Title: From Sand Into Glass

Author: Faelai

Pairing: Luke/Mara

Timeline: Post Vision of the Future

Rating: PG-13

Summary: The area between light and dark is always shifting. How do we keep from making the mistakes of the past if we do not know our own past to begin with?

Disclaimer: These characters are not mine, they belong to George Lucas and Timothy Zahn, respectively.

Author's Note: Since this is technically an Extended Universe fic, it incorporates the canon from all Episodes of the Star Wars saga, as well as several EU books but most notably the books by Timothy Zahn: The Thrawn Trilogy and the Hand of Thrawn Duology. All thanks must go to Zahn solely for the creation of the amazing character known as Mara Jade. She is by far, the best character in the Star Wars universe that has never appeared in a single one of the movies. (Come on Georgie boy, you couldn't have slipped in a tiny hint of Mara's existence into the prequels?)

Anyway, enough is enough, Here comes the fic.

-

Chapter One:

The Shifting Sands

-

The sun never set on the desert.

The golden glow of the first sun always seemed to linger on the horizon at twilight, splitting the sky apart with the violence of its color. The gleam of the first satellite would slowly fade in the horizon, its golden rays melting into the red sky.

With two suns in the sky, the shadows were always distorted. The typical interplay between light and dark were always shifting. The shadows shifted like the sand, they were mirror images that overlapped one another in this place.

This was the moment when the shadows became clearest. With only one sun, the lone Jedi who sat peacefully in the middle of the desert only saw one shadow. His own.

His shadow stretched out behind him, its dark shape looming larger than life behind his small frame. It was twilight, his favorite time of day on this planet, and most planets. But it was this sky that he knew best, even after so many years away from it.

He knew that the second sun would linger for another hour before the colors faded from brilliant hues of red and gold which would reflect on the heated sands all around him. The sun would join with the sand and the world would fade into the coldness of black night.

Luke had never been particularly fond of his home world. Growing up on Tatooine, he had always been searching for a way out of the life that he led. He had come far too close to death out on these sands many times in his life. After the last time, he had not even thought to come back for any reason.

But now, he found himself sitting once more in the desert of his home world and instead of the restlessness of his youth or the desperation of trying to escape danger, he felt peace.

He had come out here to meditate, the silence of the desert allowed the Force to speak to him with a clarity that surprised him. All of his life he had felt the Force like a tickling of his senses, a hum in the back of his mind. He had never known how to listen. Not for the first time, he wondered why Obi-Wan had not begun his training when he was young, while he had the chance.

Luke shook his head, seeking to quiet his mind of the questions that gnawed at him. Inhaling a deep breath, he dug his fingers into the warmth of the soft. Scooping up a handful, he allowed the grains to pour slowly from one hand to the next until they faded back into the endless sea around him. It was an old ritual he had with himself, the sand slipping through his fingers was soft and seemingly harmless, but he had seen its destructive effects. Sand had the power to erode mountains which melted down into its tiny grains, destroy entire cities, kill men. He respected the desert, he no longer had any fear of it. The desert had always made him feel small, as a young boy he had feared going out into the wastelands. He had feared getting lost in the sandstorms and never finding his way home.

A wry smile flitted over his lips like a shadow over the sun. The sandstorm had inevitably snared him in its whirling depths. His life as he had known it on this planet had been violently torn from him with the deaths of the only guardians he had ever known. He had been tossed into the whirling winds, death snapping its jaws at him with every passing moment and when he had come out on the other side, he had been a changed man.

He rubbed his hands, allow the sand to dissolve away into his skin. He took it all in, every grain of sand in this dry ocean was analogous to every life in the galaxy. They were countless, endless, constantly shifting, and could be scattered into dust with a simple touch.

He was still pouring the sand into his hand when he felt a familiar presence approaching. The ghostly smile on his lips grew as he felt the warmth of her energy washing over him as she drew closer. Her shadow merged with his as she sat down beside him, she did not speak, merely pulled her knees up before her and draped one arm across them as she looked out into the horizon.

Luke turned to look at her, drinking in the sight of her. The wild beauty of Mara Jade complimented the harsh beauty of his home world in an odd way. But then, he knew Mara could fit in anywhere.

