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Chapter Two:

A Cycle of Vision

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The crackling of flames still resounded in the air all around them as Luke and Mara slipped back into the present. The cycle of visions halted as quickly as they had come. The images faded back into Mara's mind while they hovered fresh in Luke's. Tears stained both of their faces and Luke swallowed a sob that threatened to rise up from within his chest. The sight of his father slaying Mara's mother had broken his heart.

"Mara," he cupped her face in his hands and kissed her forehead. "Oh Mara, my love," he kissed her tears, tasting the salt of her pain and feeling it resound within his heart. "I am so sorry."

Mara's fingers tangled in his hair as he kissed her face, murmuring soft words of sorrow. She knew how much the sight of Vader's acts would affect him. It was the reason she had never shown him. The confusing paradox of where Anakin had ended and Vader began had always haunted him. His artificial hand seemed to give an old echo of pain. The line where man and machine blurred together within him. It was a constant reminder of what his father had become. His vision flickered momentarily and he saw his father's face in his mind, the young, strong Jedi that Anakin had once been. The face shifted from the handsome visage to the dark mask of Vader as he murdered Mara's mother.

"So many years you wanted to kill me," Luke muttered. "And when you discovered that my father killed your mother, you didn't take any vengeance on me." His blue eyes were electric as they looked upon her and Mara felt her heart swell with emotion.

"You taught me better than that, Skywalker. My parents taught me better than that when I was a small child. I treasure those few memories of them more than I can hate Vader for what he did." Mara shifted slightly and her gaze flickered from Luke's, out into the horizon. "I never really hated Vader," Mara whispered. "I used to think that I was the one person in the galaxy that wasn't afraid of him. Though I loved the Emperor, he still controlled me through a measure of fear. Fear that there was no life for me beyond serving him." Mara shifted her eyes back to her lover. Luke was watching her quietly, his love for her was mingled with the sorrow in his eyes and she wanted nothing more than to see that sadness gone.

"You have already paid for the sins of your father tenfold, Luke. You don't have to apologize for him anymore," Mara leaned forward to kiss him softly, moving from his lips to the wetness on his face. His eyes closed beneath the touch of her lips as they soothed each other's sorrow.

He stared at her, tears glimmering in his blue eyes and shook his head. "He stole your childhood. He gave you to the Emperor to be trained as an assassin."

"Which is probably the best thing he could have done for me," Mara told him. Her eyes focused on the darkened world around them. Shadows covered them now, the only light that remained was the silvery starlight that shone down upon them from above.

"Vader could have killed me when he found me. He had known my parents, they were strong Jedi and he must have sensed my powers. Sometimes I think that he let me live in the hopes that I might become his apprentice when the Emperor was killed. Vader always had the will to rule the galaxy, but he did not want to do it alone. He was not as greedy as the Emperor." She felt silent suddenly, the stream of words dying as she turned her eyes back to Luke.

He was watching her with silent, understanding eyes. She could see the shadows of his own memories flickering there, teasing at the edges of her own. Vader standing before Luke, stretching out his hand and inviting his son to join him. Palpatine's laughter crackling around him like the lightning that had racked their bones.

"Sometimes I wonder," Luke spoke in a whisper so soft that Mara would not have heard if she could not sense his shift of emotions so clearly. His eyes clouded over, as if he were seeing something glimmering beyond her in the cooling darkness of the night.

"What don't we wonder, Luke?" Mara whispered softly, she touched his face lightly, turning his eyes back to her. His eyes cleared and she could see the sorrow that he had held within him all his life, for a father he had never known.

"I wonder what caused his fall," Luke whispered. "There is so much that I have never understood. How did Anakin Skywalker become Darth Vader?" Luke sighed, "How do I keep from making the same mistakes, Mara?"

"You are your own man, Luke Skywalker. You could never become Vader."

"No," Luke whispered. "I have touched the darkness but I know my path is of the light." He grasped her hand on his face and kissed the palm gently.

"It is my students who concern me," he looked up at her and his meaning was not lost on her. That was her Skywalker, always worrying about the rest of the galaxy. And he was worried about her.

"I teach them everything I can but there is so much that I feel I have yet to learn."

Mara studied him with her green hooded gaze, her mind reaching out to touch him lightly. He never flinched from her touch, mental or physical. He was the only one who had ever accepted her as she was. She knew she had to do the same of him.

Yet there was something he was not saying here, she could sense it in the Force. "What have you seen, Luke?" She was not sure how the question had formed in her mouth. Mara heard a roaring as of wind in her ears yet the desert was still. It felt as though the Force had spoken through her, yet she had never imagined what it would feel like.

Luke was studying her with a subdued calm but there was an odd light in his eyes. "How did you know?"

She shook her head, the surge of the Force within her was receding and it left her with a quiet clarity. "The Force spoke to me."

Luke nodded and squeezed her hands tightly, she could feel his mind wrapping around her and enfolding her within the warmth of his presence. His light Force touch trailed over her skin like his fingertips and Mara shivered at the sensation.

