"What is your name?"

"Why are you so obsessed with my name, Skywalker?"

"I want to know who my torturer is. Who will kill me."

She smiled. He knew he was going to die by her hand and it made her proud. The Emperor would be proud of her. "Oh, you know you will die here. Good. But I'm not stupid enough to tell you anything. I know you jedi has a way of coming back and telling others about who I am after you are dead."

His laugh was mirthless and wheezing. "Tell who? I'm the last jedi. The Emperor made sure of that."

"Yes, he did. Too bad he didn't get the very last jedi, too." She had him completely in her fist. His fate was in her hands and she could do what she wanted. Continue the torture or let him rest up for some time? He would probably die if she continued and she didn't want that to happen yet. It was too early. And he kept asking for her name. Should she give it to him? Should she tell him who had been smart enough to capture him, hold him prisoner and plan his death? Who had succeeded where all others had failed? He knew there was no escape. And she knew that if he could escape he would have done so long ago. Now he was too weak to do much but take the torture and ask a few questions. And he still didn't give up. It was an admirable trait. She made up her mind. It was not like he could do anything with it; the jedi would die with him and he knew it. "Mara."

"Mara." She didn't know why, but she felt a strange chill run down her spine when he said her name. He spoke it softly like it meant something. Like it was more than just a name. Like it mattered to him.

Mara woke. She lay still on her pillow letting the dream run through her mind. Why she had given him her name she still wasn't sure. It had been a moment of weakness. It had to have been. And she didn't like weakness. But still ... there had been something about his voice and his eyes. She pushed the thought away. He was an enemy of the Empire and needed to die. And for ruining her life he needed to first suffer and suffer for a very long time, like she had. He needed to feel her pain like when the Emperor died and when he understood what pain he had caused her he would die. But not a second before.

She looked at the time. He had only had a couple of hours to heal; he would need more before he was ready for another round. But why should I care if the next time kills him? He deserve to die. Still ... I want him to suffer and he needs to be alive to do that. Mara closed her eyes; she could use some more sleep herself before facing Skywalker again.

§ §

Captain Palan was a man with a mission. A very important mission. Admiral Ackbar himself had instructed him to search for Luke Skywalker's X-wing and the man himself. It had been a chilling briefing where the Admiral had told him of Jedi Skywalker's disappearance and their worries the Empire had a hand in it. Captain Palan had of course been instructed to keep this information tight. Even though he was worried about the Empire poking their noses into New Republic territories he also felt proud that he had been chosen for this mission. He had been told they had chosen him for his ability to be methodical and he was now putting that ability into use to create a search strategy starting from Q'tar and so far ending with Folor. Hopefully he would find a trace of Skywalker and preferably before he was killed by the Empire. Yes, he would find him or were the battle took place; he was confident in his ability to do so.

He looked out through the window, hands clasped behind his back and waited for the reconnaissance fighters to come back with their findings. Failure wasn't acceptable.

§ §

His body was still hurting all over, but somehow he managed not to focus on that right now. He was healing and that was all he needed to know about his body. He had finally gotten some personal information out of her. Out of Mara. It was only her first name, but it was more than just knowing that she was an Imperial and a firm believer in Palpatine. Maybe it is possible to break through that shell of hers. I just hope I can do it before she kills me. It was a chilling thought. He knew he didn't have much time to figure her out. It was clear that she was determined to break him and kill him, and if he hadn't found a way to get through to her before then he, and the Jedi Order, would be gone. Leia didn't have nearly enough training to go on on her own; he had barely had enough training himself and he was still in a learning process.

At least he seemed to be learning some serious healing skills; he almost seemed to heal automatically now as if his body was determined not to give up and die. Well, can't say I complain about that. But his main problem was still there; Mara, his capturer and torturer. It wouldn't really matter how good he became at healing himself as long as she was determined to kill him. Actually there was a possibility that she would just outright kill him if she realized he was getting good at healing himself.

Mara. He would have to see if he could get her story out of her. If he knew why she hated him so much then maybe he could change it. It was a long shot, but he had to try. He had refused to believe anyone a hopeless case since he had learned and accepted Vader was his father, and he wasn't going to start now. There had to be a way to appease her, to change her.

A sound, and by now familiar presence, alerted him to Mara's coming. He turned his head to look at the doorway.

"You're awake."

"Yeah. The pain makes it hard to sleep."

"Too bad for you. Get up."

Luke stayed where he was. "I don't suppose you are going to tell me why you hate me so much?"

"I said; get up. Now." Her face was unreadable.

He sighed. It almost didn't hurt anymore. With an effort he rolled onto the side and pushed himself into a sitting position. Then he got his feet planted on the floor and slowly stood up. He took a deep breath and moved forward knowing what was to come, but he refused to show fear. He was a jedi; he would die as one if he had to. He stopped when the chains were stretched out. "Good enough?"