"Not true," Mara spoke casually as she responded to the unspoken thought. Luke grinned, the newfound bond between their minds seemed to be growing with every passing moment they were together.

"I couldn't fit in anywhere," Mara shook her head and frowned. "Sometimes I don't think I fit in anywhere actually." Her green eyes found his, "Neither of us really fit anywhere in this universe, we have seen too much that others wish to close their eyes to."

Luke frowned, "That seems like a rather pessimistic view."

Mara shrugged, rolling her shoulders back as she turned her eyes to the sky above them. The darkness of the night was beginning to overtake the the remaining sun as it sank lower in the sky. "Its something I thought a lot about over the years," she said quietly. "After the Empire was gone... I never belonged anywhere, there was no place left for me in the galaxy."

Luke contemplated her silently, reaching out to take her hand and draw her close to him. The red gold sun behind her perfectly reflected the colors of her hair and in that moment he felt his love swell even more with love for her.

"You belong somewhere now." He whispered as he leaned his forehead against hers. "You belong with me."

Mara's eyes fell shut, eyelashes kissing the flesh of his cheek as they did. She squeezed his hand he felt her gratitude for his statement wash over him. "When did you become such a sweet talker, Skywalker?" She chuckled softly and he couldn't help but laugh.

"When did you become such a softie, Jade?" She could hear the light hearted teasing in his voice that she had come to know so well. She was sure that she was one of the few people in the galaxy who knew that the Jedi Master actually had a sense of humor.

"Soft!" Mara recoiled violently at the word, shoving Luke's embrace away from her. She jumped up from the sand, her peaceful moment forgotten. She stood before him like a sandstorm, her energy whirling around him. Her flame colored hair floating around her perfectly matched the red and gold sunset and standing before him with such vibrant beauty and life, she took his breath away, even as she pretended to be mad at him. Mara's mock fury was continually being interrupted by Luke's laughter. He knew her too well by now to know that she wasn't really mad at him.

"Hmph, you think this is funny farmboy?" Mara presented him her finely honed glare of death, one that had stopped him cold in his tracks in the past, but now it only incited another gale of laughter from the typically composed Jedi before her.

'The crazy things that love has done to this man,' Mara mused to herself. She couldn't fight off her own laughter for too much longer, his joy was just too infectious. Instead she pulled herself up in front of him and shook her head. "I'll show you soft!" She meant it to be a warning as she tackled him, knocking him flat onto his back on the sand, but Luke took it as a challenge.

His breath knocked out of him, he could only stare up at her for a moment, his amusement forgotten as he looked up at the woman he loved, straddling him casually.

Luke smirked, "Is that a promise?" There was a husky tone to his voice as he asked the question and Mara looked down at him with surprise. The glint in his eyes was unmistakable and she was reminded one more time of why she loved this man so much.

She was one of the few people in the galaxy who knew about his humor, but she was the only woman in the galaxy to truly know the depth of his passion, his emotion, his love. These were things that Jedi were told to shy away from, but Luke embraced them, knowing their inherent value to life.

Mara nodded slowly, bringing her lips to his. "Yeah, farmboy. That is a promise I'll make sure to keep," she whispered the words against his lips before she kissed him.

When they pulled away from each other once more, their playful mood had passed back into the quiet peace they had both come to find. Mara curled around her lover and rest her head on Luke's chest. He lay on his back, eyes turned to the sky as the glimmer of starlight began to emerge from the shadows above. His hand was running through her hair now, the strands were smoother than the sand, just as delicate, but much more beloved.

"What brought you out here tonight, Luke?" The question slipped quietly from Mara in the stillness as she listened to his heart beat. She felt the rhythm beneath her ear pulse stronger as she spoke his name and she smiled at the effect.

Luke did not respond for a long moment as he stared up at the sky. The moons were beginning to come out of the darkness above him as the last sun finally faded into the night. "The sand," he whispered.

Mara's brow furrowed, "What is so special about sand?"

"Everything," Luke informed as if it should be obvious. "Did you know that glass is made out of sand?"

Mara frowned at this, she hadn't known that. "How is that possible?"

Luke shrugged, "One of the many mysteries of the Force, I suppose... I remember when I was a very young boy, there was a man in town, a peddler of some sort, he made glass out of sand right in front of my eyes. He heated it on a fire until it was almost like melting, and then he blew through a long tube, he created a glass jug right before my eyes." Luke smiled at the memory, so long forgotten and suddenly recalled. "I thought that it was magic... I remember I asked him if he were a Jedi to be able to perform such magic."

