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As promised, one marriage revelation coming right up…
A Journey of Discovery ― Book Three: Prism
Chapter Nine
Leia steadied herself against the nearest chair as the blast shook the room. Han was already thumbing on his comlink.
"Chewie? Lando? Answer, stang it!" Han muttered a couple of choice Corellian oaths as he changed the frequency. "Lando?" You there?"
A burst of static issued from the handheld device, followed by Lando's voice. "Han! Good to— Look out, Chewie!" An angry Wookiee roar could be heard in the background.
"Lando! What's going on? Where are you?"
Mara looked up as she finished strapping a wicked-looking blaster onto her forearm. She, like Luke, already had her lightsaber dangling from her belt. Leia could've sworn they were not wearing the Jedi weapons when they'd been frolicking on the couch.
Han headed for the door as Lando's garbled reply filled the room.
"Chewie and I ... in the central market, about halfw ... tween the palace ... ship. Small fighters ... strafing runs. We—"
A second loud blast, this one sounding closer, muffled the rest of Lando's report. Power to the building was suddenly lost, plunging the suite into total darkness – a situation which was quickly rectified by the glowing blade of Luke's lightsaber.
"It must be the Argazdans attacking," Luke deduced, leading the way into the corridor. "The war's finally reached the city."
"We need to get to the Falcon," Han said as he punched at the door controls to Luke's suite, and belatedly realized that no power meant no working controls. "Damn!" he swore, pounding his fist on the door. "I have to get my blaster!"
Debris fell from the ceiling as yet another explosion thundered overhead. In the dim glow of Luke's blade, Leia could see the worry in Han's eyes as she crouched along a wall. "I'm all right," she assured him.
"I want you on the Falcon where it's safe," he insisted. "And the sooner the better." He glanced at the closed door, clearly torn between retrieving his blaster and getting Leia out of the building.
"I'll get you inside!" Luke shouted over the escalating din of wailing sirens. "Leia and Mara can go on ahead."
Leia knew time was of the essence. The government sector, of which they were in the midst, would continue to be Argazda's main target. "'Bout time you came up with a plan for getting out," she said to Luke with a wink. She turned to Mara, but the woman's attention was fixed solely on Luke. Leia unabashedly watched as a cryptic exchange quickly passed between the pair, followed by Mara leaning in close to Luke.
"Take care of yourself, Jedi," Mara said softly, kissing him on the lips. Holding her lightsaber out to one side, she switched on the azure blade.
"You, too," he returned, his lambent eyes shining brightly in the glow of the sparkling swords.
With an impassive glance toward Leia, Mara took off down the corridor, nimbly jumping over the broken halves of a statue toppled from its perch. As Leia hurried to catch up, she realized she'd left Han standing open-mouthed by the door without so much as a goodbye. Ducking beneath the buckled doorframe leading into the building's foyer, she focused on the rapidly moving silhouette of her guide. When had their roles switched so drastically?
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
Without a word, Luke plunged his blade into the face of the door to his suite. He could feel Han's eyes studying him.
"So this thing with you and Jade ... It's serious?"
Luke nodded, keeping his concentration on the opening that he was cutting. "Yes." He finished the oval cut just as another explosion echoed overhead, then pushed the section inward with his foot. "It's serious." As Luke stuck his head through the hole, his attention was immediately caught by a flickering glow in the middle of the dark room. "Blast it!"
Han followed right behind as Luke bolted toward the makeshift dining table. One of the candles had fallen over, igniting the tablecloth. Han blew out the second candle as Luke quickly smothered the flames. The last thing he needed, Luke thought, was to have to contend with another building on fire.
"Okay, let's go," Han said as he finished checking the charge on his blaster and shoved it into its holster.
As Luke headed back toward the door, out of the corner of his eye he noticed Han pause and pick something up off the floor.
"I may need this, someday," Han said brusquely, pocketing the small jewel-case. "If I can avoid any more Jedi interference."
