The Emerald Price Chapter 24

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? My thanks also to Niqella and Rhea for their encouragement and invaluable suggestions.

Yavin IV

The red gas giant Yavin could be seen dominating the sky as it began to darken, the green vegetation of its fourth moon a strong contrast with its lush and verdant growth. Dotted about the surface of the planet were the many temples to whatever archaic Gods the Massassi tribes had once worshipped. Now many of these ancient structures housed those living and learning in Luke Skywalker's Jedi Academy. All the Jedi – and most of the galaxy - thought of it as Luke's, even though Kam Solusar had been running the school for well over a year.

Luke ushered Mara from the temple block where his quarters were situated and waved the door shut behind them.

"So," Mara said as she strolled slowly with Luke towards the main building housing the refectory. "My timetable? We've done a lot of talking but haven't decided anything. You don't strike me as someone in favour of procrastination."

"Plenty of time," Luke replied, his manner distracted as he ducked underneath a low hanging branch.

Mara frowned and swept the same branch away with an impatient hand. "I would like to know," she persisted.

"Patience," Luke said, his concentration fixed upon the tantalising aroma of the evening meal which wafted towards their noses.

"Patience," Mara echoed. "Yeah, yeah. This is so typical of you, Skywalker. I'm going to get nothing useful from you until you've been fed."

Luke sighed and stopped walking, turning to face her. "Patience is something I had to learn and is essential to the life of a Jedi Knight."

"And?" Mara was not impressed.

"So is food – I need to refuel." Luke had to quash a smile. He wasn't Yoda and Mara's irreverence was wonderfully refreshing. "And…?"

"And I don't intend to waste my time being idle."

"I don't think I've ever seen you busy-doing-nothing," Luke said with a chuckle, his eyes glinting wickedly in the fading daylight. Mara was so radically different from any of the other Jedi initiates on Yavin IV. None of the other students would dare to argue with him or make fun of him. He could be himself - Jedi or farmboy - none of it made any difference to Mara.

"I don't do nothing," Mara growled, suspicious of his good humour. "I came here to be trained."

"Once you make your decision you are very single-minded about it," he commented. "It's nice to be so certain."

"What makes you think that I am so certain?" Mara fixed the Jedi Master with her trademark glare. "I thought you wanted me to come and train with you."

"I did and I do." Luke stepped closer and placed his hand upon her shoulder. "It's actually very important to me."

"I know," Mara whispered. "It's important to me too. I should have come here earlier."

"Ten years ago perhaps?" Luke smiled gently and shook his head. "No."

"Perhaps not," she supposed thoughtfully. "I just know that I should have had the courage to face my fears far earlier than I did. I was wrong about a lot of things but…"

"I don't ever want to hear you saying to me that you lack courage because that simply isn't true. You weren't ready before," Luke said quietly. "I understand and I'm sorry for all the times I pressured you. I just wanted you to claim what was so rightfully yours."

"And that is?"

"Your place as a Jedi Knight. Your strength solidified in the Force where it should have been long ago had Palpatine not denied you your birthright."

"The Emperor did not want me to have independence of thought and strength in the Force. He wanted me to be a subservient puppet. Just like…"

"My father?" Luke wasn't surprised by her words. "Vader threw off his shackles in the end. He came back to the good side. The Force forgave him what he had done."

"That is in the past as is my servitude to the Emperor," Mara said with a fatality she did not know that she possessed. "I have to move forward to a new future. I'm ready to do this."

"You've come a long way, Mara," Luke said gazing into her eyes.

"We both have," she whispered. It was so difficult not to be caught in the snare that was Luke Skywalker.

Luke gathered himself together with difficulty. He could have stood there forever and stared into her beautiful face. "You must be hungry?"

Mara opened her mouth and shut it again. "Hungry?" she queried, gazing into the vivid colour of his blue eyes.

"Mara…" Luke's voice trailed away. He could feel the Force pulsing between them. He still hadn't discussed the extra-ordinary link that had formed between them. It could be a difficult topic but as Vader had proved to be a barrier for Luke to cross, Palpatine and the effect he had on her life was going to be a major issue for Mara.

She stared around her as if she'd never been in the ornamental garden in front of the main praxium complex before.

