CHAPTER SEVEN

Mara stepped into the room and halted dead in her tracks as the door closed behind her. Corran and Mirax were not there, but the tall, cloaked form silhouetted in front of the floor-to-ceiling transparisteel wall was familiar...painfully familiar.

He stood looking out at the night sky of the city planet, back turned to her and hands clasped behind him in a stance that she knew all too well. Mara instantly shielded her presence, hoping against hope that he hadn't heard her enter the room. Even in dress shoes, she walked silently, a habit formed in her early life of Imperial espionage. She took a step back toward the door.

"Don't go," a rich, almost-familiar voice broke the silence. The voice slammed against Mara's defenses like shock waves of a concussion missile. Although she could tell he was dampening his presence in the Force, everything within her felt flattened by him. He had always been so big in the Force. Something deep inside began to ache and curl itself longingly around her heart. She silenced it automatically, reflexively.

Anakin turned; his face partially concealed by the hood of his robe, and nodded. "Mara," he said, lowering the hood.

She stared into eyes she had often wondered about as a child. They were softer now than they had appeared under the mask. He returned her gaze intently as if to give her time to acclimate herself with his face, a real face – not a mask. An open face that seemed familiar, yet different to her. It was handsome, but ruggedly worn with a battle scar over his right eye that seemed to proclaim itself a badge of honor.

"It has been a long time," he continued. "You look...well."

"Thank you," she answered stiffly, finally finding her voice. "You look...different."

Anakin acknowledged the comment with a slight inclination of his head, "Luke tells me that you have become a Jedi."

"He's a good teacher," her voice softened at the mention of Luke.

The silence pressed around them. Anakin thought he had mentally prepared himself for seeing his former apprentice, but couldn't find words now that she stood in front of him. He'd thought all the hard confrontations were over when he had faced his children and the memory of his mother. He wasn't prepared for how much this hurt, or how much pain he saw reflected in the green eyes that had once looked up at him with trust, even when his own flesh and blood children had regarded him with no such affection.

He finally spoke, "Mara, I-"

"Don't," she cut him off. "You don't have to. It...it doesn't matter anymore."

Anakin looked purposefully at her hands, which were clenched tight enough to turn her knuckles white. "Apparently, it does."

Mara released her fists and exhaled a calming breath. "I mean-" she paused, having no idea how to address the man standing in front of her. "What do I call you, anyway?"

"Well, you can be assured that I am no longer addressed as 'Darth Vader'," he said with a hint of dry humor. It was a tone of voice Mara had only heard in his most relaxed moments in their previous life...and that would've been about three in total, she thought wryly.

"Anakin," he answered quietly. "My family and friends call me Anakin."

"What I mean, Anakin," she paused, the name sounding awkward in his presence, "is that nothing you can say will change what happened. I accepted it a long time ago."

Her former master lifted an eyebrow and she followed his gaze down to her hands...which had balled themselves into fists. She released them, annoyed at how well he could still read her, and continued the mantra that she had been reciting to herself for the past decade, "You did what you had to do to save Luke. I cannot fault you for that."

"I see," Anakin said. He regarded her carefully as he spoke, "You used to be a better liar."

Mara recoiled slightly. It wasn't a lie. She couldn't bear for it to be a lie...

Shaken by the dangerous implication, she retorted, "I do have one question. If I weren't getting married to your son, I would never have known that you had survived, would I? And for all you know, or care, I could still be rotting in an Imperial prison."

Anakin closed the distance between them and looked down at her squarely. "There is not one day that passes that I do not regret leaving you," his voice firm and unwavering. "But, as you have already stated, I cannot change it. It is pointless to try."

Mara matched his tone, "You didn't answer my question."

He studied her carefully, his eyes reaching past the barriers she had so carefully constructed before responding, "I cannot." He tried to mask the disappointment as best he could.

She swallowed and turned his own words against him, "You used to be a better liar."

They faced each other in silent truce, both completely knowing each other's weaknesses. They had the capacity between the two of them to stand there at a stalemate for the rest of the night and were grateful when the door slid open in front of Jacen. "There you are, Grandfather." He called out into the corridor, "I found him!" Jaina and her younger brother appeared and Anakin, grinning from ear to ear, knelt to embrace each of them. "We've been looking everywhere for you. Are you coming to the party?"

The elder Anakin glanced over at Mara. "Of course," she smiled to her future niece and nephews. "We should all get back to the party."

x x x x x x x x x x

Leia was not at all surprised to find her husband laughing and her brother looking slightly flushed when she joined them near the table reserved for the guests of honor. "Have either of you seen Mara? The meal is ready to be served."

