Watching, Waiting and Hoping – Part 4
The usual disclaimers apply. It's Star Wars and all hail to the mighty George Lucas, the great Zahn and also the others who have contributed to this wonderful universe
Solo Apartment
Leia opened and shut her mouth at the picture of her brother kissing Callista in a restaurant on the two-hundredth level situated near to his apartment. The main HoloNet news agency had gotten hold of the images extremely rapidly. Within the hour, the holo had travelled to virtually every news agency on the planet and several that were in other systems.
"Told you the kid would be fine," said Han with a grin, lounging in his favourite form chair.
"I don't know…" she replied slowly. "Something's not right."
"Looks right from here. Though it still amazes me how quickly the news nets get hold of these images."
"They'll have someone constantly following Luke and as soon as he steps outside with Callista there'll be a cameraman on his tail. We all know Luke's status in the galaxy."
"Yeah, yeah… War hero, Jedi Master, eligible bachelor and so on. Very cosy with former companion, once a Jedi Knight, et cetera."
"I'm being illogical here…"
"Hokey religious hunch, huh?" Han chipped in cheerfully and then winced as his wife walked towards him and dug him firmly in the ribs. "Ow! Leia! That hurt!"
"It was meant to," she remarked loftily. "Will you listen?"
"I was listening," he protested with an injured air.
"You were trying to be clever."
Han jumped up, slid his arms around his wife and kissed her cheek. "I am clever. I married you. That's one of the most brilliant things I could have done."
The stern expression in Leia's dark eyes softened reluctantly. "Nerf," she added for good measure.
Han sat back in the chair pulling Leia with him to sit on his knee. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. What were you going to say?"
"Luke and Callista were almost perfect together, apart from her lack of Force ability. Sometimes I wondered if they were too perfect. Nothing has ever come easy to any of us."
"You can say that again, sweetheart,"
"Callista wasn't prepared for losing the Force. You could see the problem eating at her from the inside. The only way she could touch something that was once an integral part of her being was through the dark side. Luke tried to say that it didn't matter and to him it probably didn't, but in the end it did, because Callista wasn't going to accept Luke if she wasn't his equal. Luke thought she was and she thought she wasn't."
"Impasse."
"Yes."
"Leia, it's between them and we shouldn't interfere."
"With her history and experience of the Jedi she would make him an ideal companion. I genuinely liked her very much – could even grow to love her, but I'm not sure that Luke does love her and I can't say why."
"Ah…now we have the Force hunch."
"Partly." Leia curled herself into Han's arms, her head pillowed on his shoulder.
"What's the other part?"
"He hasn't brought her to us, to his family. She's been unsure enough not to contact us on her own either. Before, Callista would have visited us without Luke. If Luke was thinking about involving himself with Callista again he would have told me and she would have stayed with us here."
"A few of the news agencies have been speculating on something like that, now that you mention it," Han remarked. "There's a bit here about him asking you and the senate for formal approval to marry. Luke wouldn't ask the senate, but he would ask you."
"That's it exactly. On top of that, I don't think he trusts her."
"Of course he doesn't trust her," Han roared. "She walked out on him for eight whole years, without even a note. She appears back and has the nerve to assume he would wait for her."
"Well he has."
Han pursed his lips. "I'm not so sure that he has."
"What! Han Solo, what has Luke been saying to you?" Leia's voice rose.
"He hasn't said anything… I haven't seen him. All this is simply conjecture. We don't know what either of them are thinking"
"Han…" Leia drawled warningly.
"Excuse me, Mistress Leia… Captain Solo." The stilted tones of the protocol droid broke into the Solo's conversation.
"What is it, Threepio?"
"Master Luke is on his way up."
Leia struggled out of Han's embrace. "Is Callista with him?"
"Mistress Callista is not with him. Master Luke alone. I would have liked to speak to Mistress Callista. She made the master very happy."
"Don't forget, Threepio – she also made him rather sad too," Han put in; he liked to confuse the protocol droid from time to time.