"I told you I was hungry." Luke tried to break the heady spell that was forming between them and bring things back to the mundane. If he didn't do that, he would forget everything and kiss her.

"So you did." Mara could only gape as Luke turned on his heel and marched across the short, well manicured lawn to the entrance.

"They stop serving in ten minutes. Are you coming?"

"Coming? Where?" Mara was so bemused by his presence that she didn't know where she was or where she was going.

"To eat, Jade."

The Jedi Academy refectory was to be found inside one the larger temple buildings, once the home of the Rebellion during its darkest hours. Mara tugged at her cloak as she followed Luke inside. She hadn't really needed it on her short walk. Yavin IV's climate tended to be hot and humid but Luke had dressed himself in his full Jedi blacks including his cloak and Mara didn't want to walk into a full dining room at his side not looking the part of his new Jedi apprentice. She was nervous, she admitted to herself. Inside the building, however, it was dark and cool with torches guiding the way towards the dining room and thankfully, Mara hugged her cloak around her.

"Most of the controls are now Force activated. It is a good exercise for the students," he commented quietly as he passed his hand over a symbol affixed to the wall and a door slid aside. He didn't notice that the conversation died down as he and Mara walked in together. Luke's presence on Yavin was always exciting for the students but Mara's presence had stirred up even more interest. She had a glamorous and dangerous reputation and her recent notoriety on the holonet because of her affair with Lando Calrissian had many of the Jedi curious.

Tionne gave her husband a look and Kam nodded. Luke and Mara had walked in side by side and everything in the whole Academy was suddenly different. There was a kind of electricity in the air – an excitement that hadn't been there before.

Kam exhaled slowly. For the first time in possibly years, his Master looked happy and that pleased him but also worried him. Corran Horn, who knew both Luke and Mara well, had said very little but had indicated that Mara was the reason behind many of Luke's actions. What did the enigmatic woman with the red-gold hair and striking green eyes think of that?

Mara could feel the curious eyes upon her as she collected her tray and headed to the serving hatch. She was used to people looking at her and making up their minds about her before they got to know who she was. "Skywalker," she hissed.

"What?" Luke accepted a plate from the droid.

"I can't sit with you."

"You usually do," Luke whispered back. "Do you want water or fruit juice?"

"Water," she muttered. "This is different," she said.

"Why different?" Luke handed her a glass of water.

"I'm here to train," she snapped quietly. "You are the Jedi Master."

"I'm one of the Jedi Masters," Luke said pouring himself a glass of fruit juice. "Kam and Streen are also Masters."

Mara sighed. Was he always this obtuse? "I'm here to train with you, Skywalker. I'm not here as a civilian dropping supplies, or even as a friend. I'm here as a student."

"And?" Luke still couldn't see that it might prove to be a problem.

"And nothing." Mara gave him a fierce glare and began to scan the crowded room for a single seat. Normally she didn't care what people thought of her but this was to be her new life and she wanted to be accepted as part of the Jedi.

"Mara…"

"Ssh!" She spotted a pale green hand waving at her and breathed a sigh of relief. "B'Nera D'ewal has an empty place next her."

"B'Nera?" Luke's face fell. "I thought you could have sat with me."

"I'm staying in your apartment. I'm training with you. What more do you want?"

Luke's face suddenly blanked itself of all expression. "What I want is immaterial," he said, his voice brusque.

"Luke…" Mara didn't understand him being so obtuse. Force preserve her from Skywalker and his mood swings. "I will meet you outside after dinner." She picked up her tray and turned towards B'Nera's table. "I am a Jedi apprentice and you are a Master. It would look as if I thought myself above the other Jedi if I sat with you and the other Knights."

"But the Jedi do not think that way," Luke protested.

"Of course they do. Notice the trained Knights are sitting together and all the students are together. Besides," she grinned. "I want to get to know other Jedi. Not just you."

Luke could see her point even if he didn't like it. It was selfish of him to want to monopolise her time. "Of course," he muttered apologetically. "I wasn't thinking."

"I'll see you after dinner and then can we please sort out my timetable?"

"Yes, Ma'am." Luke gave a wry grin and headed towards Kam.

Mara approached the table where B'Nera D'ewal was sitting. "Can I?"