Mara smiled at the picture Luke was painting for her, she could picture him as a small boy staring up in wonder at the glass. "I thought that Jedi didn't do magic tricks."

"They don't," Luke said, "But neither did he. It just seems like magic to the eyes of a child, something that seems impossible until you know how to do it yourself."

Mara was quiet for a long time, listening to the steady drum of his heart beneath her ear. She contemplated his words for a long time, there was a wisdom in Luke that she valued. It was this wisdom that allowed her to trust him to teach her about the Force. He may not have all the knowledge of the Jedi of old, but he had an understanding of the Force that Mara herself still lacked.

"The Force speaks to me very clearly here," Mara told him. Luke nodded, unsurprised. "Yes," he murmured. "I have felt it too."

"Why is that?" She inquired, "Is it because we're so far from the rest of the galaxy that the Force is quieter here?"

Luke contemplated her question seriously but in the end could not come up with a clear answer. "I don't quite know why it is... but it makes me wonder."

"About what?" Mara's curiosity was peaked, something in his voice, in his Force sense had shifted subtly. She propped herself up on her arm and looked down at his calm expression. The darkness of the sky mirrored in his eyes turned them the deep, dark blue of the midnight sky.

Luke was not sure how to respond, there was a stirring in his mind that he could not quite name and he was not quite sure how to describe it to her. He was certain she must feel it in his mind, with the strength of their bond, he would be surprised if she could not.

"I lived here, on this world, my father's home, from infancy until I was practically a man. And yet, in all that time, I had no knowledge of the Force. Yet it was with me the whole time, like... a whisper in the wind, or a soft hum in the back of my mind, but I never knew how to listen to it."

"You never had any idea that you had any abilities?" Mara was surprised by this. Even at a young age she had known of her own latent Force powers. It was why she was hidden from the Empire for so long. It was also, eventually, the reason the Emperor had chosen her.

Luke shifted restlessly and for a moment she saw him as the boy he must have been on this planet, an orphan separated from his twin, one parent dead and the other far worse off. She saw the loneliness that had followed him his entire life, up until the moment that her mind had joined with his, that was when both of their lonely lives had ended.

"Once," he murmured. His eyes were distant, staring into the sky but seeing something far beyond its horizon.

"Tell me," Mara whispered.

"I was very young..." the memory was coming back to Luke now, forgotten for so long. "I got lost in the desert," he waved his free hand out to gesture at the endless sea of sand that surrounded them. "The sandstorm swirled up around me, blinding me to all else. I was terrified." Luke closed his eyes, reliving the moment in his memory. "Then all of a sudden, my mind became clear. I raised my hand and the sandstorm stopped. The wind simply... ceased. Something whispered to me, took my hand and led me through the desert." A sad smile passed over his face. "I remember thinking at the time, that it must have been the spirit of my father who was protecting me." A stab of pain in his heart touched Mara's as well. She squeezed his hand, sharing in the depth of the emotion until it touched upon a core of clarity deep within her.

"The memories I have of my parents are blurry," she whispered. Through their shared connection, Luke could catch flickers of her memories as they passed through her mind. The exchange of the flow in the force between them was profound, back and forth they traded these memories. A tall woman with hair the same flame as Mara's, a man with piercing green eyes and a stern demeanor. Their memory radiated strongly in the Force for that moment in time, before slipping back into Mara's unconsciousness.

"You've never told me anything about your parents," Luke studied her carefully, seeing the distance in his eyes that had been in his own only moments earlier. Mara was studying the darkness in the sky beyond them. But her gaze went beyond the horizon, it circled back upon herself.

"For many years, I had no memory of them... I believe that the Emperor was responsible for that little mind trick. He took me from them when I was very young and all my life, I never questioned that I was different. I knew only what he taught me." A shiver chased itself across Mara's flesh, the cool stillness of the night was encroaching in upon them. Luke smoothed one hand over her flesh, attempting to warm her from the chill of her memories.

"When did you first begin to remember your life before Palpatine?" Luke was continually amazed by this woman, and how little he knew about her past life.