The droid gave Han a double glance and then stiffly followed Leia from the room. Han lay back in his chair and contemplated the carved figures on the ceiling. "I wonder if Mara Jade is aware of what's going on," he mused to himself. "'Cos I get the feeling she wouldn't like the situation one bit."
Leia's brow furrowed quizzically as Luke entered the apartment, looking around as he did so. She caught the warmth of his presence as he shed his cloak, but he was keeping his emotions in check. Still, she knew exactly what, or rather who, he was looking for.
"They're asleep," she pulled Luke into her arms and hugged him warmly. "I put them to bed hours ago and DON'T you dare think about waking them up. They have school tomorrow. Next time you're over, do it at a more reasonable time and you can see them then."
Luke grinned and pouted at her. "Aw… spoilsport."
"It's okay for you 'Uncle Luke'. You don't have to get them out of bed the next day."
"Han does?"
"He has his methods and they are always drastic. These kids don't have your farmer's chrono and his smuggler's instincts."
"So they take after you in the morning, sister dear?"
"Enough, or I might remember that I'm not too pleased with you at the moment."
"Not too pleased…Oh!" Luke's mouth tightened.
"What's going on?"
"I don't want to talk about it, Leia. When I have sorted out a few things in my head, of course I'll talk to you, but not now. Han in?" Luke changed the subject quickly.
Leia opened her mouth to argue, but the determined set of her brother's face dissuaded her and she had to grant him his request… for the moment. "Of course he's in. He's in the lounge. You never come visiting if we're not here."
"True," Luke conceded. "You have a point."
"Hey, Luke!" Han greeted the younger man. "Where ya been, kid?"
"Oh… around. I thought I'd better visit before Leia sent Rogue Squadron after me."
"You just made it, Junior, She was itching to contact Wedge just yesterday. Do you want a drink?"
"Yeah, Han… please."
Leia sniffed disdainfully. "I was thinking I might have to do just that and contact Wedge." Her dark eyes narrowed as she took in her brother's appearance and general air of well-being. "You look relaxed, Luke. Things must be agreeing with you."
This time Luke's gaze narrowed. "I said I didn't want to discuss it."
Han stood up and pushed a data card into a slot next to a giant reader. "You perhaps don't want to discuss it, but we're getting tired of fielding questions from everyone, from the press to Mon Mothma and the inner council. This is the latest."
Unwillingly, Luke bent over the screen as the picture of him with his lips on Callista's appeared. "It doesn't mean anything."
"You go around passionately kissing women in public and then say that it doesn't mean anything?" Leia's voice strangled at the back of her throat. "Luke, this is not like you."
"It didn't mean anything," he insisted stubbornly. "It was just a kiss."
"Jedi Master in Love" Han read the lurid headlines accompanying the holo. "Luke, they've got the holo-reporters tailing your every move. Ever since you showed up with Callista in tow… and speaking of Callista… where is she?"
"In her rented apartment, I suppose. I certainly took her back there."
"Why didn't you bring her with you?"
Luke's face showed surprise. "Why would I do that?"
"Because she's the woman you're in love with and we're your family." Leia waited for her brother to react.
"Uh… hold on, Leia," Luke stammered. "I think…"
"Callista saved my life and I considered her a friend…"
Luke cut off his sister's words with a harsh bark of laughter. "Friend… friend?" he questioned, amazed at the bitterness suddenly rising in his throat. He hadn't realised it was still there. "What kind of friend disappears and doesn't contact you for eight whole years; you don't know if she's alive or dead? You find out that she loved your position and the power you wield rather than you. What kind of friend does that? Then walks back into your life after all that time as if she'd only been away for a few days. She's not given me any reason to suppose that she won't turn round tomorrow and disappear again." He glared at his sister, his blue eyes bright. "What kind of a friend hurts you so badly that you don't want to go on without them?"
"Luke," Han interrupted carefully.
"No, this has to be said. I didn't want to discuss this, but you persisted, Leia. How can I tell you what I feel when I don't really know? And if I enlighten any one, I have to tell Callista first. I can't give her false hopes and bringing her back into the family as if nothing has changed is wrong. Something has changed. I have changed. I'm not the man I was when she left."
"You don't love her." Leia's voice emerged flat and disappointed but certain.