"Of course." The Twi'lek waved her hand around at the various beings sitting in front of her as Mara slid into her seat. "I'll do some introductions. I hear you'll be joining some of our classes."

Mara blinked. "News travels fast," she said.

"You have no idea," the very deep voice of a young male human said laughingly. "Even out here. I'm Pod Nor."

"Mara Jade."

"I think we all know who you are," remarked a quiet voice.

Mara turned her head and found herself looking at a species she couldn't recall having seen for a very long time. "I didn't know the Nazzar were permitted to become Jedi."

"Ix Io," the humanoid remarked. He was tall, covered with a dark grey fur and thin equine-like facial features. "I felt the call of the Force and could not deny its pull. I am not welcome now on my home planet. I am an outcast."

"I'm sorry," Mara said.

"It doesn't matter – I have accepted it. The galaxy is a fascinating place and I have learned many things."

Mara stared at him. "It wasn't an easy decision for you to make, was it?"

"No," Ix Io said. "It was not - but there comes a time when you have to be with others of your own kind."

"Yes," Mara said, her eyes straying to where Luke sat chatting to Kam Solusar and Streen. "That I can understand."

B'Nera held up a hand. "This is the senior class table. Only Groet is missing tonight. He's on duty in the com centre. Much to the disappointment of fair Dilys."

"Do you have to tell the whole galaxy?" asked a pretty fair-haired human female sitting next to B'Nera. "The only one who doesn't know how I feel about him is Groet and that's only because he's not here."

Mara grinned. "It usually takes time for a man to understand that a woman is interested." Again her eyes travelled to the location of the Jedi Master.

"Was that how it was for you and Lando Calrissian?" Dilys asked eagerly. "He's very handsome."

"And he knows it." Mara frowned at the mention of the former administrator of Bespin. "No, it was not," she admitted shortly. "I'm not seeing him."

"Not seeing him – is it over between you?"

Ix Io leaned forward, sensing the mood coming from the red-headed woman was darkening. "I get the impression all is not well, Dilys. I suggest you try another topic of conversation. Mistress Jade should be allowed to have her privacy."

"No, it's alright," Mara said slowly, surprised to find that is was alright. "I suppose it will be common knowledge soon. There is nothing, only friendship, between Calrissian and me. Our arrangement ended some time ago. The holo-journalists haven't caught onto it yet." She looked across at the shadowed eyes of the Nazzar. "And my name is Mara."

"You're not seeing him any more - aren't you? How tragic for you."

"Tragic!" Mara choked back a startled laugh, her mood switching to outright amusement. "I suspect it was more of a relief than a tragedy. We were not suited."

The look on the young woman's face was wretched. "I apologise for my tongue. I can never say the right things. I just open my mouth without thinking and look what happens. I'm not destined to become a Jedi Diplomat, am I?"

Pod Nor shook his head. "Don't think so. I would stick to the healing arts. You're good at that."

"A healer?" Mara asked.

"So Master Streen says."

"That's very rare," Mara said, glad to have some of the limelight directed away from her.

"I hope to go to Mon Calamari once I have finished here," Dilys confided.

"To work with Cilghal?" queried Mara. "The art of healing is one of the rarest of the Jedi skills." She listened to the cheerful chatter and wondered if she felt old just because these students hadn't seen all the darkness that she had. She lifted her eyes from her plate when she felt someone watching her.

Ix Io gave her a nod. "Experience has to be learned and that takes time. Dilys did not mean…"

"Yes, I know. Calrissian and I had an arrangement. I did not love him and was glad our close association was over." Mara gave a rueful smile. "You are very persuasive, Ix Io," Mara said. "I don't open up to people easily." She turned her head and caught Luke's blue gaze. "If you will excuse me?"

"Master Skywalker requires your presence."

"Why…yes."

Luke sat down beside Kam. "Hi," he murmured and began to eat with gusto.

"Mara?"

"Wants to get to know some of the students and pointed out, quite rightly, that this time she is here to train." He scowled. "I wanted to talk to her but no, I'm a Jedi Master and she's a Jedi initiate." He turned his head to look for her bright hair amongst the rest of the students.

