AN: Yesterday it was ten years since I wrote the first scene having no idea where I wanted to take this or if I even wanted to take it further. It ended up being my longest story to date. :P

Luke looked up just before she rounded the cave entrance. She looked the same as always, but at the same time there was something different about her he couldn't quite put his finger on.

"Get up."

Luke did as ordered and slowly walked forward. He knew what was to come; it was a set script. Get up, walk forward until the chains were mostly stretched out, being asked to renounce the New Republic and his past and accept the Empire's 'greatness', and then the electrical lighting when he refused. He wished he could change that, but he didn't yet know how.

He stopped when he reached the spot where the most dried blood was and waited.

For a long moment she just looked at him as if he was considering him. Then she stepped closer until she was less than a meter away.

"All right," she said. "Convince me. Convince me of why the Rebellion and your ways are better than the Empire's." She narrowed her eyes slightly. "But you better make it good, because it will take a lot to convince me." Then she let her face fall back into a neutral expression waiting for his response.

Luke stared at her. Convince me? How? She was such an imperial hardliner that he doubted anything he said would actually convince her. Maybe it could rock her belief slightly, but if it didn't succeed in convincing her he knew what the consequences would be and that the lighting would soon be raining down on him again. No, words wouldn't be enough. Actually it seemed the only things that had so far had any real effect on her had been when he had shared his memories through the Force.

He could see she was waiting for his reply and he knew he had to make it good. To make it count. And that meant giving it, and her, his everything.

Without warning he jumped off the ground and snaked his legs around her hips, pulling her close to him. Her eyes went wide with surprise and she started to struggle against his hold, but Luke didn't give her time to throw him off; he needed to see this through.

Before she could pull away he kissed her and opening himself to the Force, poured all the compassion, love, and friendship he felt for Leia, Han, Wedge and the Rogues into it. He let the memories flow with the emotions, remembering his aunt's cooking and gentle touches, the way she would smile at him and the love they had shared. He remembered the camaraderie with the Rogues, the fierce loyalty and trust they had in one another, all the times they had stood up for each other. He remembered Han's initial denial of friendship, yet also coming to his rescue and helping him out so many times he had lost count. Of how Han had stood up for him even when no one else had and had been willing to believe him even though he didn't understand the Force. He remembered the instant connection he had felt with Leia and how a strong bond had formed between them early on. He let his love for her, his need to protect her, pour through his Force-bond to Mara, so she might understand why he could never betray his sister; he simply loved her too much.

At first Mara resisted his kiss, but only for a moment. Then she simply stood there, taking it all in.

Luke's arms and shoulders were protesting the positions they had been forced into by Luke's jump and pulling Mara and him together, but he ignored them. The pain of that was nothing compared to what he was used to and besides convincing Mara and letting her see things through his eyes were so much more important.

He slowly and carefully unlocked his feet behind her back and brought first one foot, then the other back down to the ground, but made sure to keep the physical connection between them through the kiss. He let the flow of memories and emotions slowly ebb away and withdrew completely from her to see her reaction.

Her eyes were closed and she looked as if she was in some kind of trance. Luke briefly wondered if he had overdone it, but no; he needed to give it his everything. It was the only way he stood a chance of convincing her and breaking through her shell.

Slowly she opened her eyes. She looked at him as if she was seeing him for the first time, and what Luke could feel of her emotions seemed chaotic and turbulent, as if she was currently at war with herself.

He held his breath, barely daring to breathe. This was it. Either she accepted what he had shown her or she rejected it and then Palpatine would forever control her destiny.

For a long time she just stood there, completely still, and Luke waited with bated breath. Then she started slowly backing away, her eyes still locked on his face.

This is it, Luke thought to himself. He braced himself for the electricity, but she just kept backing away until she was all the way out in the tunnel leading to the cave. Abruptly she turned on her heel and nearly fled down the tunnel, leaving Luke alone.

Luke let go of the breath he had been holding. He wasn't sure what was going on inside her head, because he could only pick up some of the chaotic surface emotions, but at least she hadn't turned on the electrical lighting. Well, I suppose that's progress. I guess I will just have to wait and see what happens next. He looked at the manacles and chains chaining him to the walls. At any rate it's not like I can do anything else.

Luke placed his feet in an at ease stance and settled in for the wait.

§

Mara hurried back to her chamber. Her thoughts were chasing each other around in her head at lightspeed and it almost made her feel dizzy. She had wanted to understand him and suddenly she understood him with crystal clarity. And with that clarity also came the knowledge that he would never be hers. It was almost enough to make her break down and cry. But no; she would not allow herself that right now. She had to set things right first.

Mara's shoulders slumped as she realized how wrong she had been. She had thought she was doing the right thing in avenging Palpatine, but now it all just seemed hollow. She had seen through his eyes, felt the love he felt for his friends and his sister and now feverishly wished just some of that love would be directed towards her. But that ship had flown with her terrible treatment of him. She would be lucky if he didn't kill her when he got the chance.

For a moment she froze in her movements, her shoulders shaking. Then she shook her head. No. If he did kill her then it was no less than she deserved.

