Burning.

He was burning.

Just the thought of her fiery red hair, or the coolness of her voice would set him on fire.

Almost quite literally.

Every time she walked into the same room with him (which seemed to be happening more and more frequently), he had to control himself from taking her in his arms and passionately kiss her. Each time that he saw her, it became more and more difficult to control his emotions.

There is no emotion. There is peace.

But he couldn't even finish the Jedi Code, one of the few things that kept him calm, any longer.

No. Now I have emotion.

I am in love with the woman who once vowed (and still does) that she would kill me.

How un-Jedi like am I? This woman, this… beautiful creature has me almost wanting to turn away from the Jedi Order. I shouldn't want this. I shouldn't want her.

Oh, but I do.

Sometimes, he could even see a glimmer of softness when she spoke to him. Oh, he was used to the usual, harsh, "Skywalker… Get out of my way… What's it to you?" comments she would make to him. They almost seemed endearing. As if… she was purposely mean to only him.

As if… she really did care for him.

He violently shook these thoughts from his head.

No way in this galaxy could the cold, cruel Mara Jade actually care for me that way!

Or could she? Force only knows.

His body tensed once again. She's here.

She's here.

In this very room.

With me.

Along with many other people, of course.

If I could just catch her alone, just the two of us.

But that's nearly impossible… it's always as if she tries to avoid me nowadays.

Or am I just becoming overly-friendly?

He sighed in frustration as the realization dawned on him. So stupid. So naïve.

I'm in love with her.

In love with the woman who vowed to kill me.

He could have laughed aloud at the outrageous thought, and would have, too, if he weren't in the middle of a rather important New Republic meeting. He had only come for Leia's support. Otherwise, he wouldn't be here. He had never felt like he belonged here, amongst so many important and yet ignorant senators.

Mara was only there as a representative of Karrde, the now famous boss of his smuggling operations. Otherwise, Luke knew she wouldn't be wasting her time here, either.

He couldn't help but let his mind wander back to Mara.

I… I love her. I love her!

He suddenly grinned stupidly, as if in a daze.

He felt someone nudge his shoulder.

"Are you alright?" Leia mouthed to him, wondering why in the galaxy would he be smiling at a time like this.

He simply kept grinning and nodded to her.

"I'm fine. Simply thinking."

Simply.

For some reason, I am... writing again. Bless whatever or whoever it was that made me want to write again. I haven't felt so good in quite some time!

So. Did you like? I have been thinking about Star Wars a lot, as of late. (sigh)

Please review, you know I love them!

FIN