His kiss was ever so tender, and he tasted sweet, like fresh jolala juice. I felt at once like I should sing, or at the very least fly. I couldn't concentrate on any one thing, not that I wanted to, for the rest of the universe came to a sudden screeching halt. And in that instant, a rush of emotions I'd never experienced before and couldn't begin to describe threatened to take hold of me, suffocate me. Everything started to spin, and I reacted with the only defense I knew, anger.

Skywalker jumped back and held his palm against the left side of his face. "Ow! Stars, Mara! What was that for!"

I scowled at his hurt expression. As if he didn't know. "That was for making me feel vulnerable, Farm Boy."

The insufferable Jedi returned a skeptical gaze.

My head still spinning, I pointed my index finger a centimeter from his nose. "Don't you play games with me, Jedi. You won't like it when you lose. And you will lose."

I have to get out of here. I can't let him see how he's affecting me, can't let him see how shaken I really am.

I hurried inside and was approached by one of the wait staff carrying a tray full of drinks. Before he could even offer me one, I grabbed a glass in my stinging hand and skillfully drained its contents. The polite older gentleman merely raised an eyebrow at me and chuckled. "You must be having quite an evening, Milady."

I twisted the stemware in my fingers and swirled the few remaining drops as I glanced back at the doorway I had come through. "You couldn't possibly imagine."

The waiter smiled, "Best you take another for the road, they should be serving dinner quite soon."

I nodded gratefully and traded my empty glass for one of his full ones. "Thank you."

The kindly man gave a slight bow with his head before departing while I glanced around and noticed he was right. Most everyone was seated already, with only a few stragglers en route to their tables.

I headed for my own table, dread building with every step and wondering for possibly the umpteenth time why in the name of the stars I had agreed to come to this ruddy event. This whole evening is turning into some kind of twisted nightmare.

I reached the table and groaned inwardly. Skywalker was already seated, and of course, the only empty seat was right beside his. With a sigh, I placed my full glass of wine on the table and sat down.

The circular table was not terribly large. There weren't too many of us situated around its circumference, but it was a tight fit nevertheless. I was pleased to see that Han Solo was seated to my left. At least I can count on some lively conversation there. At the moment he was engaged in a heated discussion with his wife who was sitting on his opposite side. After the Solos were a young couple I didn't recognize. They were probably newlyweds, judging from the way their hands were interlocked and they kept staring at each other with big googly eyes. I stifled a snort and rolled my eyes. Beyond them and on the other side of Skywalker was a couple in their twilight years. Both had silvery hair and careworn faces as proof of just how much they had endured over the years.

The older woman, who was seated next to Skywalker was inquiring about the welt on the Jedi's face. Intrigued with how he would answer, I turned to look myself. Louder than I intended, I butted into their conversation, "Yeah, Skywalker. Why don't you tell us all what happened?" I noticed his left cheek was still bright pink from where I'd hit him, but his right one was slowly trying to match the other's shade.

My comment caught the attention of everyone else at the table, who all seemed to stop what they were doing to find out what had happened to the 'poor' Jedi. Curiously, he tossed Leia a pained expression, who then nodded at him in encouragement.

I narrowed my eyes as I watched the exchange between siblings.

"Alright, Solo." I said quietly out the side of my mouth. "What are they playing at?"

Han's reply came almost inaudibly, "Don't look at me, sister. I've learned to steer clear of her when she gets like this."

The whole table was still collectively staring at Skywalker who visibly took a breath before responding, "It's actually kind of an interesting story, if you'd care to hear it." There was a round of nodding and assent from all across the table.

He's stalling. He can't think of any face-saving reason as to why he'd just been slapped. I smirked. It was going to be fun watching Luke trip over his tongue and embarrass himself in front of everyone. I leaned back in my chair and took a savoring sip of my wine.

"You see," he began speaking to the old woman next to him, "I made several discoveries today. I discovered that I have many friends, but very few close companions. I also discovered that despite having so many friends, I am a lonely person."

Dinner arrived and the old woman patted Skywalker's hand in encouragement. "We all feel like that sometimes, child. But go on."

I snorted when she referred to the Jedi Master as 'child'. At least we were in agreement on something! I stole a glance at the nerf steak that was placed in front of me and realized I wasn't hungry. No one else seemed too interested in the food, either.

"I understand, but today was different. Its the anniversary of when Cal… er, of when someone I really cared about left me."

Instantly I was horrified. That was today! I glanced across the table at Organa-Solo who met my eyes and returned a look as if to say, "See? He needed you tonight."

I closed my eyes and wanted to kick myself. Of course it was today. That's how Karrde knew I wasn't going to work tonight, and why we were even on Coruscant in the first place. I'd requested a long time ago that we be on-planet so that I could keep an eye on Skywalker. I knew he was going to have a rough day. How could I have forgotten? I sure hadn't made things any easier on him. I sighed as the Farm Boy continued.

"You see, when she left me, I kind of took it as a sign that I would always be alone, and I had resigned myself to that fact. But the truth is, I don't want to accept that. This morning I meditated on it. The Force didn't show me any new faces for my future, I'm not going to meet someone new and live happily ever after. What I saw was my family and friends. I saw my sister and her husband and my niece and nephews. I saw the people that I love. I understood that, at the time, as meaning that as long as they were with me, I would not be alone, and they would be enough for me."

I felt horrible. Of course he would feel alone on a day like today. It's so easy for me to forget how important something like family can be to someone. I never really thought in terms like that. When I was younger, the only 'family' I knew was the Emperor and growing old with a family was never even a fantasy, let alone something I expected out of life. Lately though, I can't deny that the idea has crossed my mind. I guess I just figured that if it happened, it happened. I wasn't about to devote a whole bunch of time and energy into looking for it. It must be so different for Luke, having grown up with the idea that family is so essential, having to sit idly by while his sister's family grows, thinking that all the happiness he ever wanted would forever be just beyond his reach.

"What I didn't take into consideration was the fact that Visions can be very subjective. You'll see my point in a moment. A good friend of mine arrived on Coruscant early this morning after being away for far too long. She showed up at my door just after I had finished my meditation hoping to get a good workout with me at the gym. I didn't realize it at the time, but the Force was trying to tell me something."

Guilty feelings aside, I frowned slightly. Where is this going? And what does it have to do with me walloping him?

"Whatever it was trying to tell me, I wasn't listening. Anyway, my sister had been on my back about coming to this dinner tonight and I couldn't very well come alone, so after our workout I asked my good friend to come along, and she agreed."

Suddenly all eyes turned to me. I was in the middle of hefting my glass to my lips, so I paused and lifted it a bit higher, "Cheers," I said and followed with a hefty swig of the garnet-colored liquid.

Satisfied, they turned back to Skywalker.

"But something happened before we arrived here tonight. We had an argument. We have a lot of arguments, so I wondered: why did we spend so much of our time together bickering? And why did I value her friendship so much if all we ever did was fight? The answer was so simple, I couldn't believe it had taken me so long to figure out."

I couldn't help myself. I was skeptical, to say the least, but ultimately curious as heck to know his theory on why we were always at each other's throats. "So what did you figure out, Farm Boy?"

I raised my glass to take another sip, as he looked me in the eye and answered.

"I wasn't fighting you, Mara. I was fighting my feelings for you."

I started to choke.

"Mara, I'm in love with you."