"Listen, Han—"
"I don't want to talk about it right now," Han bit out. He charged past Luke into the corridor, despite the fact that Luke held the only light source. "Ow!"
Luke shook his head and retreated through the mutilated door, only to find Han ruefully rubbing his forehead.
"Don't suppose you got any glow rods in your room?"
"Sorry," Luke replied. "Left 'em on the ship."
Han scowled as he stared down the pitch black hallway. "All right, you lead."
Luke had taken only a couple steps in the direction that Mara and Leia had headed when the biggest attack yet caused the building to quake violently. He and Han covered their heads as the ceiling in front of them collapsed, effectively blocking the passageway.
Han swatted at the dust roiling through the air, then looked over as Luke coughed harshly. "You okay?"
"Yea—" Luke coughed once more, trying to clear his throat. "Yeah." He held his lightsaber up to the top of the mound of debris. "I don't think we can get out this way."
Han yanked a piece of ceiling tile down, causing more dust to stir. "Can't you cut through it?"
"It'd take awhile," Luke replied grimly. "Easier to go out the back way," he added, turning around to peer down the far end of the corridor.
"That's if we don't run into an even worse clog." The worried expression on Han's soot-streaked face intensified. "I only hope ..."
"They've only been gone a few minutes. I'm sure she's fine, Han," Luke said as they headed toward the rear of the building.
"But do you know that?" Han stopped in his tracks and grabbed Luke's arm. "Can you, you know, feel her? Feel that she's all right? She doesn't even have a comlink with her."
Luke knew how much Han hated admitting that the Force had its uses. And with the foul mood that Han was currently experiencing, it had to be doubly hard for him to ask Luke for help. A good blaster at your side couldn't ascertain that Leia was safe, though.
Nodding silently, Luke reached out with the Force. Mara's bright presence blossomed immediately, and he brushed her being in reassurance. She then withdrew, as if she also felt Han's anxiety and knew that was the reason for Luke's probe.
(Leia.) Luke directed the thought to his twin sister just as he'd first done at Bespin.
(Luke,) she replied in the same manner.
(Are you safe?) he sent. He wasn't sure, but he had the feeling that Leia only caught the last word. It would be enough.
(Yes,) her assurance carried through the Force.
(We'll see you at the ship,) Luke concluded the conversation. Again, if Leia heard just the final word, it would sufficiently convey his intent. He marveled to himself how he could carry on whole conversations with Mara through the Force, but it was a struggle for Leia to capture more than a word or two at a time. If only she'd give in and let him train—
"Well?" Han impatiently interrupted Luke's thoughts.
"She's fine," he answered as they reached the outside exit. The damage sustained by the building was even more noticeable here. Windows were shattered and the heavy ornate doors hung awry on their hinges. "They're both fine." Luke put his shoulder against one of the doors and pushed. "Mara wouldn't let anything happen to Leia. Besides, Leia's pretty capable of taking care of herself."
"Yeah. Right." Han scowled, despite Luke's allaying pronouncement. "Good thing, too, since she doesn't want me around."
"Han—"
"Told ya I didn't want to talk about it."
Still holding his lightsaber straight out in front of him, Luke turned to face Han. "We are going to talk about it," he said, then realized how threatening his pose looked and lowered the blade.
Now that Luke unequivocally had Han's full attention, he wasn't quite sure what to say.
Han had no such qualms.
"Fine." The tall Corellian crossed his arms across his chest. "Did you, or did you not, seek out Leia and tell her not to marry me?"
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
One eyebrow arched coolly, Mara gazed at Leia without saying a word.
"Oh, that man!" Leia said, knowing fully who was behind Luke's contact. "Han thinks he has to constantly protect me."
"He's concerned about you," Mara replied. "Skywalker's the same way about me, even though he knows better," she added, looking away.
Leia stared contemplatively at her companion. This was the most Mara had ever opened up to her. "I guess men are all alike," she commented lightly. "Whether they're Jedi or scoundrels."