Mara's eyes narrowed in thought as she pondered his question. The visions were still fresh in her mind, though it had been years since they had first surfaced. She had accepted what they had told her but she never enjoyed remembering.

"The visions began after I met you..." Mara shook her head. "They began after I killed that clone of you. After I fulfilled Palpatine's last command and was set free of him..." Her eyes grew dark and she closed them against the world around them. A cold wind was stirring the desert sands, stinging her eyes with unexpected tears.

Luke leaned his forehead against hers, the clarity of their bond grew stronger until he was almost lost in her. No spoken words were needed.

'Show me,' was his simple request. Mara raised her hands to his head, palms cupping the sides of his face. She opened her mind to his and the visions came.

-

Her father stood in the doorway of their small home, deep in the forests of a planet whose name she had long forgotten. Beyond the door, the wolves were howling and young Mara felt fear in her heart.

"No," her father spoke, sensing her feelings. "Fear is the path to the dark side, Mara. You must never forget that." He crossed the room to her, where she sat on the floor, the cubes she had been floating in the air had fallen to the floor at her feet. He sat beside her and suddenly no longer seemed so large, so imposing. He looked down at his daughter and she saw the love he had for her there. But she could also feel his fear, she could always feel it. Both of her parents feared something in the galaxy beyond them greatly, and she often wondered how often her father repeated that same mantra to himself.

Her father smoothed a hand over her red locks and studied her seriously. "There are many people in the world who will try to control you through fear. You must never allow anyone to control you, Mara. You are too important to the galaxy."

Mara gazed up at her father with eyes that were far too grave to belong to a child with such a young face. She had so many questions for her father, but she knew that he would not answer what she asked of him. Instead she spoke from her heart.

"I will try not to fear, Papa." Her voice was childish but her tone was serious.

"Do not try, Mara. Do, or do not. You must never convince yourself of drowning before you have even begun to swim." Her father hugged her close to him, the warmth of the contact calming Mara's fears.

The green eyes of her father faded from both of their minds, ghostly images overlapping one another. The eyes of her father became her own in the mirror, the red of her hair turned into fire and she saw her mother standing in front of her, shielding her daughter with all of the power she had.

The flames licked the sky beyond the both of them, all around them there was an overwhelming sense of death and destruction, it ripped through the Force, shaking Mara's bones within her skin. She struggled to find the center of calm in her fear, but it was lost in every sharp pang of death that struck her through the Force.

A dark shadow appeared against the flames and Mara watched as her mother pulled from her robes an object she had only seen a few rare times in her life, and had never been allowed to touch. The silver cylinder slid easily into her mother's hand as if it belonged there, it was an extension of herself.

Mara heard her mother's voice rise up amidst the roar of the fire, the screams of the dying. "Anakin, you must not do this."

The shadow grew into shape before her, Mara shrunk back in fear as the faceless man in black faced her mother. The power that emanated from him was so intense that it was painful, burning Mara with a heat deeper than that of the fire.

"Silence." There was no emotion in his voice, only a hollow breathing that emanated from his mask. "Every Skywalker in the galaxy is dead, including the one you call Anakin. I destroyed him even as he destroyed himself."

Mara saw her mother's grip on her weapon tighten, her entire body tensed as she began to realize that she was going to fight a losing battle. "This is the way you have brought balance to the Force?" It was a cry of sorrow that ripped from her throat. "This is madness, Anakin!"

"The only madness is that which awaits you after this life has passed," Vader intoned the words gravely as he slid his own weapon into his hand. Mara saw that it looked the same as her mother's, but it emanated a darker kind of death.

Mara's mother shook her head, red gold locks flickering in the flames. Mara engraved the image upon her mind, swearing never to forget that moment. Her mother stood tall, matching the height of Vader. Her hair danced like the fire and in that moment, Mara realized the depth of her mother's power. Power that was about to be destroyed by a faceless man.

"If you strike me down, Vader. I shall become more powerful than you could ever imagine. When all of the Jedi have become one with the Force, the Force itself will seek a balance. And it will be the end of you."

"Your hope is foolish, this is the end of you. This is the end of the corruption of the Jedi." With these words, Vader ignited his lightsaber. Its crimson sword sprung up against the red of the flames and Mara felt her mother brace herself. Vader swung upon her and Mara choked back a silent cry, as her mother's weapon ignited a blue sword that swung up to meet Vader's.

