Standard Disclaimer: These characters belong to G. Lucas and T. Zahn. In other words: not mine.
Dedication: To anyone who loves hot chocolate.
Rating: M
Spoilers/Timeline: After The Corellian Trilogy but before "Vision of the Future".
A/N: Do read and review.

Lightheaded
Chapter 19: (You Know What They Say About) People Who Assume

"Leia? Han?" Luke called as he entered the apartment.

"Han's not here, he and Chewy went off early somewhere." Leia poked her head from her kitchen unit. "Have you had breakfast yet?"

"Yes, I had some already." He walked to the kitchen unit anyway, and sat down at the counter. Leia was slicing a sandwich into two. She finished slicing it, dusted off her hands, and opened the refrigeration unit, pulling out a clear jug of cold chocolate. She poured one for herself, and another for Luke, and gave him a kiss on his cheek as she passed it to him.

"Good morning. Where were you last night?" She went back to her sandwich and started clearing up the utensils.

"I was at Mara's. I spent the night there, actually."

Leia's mouth quirked upward and she flicked an amused glance at him. "Are you sure you want to be telling me this?"

Luke shrugged. "We talked." A little. "I was tired, so I slept there." A little. "We ate together." A lot.

"Oh." Leia seemed to consider this, and took a bite out of her sandwich. "When are you leaving?"

"Kicking me out so soon, dearest sister?"

She frowned in mock anger, a smile on her lips. "Luke! You know that's not what I mean."

He laughed. "Tomorrow, late evening, I think. I've got to get back because the new recruits are coming in soon."

She nodded. "And you have to be there to welcome them. Yes. It's always a good show of strength for the Jedi Order when you greet the new initiates personally, Luke."

He smiled at her didactic tone. "Yes, mom, which is why I'll be out of your hair tomorrow."

Ignoring the jibe, she suddenly scrutinised him. Or more specifically, his clothes. "Why are you still wearing that robe? It's warm in here. You should have hung it up at the entrance. Come on, take it off and I'll do it." Leia bit off another piece of her sandwich and moved as if to pull the cloak off him.

Finishing his cold chocolate hurriedly, he hoped he sounded casual. "No, I think I spilled something on it yesterday at the reception, and I think I'll get it cleaned." He stood up and handed her his cup. "I think I'll go take a shower now." And put on some underclothes. Beating a hasty retreat to his temporary quarters, he hoped that he didn't seem too eager to leave.

-----

After a shower (and a new set of underpants), Luke felt the effects of the lack of sleep, and took a nap on the bed. He vaguely registered someone coming into his room, but his Force senses registered it as Leia and he sleepily told her to wake him up after an hour.

He woke up when he felt Leia calling him in his mind. Luke? Time to get up. I need you to do something for me. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he walked into the living room, and found Leia meditating cross-legged on the floor. Smiling a little, and sending her his approval in the Force, he returned to the 'fresher and washed his face.

Leia appeared by the 'fresher door.

"Could you come with me to the finalisation of the Trade Agreement talks? Han's out, and I just want another pair of eyes and ears around, just in case."

He considered her request while cleaning his teeth. Why not? It's not like I have anything to do… until dinner. He nodded.

"Okay, good." She walked over to the cupboard and pulled out the new Jedi robes and tunic. Droid must have hung them up while I was sleeping, Luke thought.

"Wear this; I can't be seen with a scruffy-looking escort, can I?"

He spat into the sink. "Who's scruffy-looking?"

-----

In the end, Luke was glad that he wore the robe. Leia had omitted to tell him that the finalisation of the Trade Agreement talks was also the official signing of the agreement, which was a formal event.

They were seated around a longish table, with NR delegates on one side, and Xobni officials on the other. A few seats were empty, and Luke wondered at this lapse in protocol. Could there be something wrong? From experience, he knew that small mistakes were often the first sign of trouble.

Ignoring the start of the ceremony, which had the Xobni official sitting at the head of the table making some remarks, Luke stretched out with his Force senses, trying to ascertain if there really was trouble ahead. He couldn't find anything, but he sensed…

Mara! He stopped his Force probe with a sudden jolt. What was she doing here?

"… and we wish to officially apologise to the New Republic for delaying the agreement talks, due to some doubts on the Xobni delegation's side. In the interests of full disclosure, and as a show of good faith, we lay it before this council that we had hired an independent intelligence group to establish the truth of certain facts." The Xobni official paused for the next page on the data pad. "The independent intelligence group hired was headed by Mister Talon Karrde, and his associate, Miss Mara Jade."

Mara!

"With permission," the official continued, unaware of Luke's turmoil. "We would like to introduce them to the council, and have them witness the signing of the Trade Agreement, for they have contributed much to the process."