This last statement finally brought a shadow of a smile from Mara. It was a start, Leia thought. She'd crack Mara's hardened shell if it was the last thing she did, and find out just what it was inside the solemn woman that had so captivated her brother. Because knowing Luke like she thought she did, there had to be more to Mara Jade than just a pretty face and a Force-strong, sensuous body. Surely there had to be more.
There was a break in the nearby bombardment, and Mara immediately sprang into action, darting from one darkened refuge to another.
Leia wasted no time in following her.
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"I did not seek her out," Luke responded, sidestepping the cardinal question.
"Junior ..." Han growled, stretching out the word much longer than its two syllables warranted.
"She came to me," Luke began resignedly, knowing he owed Han a full explanation. "She asked for my advice, and I gave it to her. I did not disclose to her your intent."
"Hold on here." Han shook his head in understandable puzzlement. "How could she ask your advice about marrying me if she didn't know I was going to ask her?" He narrowed his eyes at Luke. "And don't tell me it was one of those Jedi things."
Luke's brow furrowed in thought. He had asked himself that very question after the fateful conversation with his sister. "Maybe it was," he murmured. "Not exactly a 'Jedi' thing, but more than the clichéd woman's intuition." He hurriedly continued when Han let out a frustrated groan. "Leia has the Force in her, you can't deny that, Han. Her perceptions are sharper than most people's. She may not have actually experienced visions of future events, but she has premonitions. She—"
"All right, all right." Han held up his hands in surrender. "So she guessed correctly. All I want to know is, what did she say to you, and what did you tell her?" he said, poking Luke's chest to punctuate his last three words.
Luke allowed a wry grin to creep onto his face. "You do realize that bullying me won't work anymore."
Han theatrically rolled his eyes. "What I realize is that you're stalling."
"Okay." Luke scanned the adjacent courtyard through the haze of smoke. "Though I'm sure Leia meant for our conversation to be kept confidential."
"I swear I'm gonna strangle you."
Luke glanced over his shoulder at Han's frustrated expression, and capitulated. "All right. In a spryshell, it was more of a 'what-if' conversation ..."
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The pungent smell of smoke wafted through the air as Mara and Leia zigzagged their way across the palace compound. Leia had pointed out the general direction that they needed to travel to reach the Millennium Falcon. Unfortunately, the Falcon's hanger was located on the other side of what seemed to be the hardest hit section of the government district. All around them shouting and screaming pierced the night, escalating with each new attack. So far the blitz had been strictly from the air, with small fighters targeting the heart of Lorrd's royal and military edifices.
"Through there." Leia pointed over Mara's shoulder toward a narrow alleyway tucked behind the servants' quarter. "It's a shortcut we found."
Mara nodded her understanding and cautiously entered the dark passageway. Two serving girls ran blindly past them, seemingly not noticing Mara's lightsaber in their terror.
Moments later, Mara felt a chill run down her spine. "Take cover!" she shouted to Leia. Both women ducked into the shelter of the nearest doorway as a flash of brilliance lit up the alley and lasers ripped along the path they had just vacated. While the dust settled, Mara peered into the night sky as retaliatory strikes by Lorrdian forces found their targets.
"C'mon," Mara said, gesturing for Leia.
"Wait." Leia stood motionless in the doorway, her head turned toward the interior of the building. "Do you hear something?"
"No, but ..." Mara came closer and reached out with the Force. "Someone's in pain." Following the tendril of distress that she could feel, Mara entered without hesitation. The building had been hit hard; inner walls were buckled and furnishings were toppled. Emergency lighting had sparked to life at intermittent intervals.
As Mara reached the end of a long hallway, she and Leia could clearly hear feeble cries for help. Rushing inside a small bedchamber, they found a middle-aged woman pinned beneath an overturned wardrobe. The woman's face brightened with hope as Mara's lightsaber bathed the chamber in blue-white light. Leia knelt next to the unfortunate servant, offering comfort in a soothing voice.
The woman's dark eyes bespoke her gratitude to Leia, then shifted to Mara. "You're one of those Jedi, aren't you?" she rasped. "I took a peek at you and the young man when you were walking along the promenade."