"I have felt it as well," Luke murmured softly. His eyes were closed as he focused intently. "There have been many fluctuations in the Force recently, ripples that seem to have spread from ancient stones." Luke opened his hand and reached down to reach into the sand. Mara watched as he slowly poured the sand from one hand to another until it disappeared back into the ground. He continued to speak softly, as if from a great distance.

"The Force is like an ocean, constantly pulling and shifting us all in its waves. It pulls me in along the tide, drawing me ever inward. I have felt it let me swim free along the current." He opened his eyes and the brightness of them blinded her for a second. The blue seemed to blaze like cold fire. His gaze was fixed upon her but he seemed to be looking through her and beyond the veil of vision.

"I have never been strong in the Sight," Luke whispered. "What visions I have had are always tricky and have led me into trouble in the past." His eyes cleared and he looked at her once more. "You never questioned me when I asked you to come to Tatooine with me."

The change of subject seemed abrupt but Mara could sense something deeper beneath his words. She studied him silently and smiled. "While I've never considered this dust ball to be an especially romantic getaway," this won her a flirtatious smile from her future husband. Mara couldn't help but grin, " I wasn't going to pass up a chance to get of Yavin for a few weeks."

"I needed you here," Luke's gaze flickered from her to the darkened sands all around them. The land was empty and silent around them, the wind cried over the desert with its keen wailing. Mara listened to the song of the wind and thought she could sense a message coded within the sound. There was something about this place that had drawn Luke back here, something beyond the ties of a childhood home, she could feel it clearly.

Luke shifted uneasily suddenly and looked back to her, "I know that sounds selfish but it is true. There is something I must discover here and I need you to help me, Mara." There was a note of desperation in his typically calm demeanor. A note of fear sounded like a chord thrumming in Mara's soul and she silenced it with a thought. She would not fear.

"It's not selfish," Mara whispered. "You know that I will help you in any way that I can."

"You already have," he told her. "The vision that you shared with me seems like a piece to the puzzle. But I must collect the rest." Mara shivered at his words as the cold wind snaked over her skin. Luke noticed her trembling and reached out to wrap his arms around her.

"It's freezing out here, we should get inside. I forget that you're not used to nights in the desert." He didn't seem affected at all by the biting cold. Mara clenched her jaw and noticed for the first time that he had never answered her original question. What exactly had he seen that had brought them here?

He saw her hesitation clearly, the questions forming in her mind. Rising to his feet, he was aglow with starlight against the shadows. She lifted his hands to him and allowed him to lift her to her feet. She came up flush against him, his whole body warming her instantly upon contact.

"You haven't answered my question, Skywalker."

"I will," he answered softly. He kissed her gently, their proximity was too much for him to consider anything else at that moment. She met his lips willingly, his warmth flooding through her and she forgot the cold.

Taking her hand in his, Luke turned and led them back to the homestead they had come to inhabit in the past few days on Tatooine. The lonely sight of Obi-Wan's refuge on Tatooine rose up before them. It was a lonely citadel amidst the sands, Ben's own private fortress where he had watched over Luke as a child. The interior was sparsely furnished but Luke had restored some of the hut himself years ago when he had come to Tatooine to save his sister and Han from the clutches of Jabba. That was the first time Mara had seen him, if she had known about this place then she could probably have found him before he had ever stepped foot in Jabba's palace. But Obi-Wan had hidden too well for too long and due to her failure at the Emperor's mission, she now stood beside the only man she had ever truly loved. Sensing her thoughts, Luke drew closer to her and hooked one arm around her waist. She yielded to his warmth, leaning against him as they entered the small abode together.

Mara sat gracefully in an old chair at Obi-Wan's table. Though the two of them had made this place their temporary home, the presence of the old Jedi master was still strong. He may have been gone for over three decades, but his some remnant of his spirit seemed to linger here in this place. It brought her an odd sort of peace to know that perhaps Obi-Wan was still watching over Luke, and perhaps watching over her as well.

"Yes, I can feel him very clearly here." Luke was becoming too good at responding to Mara's unspoken words. "Almost as if he never left, though I know he is beyond us now. Obi-Wan is one with the Force and the Force is so clear here. It is only natural that we can sense his presence so strongly." Luke's gaze scanned the room where Obi-Wan's possessions still stood. There was a trunk in the corner, the same one from which Obi-Wan had pulled his father's lightsaber on that fateful day so many years ago. Luke had yet to open the trunk and sort through the remnants of his former teacher's life, yet he knew the time would come. He knew that Obi-Wan still had one lesson left to teach him.

"Obi-Wan loved Anakin like a brother, like a son. He knew the secrets of my family better than I ever did. He understood them, it seemed only natural that I return here to his home and see if he has any answers hidden here for me to find."

"Luke," Mara reached over and took his hand. He came close to her side, reaching out to smooth the red gold locks of her hair. "What are you trying to find?"

Luke sat down at the table across from her and shook his head. He scrubbed his artificial hand over his face wearily. "I'm not quite sure, Mara. I had a vision of my father here on Tatooine but it was all tangled up with my own memories. I felt fear and death here but there was love beneath it all. A deep and abiding love that has never faded. A woman's face entered my mind, pale and wise. She looked so much like Leia..." His words faded away as he saw the image hover before him once more, the vision of a woman who could only be one person.

