow the text. It had been one of the ten best sellers in the whole of the Core World region, yet it failed to keep Mara's interest beyond the bottom of the first page.
She let the reader fall from her fingers onto the bed. Her mind was too busy to read or to sleep. Last night she'd dreamed and for the first time in months she could recall much of what she'd dreamed. It had felt so real. She had been chained up inside a cell. It reminded her of the time that Ysanne Isard had captured her after the death of Palpatine but she'd escaped on that occasion without help.
Karrde and Lando had said very little about how and where they had found her and got her to a healer in time and Mara hadn't pressed them about it…yet. But now her previously blank mind was recovering and remembering and eventually she wanted to know exactly what had happened. She would make sure she was never taken like that again.
In the dream she'd heard a nasally whining voice demanding obedience. This man had held her close to him, her body pressed against his. Something about him struck a chord of recognition but it didn't quite fit all the parameters. If she hadn't known better she would have said that it was Luke Skywalker. The stranger had eyes like Skywalker's but cold and full of fury. Luke's eyes were full of warmth and when he relaxed his guard there was laughter, kindness and a wicked sense of humour.
She'd not told Karrde that she was beginning to recollect parts of her captivity. She suspected he would be happy if she never remembered anything at all. But why was that? What had happened to her out there? Mara supposed that her return to the Elrood sector could be traumatic for all of them. She just had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach about it all and she'd learned to trust that sensation. It had never let her down yet. Now that she was finally able to think clearly, she knew that she'd been picked up by a slaving gang. It made sense. Karrde and Lando had got her out before they'd sold her.
When she closed her eyes and tried to regain the dream, she could not. All she could see were images - disjointed, fragmentary pictures of something that didn't add up. She heard a voice telling her that she'd be safe, that he would look after her. She knew that voice. She knew it better than any others apart from her own. It was Luke's voice.
But Luke Skywalker hadn't been anywhere near Elrood and Aaris III. Karrde or Lando would have said - wouldn't they? She must be hearing things.
She'd felt an understandable reluctance to return to collect the Jade's Fire but it was something that had to be done and she wasn't someone who couldn't face her fears. She wouldn't have been allowed to go on her own in any case. Lando or Karrde had followed her everywhere she'd gone since her capture and rescue and their constant monitoring of her whereabouts and state of mind was beginning to chafe. She felt stifled, yet unwilling to escape from the unaccustomed cocoon of concern they'd wrapped her in. Karrde had become as bad as Skywalker and as for Lando – the look in his eyes worried her. He appeared to be in serious pursuit of her affections once more.
She didn't need protection - she was a trained assassin, damn it, not some soft, silly, frightened little girl. The Jades Fire belonged to her – it was her ship – her freedom. But even more than her ship, Mara wanted her lightsaber. Luke had given it to her and she needed it. Maybe when her hands curled around the handle she would feel complete for the first time in months. Yes, her ship and her lightsaber. They were part of what she was and would become. She had to get them back.
Mara wriggled a little under her quilt, pulling it more firmly around her body and allowed her mind to drift back to her latest stay in the medicentre. She'd sensed Skywalker's presence with her as soon as she'd opened her eyes and maybe even before that. She knew when he was near – she could feel it. Luke's behaviour had been strange but there was nothing new in that. One of the things that she liked about him was that he never did anything quite the way he was expected to. Lately, though, she had been concerned about him. He was retreating further and further into the personae of the Jedi Master and she saw less of the carefree farm boy turned pilot she used to encounter occasionally. She'd seen his worry for her lurking deep in those distracting blue eyes of his on his daily visits at the hospital and then there had been his strange reaction to their accidental kiss.
Mara had to admit to herself that she'd liked the feelings she'd experienced as his lips had connected with hers. A tingle had swept through her entire body and she'd known that he'd felt the same – whatever that same was. There had been a moment when they'd both frozen and then Luke's horrified gaze had met hers. There was knowledge there too but Mara couldn't decide what he knew.
She traced the outline of her lips gently with her fingertips. What would have happened if he'd deepened the kiss? Her eyes fluttered closed and her breathing quickened as she relived the experience. Somewhere along the line her wishful imagination took over and, as the kiss became longer and more passionate, she felt her heart began to jump erratically inside her chest. She could hear his voice as he groaned. She knew if she opened her eyes, his would be dark and stormy with desire.