Mara was shaking, struggling to hold herself into her hiding place. She knew that there was nowhere she could hide from the power of this dark lord, but she could only hope that her father would return in time to save her mother from the evil that lay before them both.

The memories began to blur together. A clash of red and blue, swirling before her eyes. The shapes of Vader and her mother became shadows against the brightness of the fire that swept closer to them with every passing moment. Her mother moved faster than she could comprehend, blurring before Mara's eyes with her speed. Mara could feel how much strength she was drawing from the Force, the light filled her until she was luminous, glowing brightly against the darkness of Vader. As brightly as the Jedi shone, the Sith who opposed her seemed to suck the light away. The light was battling the dark and Mara's deepest fears had been realized. The light was losing, fading away into the darkness that the Emperor had brought upon the galaxy.

The darkness seemed to close in around her and Mara did the only thing she could do, what she had been trained to do. She opened herself up to the Force, letting the light of its energy fill her flesh. Thick in the midst of battle, Vader did not sense her near. Her mother was another case however. As Mara embraced the Force, her mother's mind was open to her, filling her with warmth as it had always done. Mara opened her mind to her mother, as she had learned how to do in the womb, establishing a bond that only a child can share with her mother.

Gathering up all of the strength she contained in her young body, Mara poured her energy into her mother. She willed her with all of her might, all of her ability in the Force, to live through this battle.

The world began to grow dark around Mara's young eyes. Her mother was growing weaker, the colors of the lightsabers were streaking wildly in Mara's vision. Everything began to blur together, the fire, the heat of the battle before her, the blood that filled the air when Vader finally sliced through her mother's defenses and struck her down before Mara's young eyes.

The shock of the loss of her mother's bond immobilized Mara. She stared at the limp form of her mother, her body seemed to become translucent and it faded from Mara's mind as she looked up into the dark faceless mask of the enemy.

Mara was caught upon the ripples within the Force. Her mother's death reverberated around her, she was caught in the whirlpool of the repercussions. Vader had not seen her yet, his head was down, eyes fixed upon the now empty ground. The Jedi who had brought Mara into the galaxy had vanished. All that remained of Mara's mother was the empty robes on the ground and her lightsaber. It had rolled a few feet toward Mara and when her young eyes fell upon it, she knew nothing else but a single minded purpose.

A burning rage grew within the heart of Mara Jade. She stretched out one hand and the lightsaber flew into her palm. It ignited instantly and power flowed through Mara, waking her from her grief stricken stupor. Stepping out of the shadows, Mara assumed a fighting stance and faced Darth Vader.

"Your reign of terror ends now, Anakin." Mara called him by the only name she knew for him. The name that her mother had spoken.

Vader's head lifted instantly at the sound of the lightsaber's familiar snap-hiss. Mara could see the green blade of the lightsaber reflected in the dark eyes of the helmet. He did not react to her words until the name Anakin was spoken. It was then that she saw his body instantly tense and he took a step toward her.

Mara did not back down, the fear that had gripped her had passed now. Her anger had died to burning embers within her heart, her mouth tasted of the ashes it had left behind. All that remained within her was the pure light of the Force.

The power built within her, speeding through her veins until she felt that she would burst. Mara allowed the Force to flow through her freely as she launched herself into the air. She executed a smooth flip over Vader's head and spun around, bringing the lightsaber to bear before her. She envisioned the green blade biting into the black suite, its shimmering light cleaving through the darkness.

Instead the green clashed with a dark violent red blade. It was the color of blood, all the blood that he had spilled. Vader's strength surprised Mara but she was far younger and her body intact. She slipped easily out of his grasp as he reached out to grab her. She could sense his growing anger, it built within him and destroyed him from the inside out.

Within moments they were locked in a heated battle. It was a sight to see, the massive dark lord towered over the young girl. She could have been no more than eight years old, yet she was an impressive foe.

As they danced the ancient and intricate pattern of the duel, Vader marveled at the grace with which the child moved. She was a natural with the lightsaber and though she drew her power from the Light, Vader could feel the conflict within her. He could feel her rage toward him and her hatred, simmering beneath the surface. Her self control was exquisite, most children her age would not be able to control their emotions so well. He he had not been able to. He had come to Coruscant to train as a Jedi when he had been around her age. He had been so young then, impressionable.