"It's only at dinner we eat like this. You can sit with her tomorrow during breakfast or even at lunch." Kam's mouth twitched with amusement at the idea of a conventional Mara Jade as he watched his friend and colleague sulking across from him. For a moment Kam thought he could see the look of a jealous schoolboy. "She wants to get to know them. Good for her although the senior class are light years away from Mara. Only Ix Io has the depth and experience…"

"I sometimes wish I could keep experiences away from them, Kam. I don't want them to go through what we went through."

"But they will. Life will scar them only too quickly. Ix Io is older than you, Luke, and B'Nera is not far behind."

"I know but they are young in other ways. They need more than being on Yavin IV. It's too safe here. We can tell them and show them all we want but in the end they must experience life for themselves."

Kam stared down towards the senior students. "Dilys Van Osten is showing all the traits of a healer and we are planning to send her out with Cilghal next year. There is no way she is ready to go out on her own. Another route for her…and I think she's very keen to do this… would be to actually take a medical degree."

"The Manarai would take her in conjunction with one of the Coruscant medical schools if I asked them," Luke said thoughtfully.

"You've brought them enough business over the years."

"Have you been having words with my sister?" Luke said. "She thinks I have shares in the building and in the bacta tank construction industry."

"Horn let slip that you'd been visiting the Manarai after your last little jaunt," Kam murmured. "What was it this time?"

Luke's blue eyes widened. "Don't go saying that too loudly," he said, glancing across the room to where Mara could be seen in conversation with the seniors. "I picked up a virus in the Outer Rim which could be nasty if left untreated and I was tired so I couldn't fight it off the way I usually do." His mouth closed, his lips a flat line. "I don't want to talk about it."

Tionne rolled her pearly eyes and decided to push the subject back onto the students and away from Luke's regular occupation of a bacta tank and a medical flotation bed. "Pod Nor and Ix Io will probably join Kyle Katarn - if he can be persuaded to take them with him. He was admitting he could do with some help."

Luke paused. "He's finally admitting it? Good." He looked across at the two students in question. "They would be of some help to Katarn. Both of them have the potential to become excellent Jedi Knights.

Kam pushed his plate away. "Have you decided on what Mara is going to do here, Luke?"

"Complete her training and then hopefully she can accompany me on some missions before being able to go out on her own." He gave a little groan. "It sounds so simple, doesn't it? But unlike Pod Nor, B'Nera and the others, she is battle hardened."

Streen leaned forward. "She's a warrior like you are, Master Skywalker. It's a good match."

There was a startled look of surprise on Luke's handsome face. "Er…yeah – a good match. Mara was trained to fight as I was. But it's not all going to be so easy – she's been rather reluctant to appropriate the more philosophical aspects of our Jedi life into her way of thinking. I haven't read so much since I first acquired the set of information discs from Mother Rell on Dathomir. Mara Jade has the intelligence to twist all my theories into such a spin that I'll never get them straight again."

Kam could see the eager anticipation on the other Jedi's face. 'He's looking forward to it,' he thought. 'I can't remember the last time I saw Luke so enthusiastic about anything.'

Luke finished his meal and drained the last of his fruit juice. "I'd better go, he stared across the room and caught Mara's gaze.

"I'll see you back at my quarters," he sent to her. She gave a quick nod. As ever their connection through the Force was instantaneous.

He smiled at Kam. "I need to discuss Mara's timetable with her tonight."

"But I thought you did that earlier," Kam said.

"Got sidetracked," Luke mumbled.

Mara left the refectory with the other students and after wishing them farewell wandered into the outer courtyard to find Luke waiting for her. A strange feeling came over her as she saw him. It was that same feeling she got when he smiled at her or when he was near and especially when he touched her.

"Hey, farmboy," she murmured.

"Jade," he replied in an exchange so typical of them both. "Shall we?"

"Of course."

They fell into step together and headed back to Luke's quarters by a longer route.

"What do I need to do?" Mara asked after they had walked silently for several minutes through the garden away from the main complex.

"You need to learn how the Force interacts with the universe around you. How you explore your connection with the Force, expand your awareness of what surrounds you. It's a lifetime commitment but I don't need to tell you that." He smiled. "You already know so much that you probably don't realise how much…"

"Ten years ago you gave me your trust and your friendship," Mara said, her face serious. "I began to relearn many things."