Mara understood now, she looked upon the man before her with a love so fierce that it burned her. "You are looking for your mother."

Luke closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh. It seemed that all of the years as an orphan suddenly seemed to weigh upon his shoulders. The discovery of who his father truly was had only left him with more questions.

"No," Luke whispered. "I am certain that she must be dead," Luke whispered. "Otherwise she would have shown up by now. If she was still alive somewhere then she would have come to me and Leia, contacted us, I'm sure of it." He wasn't sure at all really, he did not even know who his mother was but he could not imagine that she would have kept silent for so many years if she was still alive.

"Even so," Mara said. "You have every right to the truth. You deserve to know who she was."

"Yes," Luke murmured. "But I'm wary of doing so."

"Why?" Mara was puzzled. After the shock of his father being Darth Vader, Mara would have thought Luke could handle the true identity of his mother. Whoever she was, she couldn't have been worse than Vader.

"I feel as though Anakin's love for my mother was tangled up in the fear and anger that led him to the dark side." Luke bit his lip and Mara could see the little boy in him who just wanted his parents by his side.

"What are you afraid of, Luke?" Mara was concerned now, something seemed to be trouble him deeply about this whole affair.

Luke let out a long breath and didn't meet her piercing eyes as he spoke, "The Jedi of the Old Republic forbid romantic attachment. They believed that such strong emotion was dangerous for the Jedi." He shifted uneasily and looked everywhere but at her. Yet Mara knew that this was more about her than he was saying.

"You're afraid of our love, Luke?" She was not angry, which surprised both of them. He had taught her too well. His blue eyes, so beloved, flickered finally to meet her gaze and she saw the shame in him that he could think such a thing of their sacred union.

"I have never felt like this about anyone, Mara." The honesty in his voice stole her breath away and made her heart skip a beat. Sometimes she was overwhelmed by her love for him, and knowing how much he loved her.

"Our bond through the Force is such a natural thing," Luke went on. "We fit together so easily. And love is the very essence of life. It was my love for my father, my belief in him that brought Anakin back to the light. It was his love for me and the spark of goodness that remained within him that allowed that transition to be possible." Luke shook his head and frustration seemed to emanate from him. He was not afraid, but he was confused and anxious. Mara could sense that now.

"I can see how love can be dangerous," Mara whispered. Luke looked at her intently and said nothing, so she continued. "I have seen women so in love with their man that they allow themselves to be beaten. Some allow themselves to be absorbed into their lover's identity until they seem to no longer have a face. I have seen jealousy come from love, anger and betrayal and darkness." The conflict inside of Luke seemed to be increasing and Mara shook her head.

"But it was you showed me that love does not have to be like that, Luke. It was you who showed me the purity of true love and how it can bring peace and joy and a light so bright that it sweeps away any shadow." Mara took his hand and placed the palm flat over her heart. Luke could feel the steady pulsing beneath the flesh. It seemed to speed up at the thrill of his touch, but its steady beat reassured him.

"This is life. Life is the Force. Light and dark, love and hate. It is a circle, Luke. There has to be a balance to everything. Our love is good, it is right. It is the best thing I have ever known. It was our love that allowed me to truly understand the Force, to become a Jedi."

Luke nodded, the anxiety seemed to drain from his body. "You're right, Mara. Of course you're right. Love is just like anything else in life, just like the Force. It has its own light and dark and as Jedi we have to walk the path between the two."

"Yes," Mara stood and made her way around the table to her lover's side. "But as man and woman, we have the same right to love that every being in the galaxy has. We cannot allow our roles as Jedi to compromise our humanity."

Luke looked up at her with wonder on his face, "You amaze me every day, Mara Jade. When did you become so wise?"

Mara smirked and slid down into his lap, stealing a kiss from his waiting lips. "Must be all those Jedi I've been hanging around with."

Luke's hands tightened on her waist and he chuckled softly against her lips, "Thank you for calming my fears."

She shrugged it off though the smile that curved her lips told him how pleased she was by his thanks. "For years it seems, it has been your role to teach me how to be a Jedi, Luke. And I believe that it has always been my role to remind you that you are still human. We balance each other out. This is part of what love is about."

"Its just such a new experience," Luke shook his head. "An amazing one, but something we're still figuring out nonetheless." He looked into her eyes as they darkened from her normal jade green to verdant. It was a transition he had only recently become accustomed to, but he knew what it meant. She shifted herself on his lap and he suddenly became very aware of her body pressed against his.

Mara smirked at him. That wide eyed innocence of his was irresistible. She wrapped her arms around him, kissing him softly beneath his ear as she whispered. "Why don't we take this party to bed, Master Skywalker, and maybe I'll give you another amazing experience to figure out." Luke smiled happily, all of his fears forgotten for the moment as he kissed her. They tumbled into bed together joyfully, all haunting memories of death and pain had faded from their minds.

Beyond the rough clay walls of the hut, however, the wind was beginning to pick up. The sand began to swirl in small cyclones, beating against the walls in rhythm with the heated lovemaking within. The darkness of the night grew deeper and the worst storm that Tatooine had ever known, was stirring in the depths.

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