The girl was impressive, he had to give her that. She ducked his every thrust and parried him easily. She countered his aggressive strokes with smooth defenses and finally began to wear him down. She began to slip through his defenses, nicking his suit in several places. She had cut his cape completely from his body and he feared that she would break through the thick surface of the suit and destroy the pressure system that kept him alive.

Finally Mara broke through, diving beneath one forceful thrust he sent at her. She twisted up beneath him and thrust her lightsaber up to catch his. The bright burning blade of her saber caught his fingers and hissed loudly against the metal of his saber's grip. The weapon bounced from his hand, along with several artificial fingers. The pain registered deep within Vader's mind but he did not feel it. It was nothing compared to the pain of the past.

Vader stumbled back away from the child and stared at her in shock. She was a young girl and she had disarmed him. Anger burned in him but beneath it was a new respect.

She eyed him warily and he could sense her gathering her power, preparing to launch her final attack. With a sudden eerie certainty, Vader knew that he would not survive if Mara Jade decided to kill him. No one would. An odd foreboding tickled at his senses but he shut it out.

Lifting one hand, Vader decided to end it once and for all. The power of the dark side of the Force flowed through him. It crackled around him like lightning and he reached out with the Force to touch her mind. Gently pressing down upon the pressure points in her skull with the Force, he was pleased when she dropped suddenly to his feet. Her green eyes that had burned so brightly like the saber she wielded, dropped shut and darkness came over them.

Vader knelt beside the young girl and laid one gloved hand lightly upon her forehead. He could feel her energy still pulsing through the Force but it was subdued now. She had slipped back into the realm of unconsciousness and if he so chose, she would never waken again.

Vader called his saber to his hand with the Force and it ignited instantly within his grasp. The blood red light bathed her innocent face and made her red-gold hair glow like the fire that crackled all around them. He stood there amidst the destruction he had wrought and lifted his blade, preparing to bring it down upon her neck and remove one more potential Jedi from the Universe forever.

She shifted suddenly, eyelids fluttering and shuddered in her unnatural sleep. A soft moan came from her lips and for the first time, Vader saw her purity, her innocence. Distantly a part of him that had long been buried wondered if his own daughter would have been anything like this. Fiery and graceful and powerful. He could take this girl with her, present her to his Master and possibly take her on as his own apprentice someday. Perhaps.

Or perhaps she would be more powerful than him. If he presented her to Palpatine, what would keep him from getting rid of Vader for good? Beneath the cover of his mask, Vader's face was twisted and concentrated in thought.

He reached out the saber and the blade hovered above her throat. He could take her life right now, snuff out her existence. He could allow her to join her mother in the Force. Perhaps that was the kindest thing he could do.

Yet he found that he could not do it. It was as if the Force itself stayed his hand. He could not kill Mara Jade. That Force sense hidden deep in his blood urged him not to destroy her. She was destined for greater things. He could feel it.

In his mind, he saw a flicker of a young boy with sandy blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. The young face was burned by the suns of his home world and slowly morphed into the face of a young man. His face was scarred with years of long battle and an aura of power emanated from him in Vader's mind. He reached out his hand to touch Vader and the other hand was reaching out to touch the girl, a tall woman with hair like flame and eyes like jade.

The vision passed from his mind and Vader stood still. The vision had come from the light and once it had passed, the darkness swept back through him. Yet a spark remained hidden in the depths of his soul. It was this that stayed his hand. Vader extinguished his lightsaber, the red glow vanished and the only light remaining was the fire that continued to burn in the distance. He gathered the child in his arms and Mara shifted unconsciously at the embrace. She threw her arms around his neck and snuggled her face into the hard shell of his suit. She was deep in the trance which Vader had sent her into and her mind was open now, completely trusting of him. Just like a child. Like his own child might have done. Only he would have been able to hold his child with his own human arms. Look down at them through his own eyes instead of this ghastly contraption. One moment of decision and how much had been lost to him for it? Anakin Skywalker still clung to him like a ghost, reminding him only of the bitter pain of his losses.

Pressing her small body closer to him, Vader wrapped his cloak around the girl and turned to walk away from the fire. It was the end of her childhood and the beginning of her destiny.

-