"She left me, Leia. Callista left me for the Force. Suppose I didn't have the Force? Would she have loved me at all in the beginning?"
"Luke…" His sister stretched out her hands in appeal.
"Would anyone love me?" Luke turned away from Han and his sister and stared out the transparisteel window at the lights of Coruscant. His shoulders shook and hands clenched with the effort of containing his feelings. He spoke slowly, every word drawn out until Leia felt like shaking him. "I'm fed up with people telling me how I should behave. When is someone going to want me for just being Luke Skywalker?"
"Hey, kid…" Han clapped a hand on the Jedi Master's shoulder and gently pressed a tumbler of Corellian Whisky into his hand. He gave Leia a warning stare. His wife had said enough for the moment. "Go check on the kids, will you, Leia? All that disturbance is bound to have wobbled the Force around a bit."
"But…"
Han gave a miniscule shake of his head. "They do have school tomorrow."
Luke almost cracked a smile. "I'm sorry, Leia. I still have a temper. I still have much to learn about keeping my air of calm."
"It's okay, Luke. I'm sorry too. You said you didn't want to discuss it and as usual I pushed too hard and interfered. I only want you to be happy." She hesitated at the door. "That's all I want, Luke."
"I know. But could you just leave it for once?"
Han gave his wife a speaking look and she disappeared from the room. She could maintain a discreet link on her brother via the Force, but he might open up to Han if left in her husband's clutches.
The Corellian poured a generous amount of liquid into a second glass and sighed with satisfaction as the liquid trickled thickly over the ice and a faint hint of vapour teased his nostrils. "Ah… nothing like the real stuff to ease the nerves."
Luke nodded doubtfully and sipped at the drink warily, as if it might poison him.
"It's regular strength, kid. Not the twice-distilled brand I got from Karrde last time he was near Corellia. I thought you were going to pass out on one glass! It even had Chewie staggering and the Wook can hold his drink."
"I remember…"
"That's certainly a Jedi mind trick, because I recall you having to stay here. I'm surprised you remembered anything. One comatose Jedi Master, if I recall."
"No, I can't recollect much, but I do remember being so drunk I had to stay here." Luke shook his head at the memory and an unwilling smile touched his lips. "Sith, I was s-o-o-o-o drunk that night. I can't believe Karrde and Mara were able to walk back to their ships." He looked at the glass in his hand and swirled the contents. "It's all right, Han. I've calmed down now." He took a swig of the amber liquid, savouring the warmth of the spirit as it travelled down his throat.
Han could see Luke relax and the invisible armour he'd been shielding himself with faded away and the pain and worry inherent in Luke's suddenly tired expression became clear. The blue eyes were dull and his face pale. Han always thought of Luke as being tanned. The very first time he had seen Luke, he'd been brown from the two suns of his home planet, blue eyes startling in his youthful face. He steered his brother-in-law to the sofa and pushed him down. "Leia's right; you don't love Callista."
"No, I don't."
"Tell her."
"I did, but it was at the wrong time and in the wrong place and Callista doesn't need me rejecting her in the glare of Coruscant's publicity machine and I don't know if she totally believed me."
"Why did she come back, then?"
"I don't know yet. She hasn't regained her Force ability - that was the reason she left me in the first place - and the last place she wanted to go was…"
"Yavin IV." Han finished Luke's sentence for him. "I see it now, but I still don't understand why she's turned up again."
"Neither do I, to be truthful, and she hasn't told me yet." He shrugged." I've barely been alone with her…"
"You've together every day," Han interrupted.
"No. I've only taken her to public places. She's just been in the hall of my apartment and I didn't take her to reunite with my family, as she's not part of it – not any more. Subconsciously she must know, but I wonder if she truly believes me."
"Have you discussed this with Mara?"
"Mara!" Luke's voice rose and he took a deliberate swallow of his whisky, coughing and spluttering when it went down the wrong way. "How did you know Mara was on Coruscant?"
"Mara is? I didn't know."
"I've not seen Mara for weeks… months. She didn't seem to want to talk when Callista and I bumped into her. She was a bit…"
"Hostile?" Han questioned.