"Yes." Then she stepped forward until she was inches from him. "I hate you," she began, "because you destroyed my life." She spoke softly, but with an intensity burning in her eyes. "You took everything away from me when you killed the Emperor. And for that you deserve to die."

"Who are you, Mara?" Luke searched her eyes trying to read her and meeting a stone wall. "Why did Palpatine's death affect you so?"

"I was his Hand." Mara said the title proudly. "I followed his every order and wishes. I killed his enemies, removed traitors, I was closer to him than anyone else." Her eyes glittered.

"Even Vader?"

"I could hear his voice anywhere in the galaxy. It didn't matter where I was; if the Emperor called, I answered."

Luke stared at her. Maybe getting through to her wouldn't be possible ...

"Tell me something; do you think Vader could ever do that? Do you think he was privy to all the Emperor's thoughts?"

Luke shrugged. "I don't know. But I know Palpatine didn't know of the conflicting emotions in him, so he wasn't privy to all of Vader's thoughts. Do you think you were privy to all of the Emperor's thoughts?" Luke looked for a sign of doubt or hesitation.

She growled her next words. "Vader should have protected the Emperor. He allowed you to kill him. And why do you think you knew better than the Emperor what was going on behind that mask?" Her eyes were hard and merciless.

"Simple; he was my father."

Mara suddenly drew back, her eyes just ever so slightly wider than before. "No." She shook her head. "I don't believe it."

Luke shrugged again. "Believe it or not. It doesn't change the facts. Vader was my father, Mara. And I didn't kill Palpatine."

"LIAR! You killed him!" Her face was suddenly full of fury and her finger was hovering just above the button that would start the lighting. "You killed him on the Death Star!"

"I don't lie," Luke said as calmly as he could. "I didn't kill the Emperor; Vader did."

"I DON'T BELIEVE YOU! YOU AND VADER KILLED HIM TOGETHER! I SAW IT!"

Luke blinked. "What? But ... you can't have been on the Death Star ... you would have been dead ..." And had known the truth.

"I saw it," Mara growled threateningly. "He let me know the truth before he died."

Suddenly it all clicked together in Luke's head. Mara had indeed seen it, but only the twisted version Palpatine had put into her mind thus transferring his hatred of Vader and him to her.

Mara's eyes were burning with rage. "And he told me to kill you before he died."

"I'll believe that." Luke held his breath waiting for the lighting to come.

Nothing happened. Then out of nowhere Mara struck him. "DON'T TRY TO PLAY GAMES, SKYWALKER! I WILL KILL YOU!" She struck him again hitting him in the abdomen, his face, chest, stomach ... she just kept on striking him letting all her pent up rage out in one flurry of movements, forgetting all about her decision to only use a distanced, dispassionate form of torture and not show any emotion to him.

By the time she finally stopped, he was bleeding from the mouth and nose and his body was bruised and battered. One of his eyes felt swollen. He lifted his head to look at her; her face was red with heat and some of her hair had come loose. She was breathing heavily. Then without a word she left in a hurry.

Despite his condition Luke smiled slightly. His split lip protested, but Luke didn't care. She had hesitated when he asked her whether she thought she had been privy to all of Palpatine's thoughts. She had gotten angry when he had told her the truth and reacted by punching him. She knows some of the truth now. Even if she's denying it, she can't just forget it. Luke gathered his feet under him again and staggered back to his stone bed. He really needed some sleep and healing.

§ §

"Any news?"

Cracken looked up from his terminal. He shook his head. "No, not yet. We are trying to limit the list of possible suspects and waiting for the fleet to find some trace of where he went." He pushed himself away from the terminal and went around the table. "I'll make sure you hear it as soon as we have anything, Leia," he said laying a hand on her arm.

Leia hugged herself. "I know. I just can't stand just waiting for something to happen. He's my brother."

Cracken nodded. "Have you gotten anything?"

Leia knew he was referring to her Force senses, but they were as clueless as always. "No. I just know he's still alive, but that's it. I don't have a clue where in the galaxy he might be."

"Well, knowing he's alive is good. It looks like his capturers aren't interested in killing him right away and that gives us time to find him."

Leia felt a shiver run down her spine. … aren't interested in killing him right away ... She wondered how long they were interested in keeping him alive and tortured before killing him and realized she didn't want to know the answer. She hugged herself a little tighter.

"We'll find him, Leia. We will find him."

"Before or after he dies?" Leia asked.

Cracken didn't say anything. He knew he couldn't give any guarantees and right now they had virtually no clues to his whereabouts. Luke's chances were slim.

"That's what I thought," Leia said quietly. "I'll let you get back to your work now." She turned around and left the office. Hang on, Luke. I don't want you to die.

Cracken looked after her and sighed. He really wished he could reassure her better.