"You helped me to understand many things too," Luke acknowledged. "I don't know what I could have become if you hadn't been there to keep me straight. You have a sound mind and clear judgement. You are not swayed by trivialities and can keep your head in a crisis. That skill is above jewels. You have acted as my conscience, perhaps unknowingly, but your opinion has always been important to me."

"I was trained to fight by Palpatine, Luke. It was you who showed me the true way of the Force."

"You can already use the Force responsibly. I didn't show you that."

"Oh, but you did. I had never come across anyone like you and on Myrkr…" She turned away from him, her hand reaching out to stroke the velvety petal of a deep pink flower. "On Myrkr you managed to outwit the Empire even without the Force."

"That was luck," Luke grinned. "Although don't quote me on it, especially to the other students." His face sobered as he voiced his thoughts aloud. "You are less likely to be tempted to the dark side, as I was…"

"I think no one is totally safe from the dark side. My anger is still strong. I can be prideful and I do feel its seductive power. I can be tempted by it but I must not fall – I will not fall. To make sure, I must learn to have more control."

Luke couldn't believe the strength of mind the woman at his side exhibited. She was truly remarkable. She had a sense of honour that would keep her spirit pure from the taint of darkness. Or at least that was what he hoped. Her anger and feelings of betrayal still drove her far too close to the dark.

They returned to their quarters and Luke made caf for them both before settling on the comfortable cushions of his sofa.

"What kind of Jedi do you hope to become, Mara?" Luke asked, his blue eyes watchful.

"The best one that I can," she answered. "The Force will steer me along the correct path."

"Trust in the Force and it will guide you."

"I do listen to its promptings, Luke, but sometimes it is hard to hear what it is saying to me."

He nodded. "A Jedi learns to use the Force to aid, warn, defend and heal. They use it to keep peace and order but must never forget to listen. I am a warrior but I try to avoid the fight. Sometimes the smallest things give the greatest help."

"By preparing for war you can sometimes maintain the peace?"

"Exactly," Luke sighed. "With power comes temptation. The Force is not an easy way out."

"I never thought it was." Mara gave a tired yawn. "When has anything ever been easy for us, Skywalker?"

"I don't know." Luke's hands curved around his mug and he gave a bittersweet smile. "When I first landed on Dagobah, Yoda found me. He asked why I was there and I told him that I was looking for a great warrior. He gave that little wheezing chuckle and told me that 'wars do not make one great.' He was right."

"I've seen holos of him. He doesn't fit the expected vision of a Jedi Master."

"There shouldn't be an expected vision. I've read so much recently and there were many species of Jedi."

"You haven't forgotten our saber fight tomorrow."

Luke mentally groaned. "Of course."

"After lunch?"

"Yes." Luke felt that he had to say something to fill the silence. "There are classes on Jedi history. Tionne is expecting you there first thing tomorrow morning in the intermediate class. Followed by a session on saber work…" Luke arched one eyebrow at her. "I know you are proficient with the saber but these exercises are really good for solo practice or as a warm-up before a sparring match."

"Sure," Mara said.

"And Jade…"

"What?"

Luke indicated a shelf of holobooks. "I would start reading some of these."

"Of course." The expression on Mara's face showed her doubt. "Any one in particular?" she asked.

Luke ran his finger along the shelves. "Try this one," he suggested. "It's nothing too heavy. Merely collected tales of deeds done. These belong to me but there are more in the library. Tionne has worked hard to find much of the information contained there."

"Don't be modest, farmboy. I suspect you've done just as much of the collecting - if not more." She gave another yawn.

"Go and rest, Jade. I'll see you tomorrow."

Mara stared at her chrono. "Force," she muttered. "It's late. Goodnight, Skywalker."

"Goodnight." Luke watched her as she stood up, stretched and then paused as if she was about to say something. "What is it?"

"Nothing." Mara gave him a look he couldn't decipher and moved wearily to her bedchamber.

Once the door had clicked shut behind her, Luke made his way to his workbench and pulled back the cloth covering his saber. It was time to see if he could do something about this before tomorrow. Although he wondered why he was so desperate to complete his saber. He could fight with a training saber as well as he could with his real one. Even as he thought it, he had to disagree with this last concept. A saber was more to a Jedi than just a weapon. Luke Skywalker's saber could almost be said to be symbiotic with its wielder.