"Maybe she's talking to our guest," Han suggested. "I don't see him, either."

Luke turned to Leia, "What did she say when you told her he was coming?"

Leia looked surprised, "I didn't tell her. I thought you would."

"I just got here!" Luke countered, not quite hiding his exasperation while scanning the room for any sign of Mara or Anakin.

"Well...I don't hear lightsabers," Leia said between pressed lips. She stood on her toes to peer over the small crowd of their closest friends. She noticed someone moving along the wall towards the door. Upon closer inspection, she saw it was a lizard-like Trendoshan. Her instincts snapped into place as she realized it was not one that appeared familiar. Leia looked around for the nearest Noghri bodyguard.

She had mentioned off-handedly to Luke and Father that security would be increased due to Father's presence, but had decided not to tell them of the recent threats of Imperial Loyalist activities, and the subsequent threat to crash the party. She had never allowed threats of those loyal to the Empire ruin events and parties before, and she wasn't going to start now. They had all proven to be false alarms, anyway.

What came next happened so quickly that neither Leia nor the Noghri had time to react.

From the corner of the room, the Trendoshan jumped from the shadows and grabbed her youngest son and his friend, Valin Horn. The alien pulled their small bodies roughly up against his mid-section. With a sinking feeling, Leia noticed the vibroblade pointed at Anakin's throat. Valin screamed and Anakin kicked futilely. Corran Horn ran from the back of the room with Mirax close behind, the blaze of his lightsaber joining the dozen other glowing swords that had ignited among the crowd.

"Stay back or I'll gut them right here!" the reptile hissed vehemently. "I've been hired to bring the grandson of Darth Vader and the son of Leia Solo to someone who is willing to pay very handsomely."

The Trendoshan slowly slid the children down his middle, making sure to hold their arms in the iron grip of one talon. Leia moved slightly and Han tensed, a sign that he was with her. While the lizard-creature was getting the children settled in his grip, they could strike quickly.

Without warning, Anakin and Valin were suddenly torn from the alien's grip by an invisible hand and the Trendoshan flew backwards into the wall. The boys stumbled forward and were caught by Mara Jade as members of crowd gasped in surprise. To anyone unaware of the identities of the invitees, it would've appeared that a mercenary bounty hunter had stalked in and found his kill, such was the look on the face of the man now glaring at the alien suspended in front of him. The Trendoshan managed to fire a single shot from his blaster, which Anakin Skywalker deflected nonchalantly with his left hand.

The low rumble of Anakin's voice was as ominous as Mara had ever heard it and she turned the children away from what was certain to be an unpleasant and disturbing scene. "I do not believe you are on the guest list." With that, Anakin released the alien, turned on his heel and signaled for the Noghri to remove the gasping but conscious intruder.

For a moment, everyone stood unmoving. The display of power was a bit much to take in at once for those unaccustomed to the man who was known only to a few of them.

Leia, obviously flustered, inspected her son for any sign of harm, "I can't believe that thing got past security."

"I can't believe it's still breathing," Mara quipped, awed more by Anakin's restraint than anything else.

Luke clipped his lightsaber to his belt as he approached, "Anyone hurt?"

"We're okay," his nephew answered, even if a bit shaky. Valin, who was clinging tightly to his mother's hand, simply nodded.

Luke's father joined the group quietly and Corran clasped his arm, "Anakin, I really appreciate what you just did for my son."

"Don't mention it. You would have done the same for any of my grandchildren," Anakin returned Corran's affectionate gesture.

Corran looked to Luke and then Kam and winked. "You know, uh, that we had your back. I mean, uh, if things had of gotten really nasty." Kam and Luke smiled at each other and looked to the floor, both trying to suppress laughter.

Anakin raised a brow and smirked, "I am so glad you were here, then." He looked to Han, Leia, Mara and the rest of the group. "Well, I don't know about you, but I am ready for a drink."

x x x x x x x x x x

An hour later, Luke pushed his plate aside and turned to Mara, who had barely touched her food. "I didn't get a chance to say it earlier, but you look amazing."

"Thank you," she ran an appreciative eye down his black dress tunic. "You don't look half bad yourself."

Luke reached for her hand and glanced across the room at his father, who was casually talking to various Jedi with whom he had developed friendships over the years.

"Is everything all right with the two of you?" Luke asked quietly.

She hesitated, "I wouldn't say 'all right'. But I can see why your family cares for him." Luke caught the flicker of pain across her face, "It's a lot to absorb."

"I know," Luke gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. "And you have no idea how much it means to me that you're willing to try."

Mara smiled, caressing his face with her eyes. "Come on," she pulled him to his feet. "Dance with me."

...to be continued