CHAPTER TWO

Hyperspace coordinates verified, Luke leaned back into the pilot's seat as the ship's vibrations altered in preparation for the jump. Leia waited for the steady glow of starlines before asking quietly, "Mara doesn't know that Father is alive, does she?"

Luke shook his head slowly, still appearing somewhat dazed, "No."

Anakin Skywalker's existence was a fiercely guarded secret, known only to immediate family, the contingent of Noghri honor guards who resided with him and the various Jedi Knights among Luke's students who had trained with him over the years.

Whatever their differences had been regarding their father over the years, Luke and Leia had always agreed that Anakin would live in peaceful anonymity. It was Leia's idea that he should not remain in any one place for too long, and that he should assume a pseudo name apart from the family when away from home. In addition to the Noghri, Luke or one of the other Jedi always accompanied him when traveling to provide an extra measure of security.

"And she never mentioned anything about being his apprentice?" Leia continued.

Luke shook his head again, "She was an advanced student, but I assumed it was because of her training as the Emperor's Hand." He considered, not for the first time, that he had still had a lot to learn about the woman he loved.

"Father seems reticent to see her again," Leia thought aloud. "Do you think Mara feels the same way? Whatever happened between them must have been over fifteen years ago. Surely she would have said something by now....if there was a problem, I mean."

"I don't know, Leia." Luke exhaled a heavy breath, "I guess I'll find out."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Luke was unpacking in his Coruscant apartment when a familiar brush in the Force announced Mara's presence. "Hi," she smiled from the doorway. Crossing the bedroom, she kissed him warmly, "Welcome back. How was 'family stuff'?"

Luke grinned, "It was fine." Circling her waist with his arms, he pulled her close, inhaling the clean scent of her hair. His anxiety faded in the warmth of her embrace. Perhaps Leia was right and his anxieties about his father and fiancé were unfounded.

Stepping back, Mara looked at his half-empty travel bag, "Want some help?"

"Sure. If you don't mind the bachelor arrangements."

Mara threw him a sideways glance and opened a compartment in the clothing chest, "It can't be that bad. Everyone puts their socks in the same drawer with...spare lightsaber parts?"

"See," Luke answered with a wry grin. "Just let me know where to find my trousers when you rearrange everything."

"I got a message from Kam," he called over his shoulder, voice muffled from inside the closet. "He said he needed to talk-" Luke turned around and froze. Mara was holding a small black case, one eyebrow cocked curiously. "You weren't supposed to find that," he muttered, flustered.

"It fell on the floor," Mara suppressed a smile as he took the case from her.

"Okay, well, I know you don't usually wear things like this," he began awkwardly, "but I saw it and I thought of you...of us." He opened the case and handed it back to her, "It was going to be a wedding present."

She looked down at a simple but elegant necklace made of filaments of muted silver and emerald piltanum entwined around each other. Mara stared into the case, speechless. Luke shifted nervously, "If you don't like it-"

"It's beautiful," she whispered, lifting it from the case. The deceptively light piltanum was one of the strongest precious metals known in the galaxy. "Like vines woven together," she murmured, fingering the delicate strands. "It's perfect." Wrapping her arms around him, she breathed into his neck, "Thank you."

He held her close, answering softly, "You're welcome."

"Here," she turned, lifting her hair as he fastened the fitted chain around her neck.

"Now, it's beautiful," he winked.

"Charmer," she grinned, tossing the empty travel bag at him and sitting on the side of the bed. "What were you saying about Kam?"

"He had some questions about the Jedi bonding ceremony and wanted to meet with us." Luke sat beside her on the bed, "And I was hoping to talk to you about that, too." He braced himself, thinking this was as good a time as any. "Have you got a minute?"

"I've got a meeting with Faughn later, but I'm all yours until then." She sensed his sudden trepidation. "Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong. It's just-" he started hesitantly, "it's about my father." He studied her face for any unusual reaction. There was none. She knew what his father meant to him and had never given any indication that she was anything other than supportive of their, as she believed, very brief relationship. He swallowed, "Our 'family stuff' was that we went to see him."

She nodded, "To his memorial, you mean."

He took a deep breath, let it out, and shook his head, "No. The memorial isn't real, Mara." Luke reached over and clasped her hand, "He didn't die on the Death Star. He's alive."

Mara stared at him blankly, wondering for a moment if he might have picked up a touch of hyperspace sickness, but his earnest demeanor was completely coherent. She pulled her hand from his slowly as realization dawned, "You're serious."

"Yes," Luke answered gently. "Leia and I agreed to keep it a secret from the beginning...for his safety." Mara's expression wavered somewhere between disbelief and panic and Luke found himself sending subtle waves of reassurance toward her as he continued, "We went to tell him in person about the peace treaty with the Empire and to...invite him to the bonding ceremony."

"You invited him?" she repeated, her face still registering shock. She finally looked away, eyes focusing somewhere in the distance.

"Well, obviously, I didn't know it would be a problem, since you never...since I never knew that you were his..." Luke's voice trailed off. He couldn't think of anything else to say without sounding accusatory and there was no reason to place blame. They had both harbored secrets.

Rising abruptly, Mara walked over to the window. Luke felt an unfamiliar stirring of emotions coming from her as she crossed her arms and squinted into the glare of the afternoon sunlight, an odd combination of numbed pain, regret and loss. "I'm sorry, Luke. I should have told you a long time ago." She turned to face him, "The whole thing was a mistake."

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked quietly.

She shook her head, "It doesn't matter now."

"He seemed to think it did," Luke responded.

"Is that so?" she said, a little too abruptly. Luke felt tension radiating from her; she was clearly more than just surprised at the revelation of his father's survival. There was something there, simmering just underneath the surface over which she was excising remarkable control.

Mara felt him recoil slightly at her abruptness and she exhaled through a quick calming exercise. "I'm sorry. It's not your fault. I don't know what he told you but...it didn't end well, let's just leave it at that." She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear in a nervous gesture. "And I don't hate him," she answered his unspoken question. "Not anymore."

She wished she could say she felt nothing at all for her former master, but that wouldn't be true. She had loved him once, in the foolish idolatry of youth. But that part of her had died long ago, severed by the knife of betrayal, a scar that she tucked away to the place in her soul where all hurt went.

"He won't come to the wedding if you don't want him there," Luke said, not quite hiding his disappointment at the prospect.

Mara lifted her gaze revealing the same haunted expression that Luke had seen in his father's eyes. "I don't know, Luke. I never thought I'd have to - that I'd see him again." She rubbed her hands across her face, suddenly feeling infinitely tired. "I've got to go. Meet you later for dinner?"

Luke nodded, "Sure."

She walked over to him and cupped his cheek in her hand, "Thank you for the necklace." She kissed him softly before turning to leave.

to be continued...