With a crash that seemed to echo around the entire room, Pod Nor hit the floor and lay still. Only the rise and fall of his chest indicated that he was still alive. With a groan that came from deep inside his battered body, Pod Nor opened his eyes and stared up at the vaulted ceiling of the exercise hall. "I give," he submitted, his voice hoarse.

Breathing heavily, Mara stepped away from his downed figure and rubbed her hands down the front of her grey work-out tunic. There was an awkward silence, mixed emotions from the other Jedi students buffeting Mara's shields. "Here." Mara held out her hand and pulled the younger man into a seated position.

Kirana Ti wondered, not for the first time, if it was wise to have Mara Jade as a student on Yavin IV. But she was here now and they all had to deal with it. "Don't you think you were a little excessive Mara?" she said carefully.

Mara smiled coldly as she straightened and faced the rest of the class. "No."

"No?" the Dathomerian witch questioned. "You almost took him apart."

Mara held up her hand. "But I didn't take him apart. He'll live." She directed a look towards the other woman, her green eyes flashing dangerously. "He'll live this time – the next…" She shrugged. "Who can say?"

"Your point being?" Ix Io stepped forward from his position as a spectator.

"Not everyone is in favour of the return of the Jedi Order. Not everyone wants to see peace returned to the galaxy." Mara grimaced. "I recently went on a trip for my boss to the Outer Rim and I nearly didn't come back."

Kirana Ti lifted her head and gave Mara a hard stare. She hadn't known that. "What happened?"

"I was attacked and I was lucky to survive and I fought a hundred times harder than I did today. The galaxy is not a training exercise. Being part of the Jedi is not some safe little game. I've been out there on the edge and I've seen things that you, safe on this world, do not."

"I see." Kirana watched as Mara knelt in front of Pod Nor and held out her hand.

"I did not intend to humiliate you. It could have been the other way around and I would have been the one hitting the mat. You are not ready for the galaxy yet. None of you are good enough."

"But the galaxy is at peace," B'Nera said quietly, the truth of Mara's words hitting home. "We should not need to be so…"

"Skilled? Parts of the galaxy are peaceful but that could change at any moment. The future is always in motion and all that?" Mara raised an eyebrow. "It could change. Most of the galaxy suits itself if it is far enough away from the Core. You cannot depend on law and order being everywhere or the word 'Jedi' to make people leave you alone. The Jedi are not invincible."

"I have to agree with you," Kirana Ti admitted. She looked at the red-head with a new grudging respect. Luke had said that Mara would be ready to train if she arrived on Yavin IV.

"I am sorry," Mara said to Pod Nor as she grasped his hand and pulled him to his feet.

"It's okay," he mumbled, gingerly feeling his jaw. "Lesson learned. Arrogance and overconfidence…"

"No." Mara shook her head. "You are very good but you need to be better. You have the potential to become one of the best fighters I have come across. You've just never met me in combat before…or Skywalker."

"Master Skywalker?" Dilys breathed, hero worship colouring her voice.

"Can fight as dirty as a cornered womprat."

"No!" B'Nera gasped.

"Yes." Mara was definite. "He would cheat to win, too. Rules don't always work in a life or death situation."

Kirana Ti's mouth dropped open and hastily she stifled a smile. Mara was presenting a different picture of Luke to the students. Suddenly she had an idea and wondered if it hadn't been Luke's intention all along. "Perhaps, Mara, you would occasionally like to teach this class?"

"Teach this class," Mara echoed.

"Yes, why not? If the rest of the class are willing? You have both the experience and the motivation to help the others improve their skills."

"Count me in." Pod Nor immediately spoke up, his dark eyes twinkling. "I would like to lie flat on the mat a little less next time."

"Yes." Ix Io's long face nodded.

"Count me in," said B'Nera.

"Dilys?" Kirana Ti knew that this was an area where the budding healer was at her weakest.

"You have to learn to defend yourself," Mara said quietly. "Suppose you need to get past someone or something to get to a patient?" She changed tactics and asked, "You do lightsaber drill?"

"Yes, I do lightsaber drill," the blond girl said.

"Are you planning to go around cutting off limbs?" Mara tried to inject a note of humour into her words.