"Yeah," Luke shrugged. "I guess that's the right word. Mara was hostile, but what's new?"
"Look, kid… I think you should go talk to Mara. She always sees things clearer than you do."
"She doesn't like Callista much," Luke murmured as if he'd just realised that fact.
"Exactly," murmured Han, his lop-sided grin appearing briefly. "I said Mara saw things clearer than you did. Have you ever wondered why she doesn't like Callista?"
"I don't know. I never thought about it, to be honest." Luke's face took on a wistful expression as he remembered seeing her at the restaurant; there had been something about her – just something... He turned to face Han. "What's Callista ever done to Mara Jade?"
Han returned to the lounge after waving Luke away. "He didn't say much and I didn't expect him to."
Leia sank down into the seat her brother had so recently vacated. "I didn't expect him to either, but I hoped he might say a little. You can usually manage to worm something out from a Givin's exoskeleton in deep space."
Han passed her a drink and watched as his delicate-looking wife took a hearty swallow and threw her head back against the cushions gasping.
"I thought you said this was regular strength."
"It is… sort of." He fell into the space next to Leia curving into her side. "You were eavesdropping." He kissed her cheek. "I love you when you're predictable."
Leia lifted her head and brown eyes sparkled indignantly into hazel. "He's my brother."
"Who wanted to be left alone."
"No he doesn't. It's not good for him."
"And I'm your husband."
"What's that got to do with it?"
"I don't know, but I'm willing to bet on my best smuggler's hunch that Luke has gone to have a little chat with Mara Jade."
"Mara! She's away in the corporate sector on a run for Karrde."
"Uh-uh!" Han began to kiss his wife's neck and Leia moved her collar to allow him better access to her soft skin. "You're wrong, sweetheart." His nimble fingers found the fastenings allowing him greater freedom. "Mara Jade arrived on Coruscant this evening."
"Luke told you… ah… yes…" Leia's voice turned breathy and a low moan escaped her parted lips.
"Nope!" Han blinked as his wife began to do some exploring of her own. 'Damn, that felt good!' "Got a message from Karrde yesterday. He's worried about her or something. She's here to see Luke."
"What?" Leia pulled herself swiftly from Han's arms, her hair flushed and the shining nut-brown hair escaping untidily from its arrangement. "Mara's here to see Luke?"
"I just said that," Han muttered irritably, interrupted in his task.
"Han Solo! What are you not telling me?"
Han sat up and pulled Leia back into his arms. He'd had enough discussion for one evening. It was time for a little action. "They're friends and Jedi… why shouldn't she be here to see Luke?"
"I don't know. You tell me." The look in her brown eyes sharpened. "Karrde is worried about Mara, who in turn is worried about Luke…"
"Because Callista's back."
"Mara's worried about Callista?" Leia uttered sharply.
"No, she's worried about Callista upsetting Luke." Han explained slowly, as if to one of the twins when they were being at their most obtuse. "Mara and Luke…" He finished with a sigh as if that explained it all.
The glow rod switched on in Leia's head. "You are a devious, conniving, manipulative…"
Hans lips closed over hers keeping her words from the air.
"Mara and Luke!" Leia gasped breathlessly, when Han let her go. "I'm beginning to see infinite possibilities." She wriggled from his grasp and stood up, extending her hand out to him. "You sure she's not just here for some Jedi training or to close out another deal for Karrde."
"Or a mission that only Luke can help her with," Han continued with a wicked chuckle. "I've considered all those scenarios, sweetheart, and I've come to the conclusion that Mara is rather fond of your brother."
"She'd die rather than admit it."
"Maybe," he drawled. "But she may want to save Luke from himself this time, or just make sure he's happy."
"Mara's interested in Luke romantically?"
"Interesting concept, isn't it?" Han grinned and lifted his wife into his arms. "The only problem is, apart from Callista, who I'm beginning to think might be a catalyst and not a problem…"
"Don't tell me," Leia murmured dryly. "I think I can guess the problem - Luke and Mara themselves."
"I married a woman with beauty AND brains." Han laughed and bore his wife out of the room towards bed.