"Yes," Mara replied briskly, studying the heavy wardrobe. She lowered her blade in readiness. "I can just take out a section—"
A strangled moan from the woman stopped her. Mara was surprised to see agitation clearly overshadowing the woman's previous look of pain.
"You're not going to cut it, are you?"
Confusion stilled Mara's hand. "Don't worry, I won't hurt you."
"But ... but ..." The woman looked to Leia, as if hoping she would understand. "It's been passed down in my family since my great-great-grandmother."
Mara felt proud that she was able to refrain from rolling her eyes. Sentimentality was not her forte.
"It will be all right." Leia patted the woman's shoulder, then glanced up at Mara. "We'll think of ... something."
"Well, then, it's plan B, I guess." Mara looked pointedly at Leia. "I'll lift, you pull."
Leia's eyes widened. "You can't lift something this heavy!"
"I meant with the Force."
Leia glanced at the offending piece of furniture again, then back at Mara. "But still ... It's so big."
Mara shook her head. "Surely Skywalker has favored you with the 'size matters not' lecture."
"More than once."
"He does tend to repeat himself," Mara said, smiling to herself. She sized up the wardrobe one more time. "All right, let's give it a try." Mara looked up, catching herself. "I mean, let's do it."
Leia chuckled lightly, obviously sharing Mara's teasing gibe at Luke's endless reiterations of Yoda's teachings, then braced herself as she cupped her hands under the woman's arms. "Ready when you are."
Mara nodded and let her eyelids drift half-closed. Slightly raising one hand, she pictured the wardrobe lifting ... lifting ...
"Got her!"
Leia's shout broke Mara's concentration, and the wardrobe dropped back to the floor with a resounding thud. It was all in one piece, though, thank you very much, Mara thought with no small amount of satisfaction. Leia was already helping the woman shakily to her feet.
"Can you walk?" Leia asked.
"Yes ... yes, I think so." Still holding onto Leia's arm, the woman took a few tentative steps.
The building shook violently at that moment, reminding all of them that the danger was far from over. From down the long corridor, Mara could hear the hails of workers looking for survivors.
"Down here!" Leia called, stepping out into the hallway and waving for attention.
Two brightly garbed rescue workers soon appeared, and Mara recognized one of them as a low-level military cadet who had been present when she and Luke where practicing in the simulators.
"Jedi Jade?" the young cadet asked. "What are you doing here? And who ..." He looked at Leia curiously.
"I'm doing what I can to help," Mara said. "And this is ... a friend of mine." She purposely didn't look Leia's direction.
The rescued woman reached out to clasp first Leia's hands, then Mara's free hand. "I'm forever in your debt."
"You're welcome," Leia answered.
"You'd better all get out of here while you still can," Mara advised, shrugging off the servant's display of gratitude.
The woman apparently agreed and shuffled toward the doorway, flanked by the rescue workers. As she exited, Mara could hear her mumbling to herself "Wait till the girls hear about this ..."
Mara let out a relieved sigh. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to look around and see if anyone else is trapped." Leia's startled look didn't escape Mara's sharp eye. Does she think I'm heartless?
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
"... and so that's it," Luke concluded. "It's not that she doesn't want to marry you. It's more about the timing."
"Yeah, that's more or less what she told me." Han rubbed a hand across his tired eyes. "But you could've been more encouraging, ya know. You got something against people being married?"
"No, of course not." Luke hoped Han wouldn't notice the nervous hitch in his voice that kept threatening to surface.
"'Cause one of these days you're gonna feel like settling down, and you wouldn't appreciate me talking your bride out of it."
Instead of answering, Luke occupied himself with aiming his lightsaber toward a darkened alcove they were passing, as if looking for any injured beings.
"Luke ..."
"I want to make sure there's no one hurt or trapped in any of these—"
"You'd sense it if there were," Han interrupted with a growl. "Why do I get the feeling you're hiding something?" He reached forward and spun Luke around.