"Permission granted," the NR delegate at the front of the table said. He looked like he had been expecting this, and did not look up when the door to the room opened, and Karrde and Mara walked in.

"Luke, what are you doing?" Leia hissed and pulled him down by the sleeve. Luke had unconsciously half-risen in his seat when Mara walked in.

"Oh, er, nothing. I thought it was protocol." Nice save, Jedi. He caught Mara giving him a glance as she sat down opposite Leia. Well, well. He couldn't keep a smug look off his face, but dropped it when he realised that Karrde was looking at him strangely.

He sat back in his seat and stifled a sigh as he heard the Xobni official announce that they would now read through the entire Trade Agreement. Well, at least I have the object of my daydreams sitting right in front of me.

He felt Mara's Force sense reach out for him. Glancing over at her, he noted that she was still facing the Xobni official who was reading out the Trade Agreement.

Keeping his senses shielded from anyone but her, he reached out to her as well, sending out questions which he hoped she could understand. Force conversations were fuzzy-logic in nature, and it wasn't anywhere near the telepathic comlink communication that everyone thought it was.

Mara?

Jedi.

Well, this works.

I've been practising. You shielding?

My sister's beside me. You think?

You know what they say about people who assume.

While conducting the conversation, Luke was amazed at the clarity of their mental conversation. Even his conversations with Leia weren't as clear; they transmitted more with feelings than with words, except for when they extremely dire straits. Desperation must play some part in clarity, he thought.

No, I don't, Miss Jade. What DO they say?

They make an ass out of you and me.

Judging from what I saw of your ass last night, I'm quite content with that pronouncement. And smiled to see her flush a little.

He flashed her a scene from his memory of their night together, of her spread-eagled on the bed and screaming as he pleasured her, and was gratified to see her flush deepen.

She shut off the contact between them and turned to glare at his smug expression. Bet you didn't think that the boring old Jedi Master had it in him, did you, Jade?

The door opened silently, and Winter entered the room. Walking to Luke's side, she crouched down and spoke in a low voice. "Master Luke, there's a transmission marked for you from the Jedi Academy that arrived at the apartment. I've relayed the message to your comm. account, but Kam called in as well to see if you had received the message, so I think it's rather urgent."

"Thank you, Winter. I'll get to it right now. Could you take my place in here and explain the situation to Leia?"

"Of course." She took his place as he left the room.

-----

What on earth could Kam want? Luke wondered as he hurried to a comm. station. Punching in his access codes, he called up the text transmission from Kam.

Master Skywalker: Initiates will be here sooner than expected – ETA in three days, to be exact. We are unsure why they are arriving earlier. Kam.

He frowned. It wasn't like Kam and Tionne to make mistakes with the scheduling. Calling for a direct link to the Praxeum, he wasn't surprised to get an instant connection to Kam.

"Master Luke! Did you get my message?"

"Yes, I did. What happened? I thought I had five more days to get back to the Academy."

Kam nodded. "That's what our scheduling says as well. I managed to contact someone from the last world that they were from, and apparently there's a mechanical expert among our initiates. Apparently, he managed to boost their craft's speeds 110 per cent."

Luke's eyebrows raised at that. "That's quite impressive. But that still shouldn't have shaved off two days from their journey without endangering their lives."

Kam shook his head. "No, they picked up this initiate, Lucieno, early on in the recruitment process. He boosted them early in their journey, and they picked up two days along the way."

"And not during this last leg of the journey. Ah, yes." He scratched his chin, noting that he had forgotten to shave in all the rush. Wonder why Leia let me be, he wondered at his normally fastidious sister's lapse.

Maybe because it looks very sexy, he heard in his mind. Mara.

Making a swift decision, he moved to finish his conversation with Kam. "I'll leave immediately, and hopefully be back to catch them when they come. I'll contact you once I come out of hyperspace."

Kam nodded again. "Academy out."

As the comm. unit winked out to black, Luke turned around. Mara was leaning against the wall, arms folded.

"Are you breaking our date tonight?"

He eyed her stance. "Regretfully, yes. I need to get back to the Academy." He smiled, eyes twinkling mischievously. "Miss me?"

She clicked her tongue and pretended to look thoughtful. "Maybe. Probably not." She stretched languidly, her tunic pulling up a little. "I don't need anything from you, Jedi. I can take care of things myself."

Luke licked his lips. "I need everything from you, Jade. I'll miss you… perhaps even more than you'll miss me."

"Perhaps… perhaps." She walked into him and gave him a hug. "Clear skies, Luke." Avoiding looking at his eyes, she walked back into the conference room, leaving Luke staring, a little confused, at the closing door.

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A/N: Yay! No edits this time round. And if you spell Xobni backwards, you'll find one that's quite empty and lonely, and needs your action for company.