"The lightsaber is a discipline for the mind and body…" Dilys began to spout the words Mara had heard so often.

"Of course, it is but suppose you lost your saber?" Kirana interjected. "You would let yourself be killed because you could not defend yourself?"

"I wouldn't let myself be killed," Dilys protested and then let her head drop. "I would, wouldn't I?"

Kirana Ti nodded. "Yes."

"Then I guess I would like to learn if Mara Jade would help me?"

"Of course." She turned to Kirana Ti. "You know, this is Skywalker's doing."

"The Dathomerian witch chuckled. "Probably. Dilys, take Pod Nor to the infirmary to get that jaw looked at."

"It's not broken," Dilys confirmed. "Just bruised." She grinned. "Or it will be tomorrow."

"I'm going to be one big bruise tomorrow," Pod Nor complained.

Kirana Ti smiled wickedly. "It will be a test of your powers of self-healing then, won't it?"

Mara watched as the students gathered their belongings and headed out of the exercise hall leaving Mara alone with Kirana Ti. "You don't approve of me being here?" Mara decided to get everything into the open.

"I didn't say that." Kirana Ti was defensive.

"You didn't have to", Mara said steadily. "You told me yourself. I can read people better than most. It has kept me alive."

The Jedi felt ashamed. She had no right to have such an attitude. None of the Singing Mountain Clan on Dathomir could afford to be self-righteous about anything. They had to live with the dark side – often in the shape of a loved one turned into a nightsister. "I apologise."

Mara picked up her lightsaber which was lying on one of the benches at the side of the room and affixed it to its customary position on her belt. They would never be friends but they could respect one another and that was enough for Mara. "I'd better go, Knight Ti. I have a lightsaber workout with Skywalker…"

"Master Skywalker," Kirana Ti corrected.

"Whatever," Mara muttered.

The large exercise hall was empty. Dropping his cloak and then pulling off his tunic, Luke placed the two training sabers in the centre of the arena and waited. She was late! He checked his wrist chrono. No, she wasn't late - he was impatient.

Stifling his frustration at both his failure to complete his lightsaber to his satisfaction and his exasperation with his own impatience, he moved into a series of warm-up exercises. The saber was much improved but he didn't think it would stand a proper test yet. It was almost as if he was missing something else – something obvious.

Mara peered through the door and caught her breath. Luke Skywalker stretched each muscle, his body firm. Balancing on one leg, he extended the other in the air like a dancer. She felt her mouth go dry and the sharp sting of arousal sweep through her. "Force," she breathed. Taking a step away from the door, she slumped against the wall of the corridor, her eyes closed and her hand unconsciously seeking the emerald jewel she still carried in her pocket.

The vision this time was infinitely more disturbing. Two sparsely clothed bodies wrapped around each other in a dance she recognised. The images played beneath her eyelids, leaving her breathless and flushed - almost as if she'd already fought or...

"Mara…" the voice was insistent. "Mara!"

She opened her eyes and found herself staring into the anxious face of the only man in the entire galaxy she could ever love. As she gazed into his face, she immediately erected shields around that love. This wasn't something she could fully confront in that instant.

"I felt your…" Luke wasn't sure what he had felt. 'Distress' seemed to be the wrong word. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, I just…" Mara stared at him. Had she really been doing that with Skywalker? She pushed herself away from the wall and strode into the room, her cheeks warm. Luke followed her – a bewildered expression on his face.

"We don't have to fight today…" he began to say.

"I'm fine…I saw something."

"What did you see?"

"It's not important," she lied. "Just surprising that's all." But was it really so surprising, she wondered. Could it ever happen and did she want it to? She shook her head to clear away the lingering vision. "I'm okay," she said. "Like you, I see things from time to time. Sometimes they happen - other times…"

"They do not," Luke finished.

"Yeah. Future and motion and all that." She pulled the top off her water bottle and took a swig, not noticing how Luke's eyes traced the line of her slender figure, the graceful curve of her neck and her head tilted back, the bottle touching her lips.

Luke had to find something to occupy his hands. Force! He knew that falling in love with Mara Jade was one of the easiest things he'd ever done but having to let her remain unaware of how he felt was surely one of the most difficult.