Luke put on the best impassive face he could manage. "I don't know what you're talking about." Han was one of the few people that he could rarely fool.
"Yes, you do. Every time I say anything about you getting married someday, you go all Jedi on me. You either clam up, or change the subject." Han stared at Luke, his shrewd hazel eyes narrowing. "You're thinking about getting married, aren't you?"
"It's crossed my mind," Luke answered. He couldn't really justify why he was being so evasive. Hadn't he started to blurt out the truth in Mara's suite when the attack began? Did it really matter that much to him if Han knew before Leia?
"You're actually considering asking your own assassin to marry you?" Han's head tilted back as he roared in laughter. "I always knew you were crazy. From the first moment I laid eyes on you, I thought you were a cocky, crazy kid hanging out with a crazy old man."
Luke gave Han a hard look that stopped Han's rant.
"Don't tell me you already asked her?"
Taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly, Luke looked Han squarely in the eye.
"I've already married her."
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
"So you consider yourself a Jedi?" Leia asked as she and Mara walked back down the hallway, checking each room they passed.
"Jedi-in-training." Mara stuck her head into a small bedchamber, then stepped back quickly as a furry pitten scampered out.
"You actually intend to become a full Jedi?"
Mara stopped in her tracks and turned to face her companion. "You don't believe me?"
Leia tilted her chin up in challenge. "You have to admit it's a lot to swallow. From Imperial assassin to a guardian of peace and justice."
Mara narrowed her eyes at the former princess. She could sense no fear of her in Leia, even though Mara carried two weapons and Leia had none. "Luke trusts me."
"Luke trusts everyone; that's hardly an incentive to believe you."
"You think that little of his judgment?"
Leia let a small sigh escape. "No," she admitted in a subdued voice. "He's usually a very good judge of character. I just ... I don't want to see him get hurt."
"He won't. Not by me, ever. Leia, I did not seduce him in order to deceive him." Mara smiled wryly. "And he did not seduce me just to lure me into agreeing to become a Jedi."
"I should hope not." Leia finally relaxed, and Mara could tell she was fighting to keep a grin off her face. "That would hardly be the recruiting method I'd expect him to use."
"Me, either," Mara murmured, laughing inside. She doubted Leia knew how shy her brother really was.
"I want to believe you, Mara." Brown eyes focused intently through the blue-white glow of Mara's lightsaber. "For Luke's sake."
"Then you needn't worry, Your Highness." Mara turned and once more began her inspection of each adjoining room. "There is nothing more important to me than Luke's happiness." She didn't look behind her, but it was several seconds before light footsteps began following her once more.
The conversation at that point dwindled to a few brief exchanges, mainly reporting the absence of any injured or trapped residents. Leia had found a glow rod in a storage closet, enabling her to put some space between her and Mara. And Mara knew they both needed that space right now. Leia's turbulent emotions were broadcasting loud and clear. It was no secret that the Alderaanian woman was fiercely protective of her brother. Mara knew she needed to earn Leia's trust; she owed it to Luke to not be the cause of a rift between him and his sister. Mara's 'people skills,' however, were sorely lacking. Well, no one had ever accused Mara Jade of backing down from a challenge. The fact that she was now Mara Skywalker shouldn't deter her from facing the music, and befriending her new sister-in-law.
―――
As she followed Leia into a large dining hall, Mara could feel a niggling at the back of her mind. Something wrong had happened here, or something wrong was going to happen. Mara stared at Leia, who was approaching the center of the room, and the sensation of danger intensified tenfold. She scanned the room – support beams in the center were cracked and the wooden floor swayed slightly under Leia's footsteps.
"Leia, hold up!" she called as she rushed forward.
The sound of what must have been a proton torpedo reverberated throughout the building, drowning out Leia's answer. Just as Mara neared Leia's side, the ceiling above them groaned. Mara barely had time to cover her head when suddenly the floor beneath her feet gave way, and both women tumbled into an inky blackness.
I never promised that there wouldn't be any more cliffhangers, did I?