There was a light tap at the door. Mara's eyes flew open. 'Damn!' She was really losing it - daydreaming about kissing Skywalker of all people! He was the last man in the galaxy she wanted to kiss…no, that was Calrissian. She was heading towards being declared certifiably insane if she persisted in wondering what it would be like to kiss the Jedi Master. But then…his lips were well-shaped and begged her to cover them with her own. She knew his body was in the peak of condition – would it feel good to be pressed against his chest, to stare into his vivid blue eyes…?
The tap at the door repeated and reluctantly Mara relinquished her unexpectedly pleasing fantasy and stretched out with the Force to see the identity of her caller this late at night. She was surprised to find that it was Aves and not Karrde.
"Come in," she called, with a quick inspection of herself, hoping that her night attire was decent enough for visitors.
Aves shuffled in, looking a little apprehensive. "I just wanted to check you were all right."
"Why shouldn't I be?"
"I didn't want to mention this to the others but…" he hesitated. "The boss told us to keep an eye on you."
She rolled her eyes and sighed. "I thought he might. I won't break. I'm not saying that I liked what happened but it happened and I'm dealing with it." Mara waved him to the single chair in the corner of the cabin. Even on a large ship like the Wild Karrde, cabin space was at a premium. This was a cargo vessel first and foremost. "Just say what you have to say."
"This is my time for my break."
"And…? Mara couldn't see where the older man was going with this conversation.
"Most of the others are sleeping."
"I know. It is supposed to be the night cycle."
"I just wondered if you were all right. I heard you…"
"Heard me," Mara interrupted.
"Yeah," Aves rubbed grimy hands on his pants. "Every night since we left the mid rim I've heard you shouting for someone."
"Shouting." Mara's mouth opened and shut. Who on the pride of the Core Worlds would she be shouting for?
"I reckoned you were dreaming and I know you wouldn't want doc to give you knock out drops to help you sleep."
"I wouldn't want sleeping capsules, no. Aves, who was I shouting for?"
"I think it was the Jedi…Skywalker."
"Oh! You just think?"
"Pretty sure it was him." Aves shifted a little in the chair his face flushing a little. "Do you want me to see Karrde or the doc-droid?"
"No, I must just be having nightmares. After…you know. It's not surprising really. I'm quite capable of seeing the doc-droid if I need to."
""I just wanted to make sure… Do you know why it's him you were shouting for?"
Mara opened her mouth to snap at the older man but could see that even for an experienced member of Karrde's crew he was apprehensive of her reaction. "I don't."
"Maybe the Jedi Master will know. You could ask him."
"Ask him!" Mara exclaimed. "How could he know?"
"He knows a lot of things." Aves clamped his mouth shut as if he'd said far too much.
"Yeah, most of it to do with that silly Jedi philosophy stuff he wants me to learn."
Aves shrugged. "He's a good man."
"Skywalker?" Mara gave a wry little smile. "Yeah, he is."
"Maybe you should think about learning the rest of that Jedi stuff. He seems to think you could."
"He does, doesn't he," Mara answered thoughtfully.
The older man stood up. "Just as long as you're okay."
"I'm fine," Mara said quietly. "…or I will be soon, once we get this trip over with."
"I can understand that. Maybe…maybe you should speak to the Captain or the doc-droid about those nightmares. I think I'm the only one who's heard you."
"Thanks," Mara murmured. She felt a little awkward and she guessed that Aves did too, yet glad that he'd been concerned enough to come and speak to her about it before going to his boss. He gave her an embarrassed smile and stepped out of her cabin.
Mara lay back and fidgeted around against the pillow trying to find the most comfortable spot. She knew she'd been dreaming but morning came and she couldn't remember anything about the dreams but her throat was sore as if she'd been talking a lot or, perhaps, shouting in her sleep? Shouting for Skywalker? Why would she shout for him?
"He promised that he'd take care of me," she whispered as if a memory had swept over her. Then suddenly her sense took over again, confused. "Where did that come from? Why on Kessel did I say that? How did I know that he would?"
"Be well, Mara Jade. Be well and happy – you deserve it."
Words echoed around inside her head. Mara sat up straighter. "Luke!" she whispered. "That was Luke's voice. I could hear him as if he were standing next to me. He's on Yavin or he should be." She bit her lip worriedly. Was he in trouble? Mara didn't think so because she would have known. Once she got her life back to normal she would go and see him. Maybe she might even finish her training. No, Aves had a point. There was no maybe about it – she was going to finish it this time.
Mara pulled the quilt up to her chin and resolutely closed her eyes, bringing Luke's image into her mind. It made her feel better about a lot of things.