She pushed the thought away and continued to her chamber where she started rummaging around, finding a small bucket, sponge and disinfectant, and finally the key to the manacles. She looked at it, so small and innocuous, yet so important. She knew she had to set him free now. It didn't matter what the consequences would be; she had to do it. And then she would accept whatever punishment he thought she deserved.

With that thought in her mind, she squared her shoulders once more and set off towards the other cave again.

As she neared the cave entrance she slowed down. What would she see? What would his reaction be? He had every reason to hate her, even if he was a jedi. She took a deep breath and stepped around the corner.

He stood exactly as she had left him, patiently waiting for her to come back, to see what she would do.

She approached him slowly, for the first time really taking notice of the fresh blood on his arms and hands. It was far worse on the left hand, so she decided to start there.

With great care she took his hand in hers, lifted it, and pressed the key to the manacle. With a whir and a click it unlocked and opened and Mara gently freed it completely. It clattered to the ground. Then she very carefully cleaned his wounds where the manacle had cut into his skin, wincing inside at the sight of it. She didn't look at his face. So far he had said nothing and in a way that made it easier for her. She just had to stay focused on the task at hand, then deal with his reaction later.

Still without looking him in the eye she let his left hand fall and moved on to the right. As the manacle fell away she realized why that hand was not covered in blood like the other; she had forgotten about his biomechanical hand, but of course, it couldn't bleed, so only the edge that had touched his forearm had cut into real skin. The damage to his synthflesh was bad though; it had been completely rubbed away where the manacle had continually cut into it so the mechanical parts underneath were visible. She wasn't sure if the hand even worked properly anymore, but there was nothing she could do about that. Instead she once again cleaned the wound as well as she could before letting his hand fall. He still didn't strike her.

Finally she lifted her gaze to meet his. "Follow me," was all she could manage. She didn't wait for a reply, just turned around and started walking towards the entrance, but she felt more than heard him follow along.

So far, so good. He didn't look angry with me. Mara held on to the small hope that thought lit in her as she led him back to what had served as her chamber for many weeks now. Now for the rest she would accept his judgment and her fate whatever it might be.

§

One thing Luke was certain of now; it had worked. It had worked rather well even. He could still sense the turmoil of Mara's thoughts and emotions under the surface, but not enough to tell what she had in mind. He just knew that she had finally let go of her hate and anger and that she wouldn't hurt him anymore. Other than that her emotions were still too chaotic to get a read on.

He let her lead him without comment, sensing that silence would be best for now. The tunnel was sparsely lit, but after another bend he saw it widen into a larger, well lit chamber.

So this is where she stayed when she wasn't with me. Luke looked around the sparsely furnished room; there was a fabricated kitchen unit, military standard, a folding table with a single chair, a functional looking bed along one wall, and in a natural alcove was what looked to be a complete refresher station, the single most luxurious thing in the room.

She watched him as he took in the surroundings, then pointed to the refresher station. "You can shover and refresh yourself in there."

"Thank you," Luke replied, inclining his head politely. Without further comments he walked over to it and opened the door. A moment later he was once again alone and he felt a sense of relief. It really was over; she was setting him free, he could feel it.

He nearly took a step back in shook when he caught sight of his own reflection. Do I really look that bad? It wasn't just the beard that had grown out in the last few weeks, nor the matted, oiled hair; his face looked gaunt and sunken, and he could see he had lost weight. Luke shook his head. There was nothing to do about it right now. Instead he got rid of the filthy loincloth and stepped into the shower. He would rather walk around naked than put that thing on again.

It took two thorough washes with a lot of soap and scrubbing before his hair felt more or less normal and the same for his face and the rest of his body. He wasn't as gentle with himself and his wounds as Mara had been and though the soap stung in the still healing wounds he knew it would also help in getting any residual dirt out of them.

At some point he heard the door open and something being deposited before it clicked shut again. He didn't take any notice of it. He would deal with whatever it was once he felt clean again.

Turning off the shower and looking out he smiled as he realized what she had left for him; there was a towel, but more importantly, his clothes were in a neat pile on the floor, his boots standing next to them by the door.

It once again became obvious that he had lost a lot of weight when he dressed. Aside from how strange it felt suddenly wearing clothes again, it was all too loose on him now. His belt, which normally sat around his waist, now hung around navel level, mostly held up by his hips. Luke shrugged. He would regain the weight once he started eating normally again.

He looked in the mirror and considered the beard. Normally he would have shaved it off, but he didn't have anything to shave with and he thought it might actually help disguise him until he was home; after all, he didn't really look much like Luke Skywalker, hero of the Alliance, right now. Instead he settled for running his fingers through his hair until it was in some semblance of order, and then stepped out of the station again.

The first thing he noticed was the smell; Mara had made food while he became a person again, and he looked over to see a bowl waiting on the table. She stood a few paces away, waiting.

"I made food for you."

Luke nodded. "Thank you. It smells good." And after days without any food at all it also tasted like heaven.

He ate and drank slowly, knowing better than to prop himself full after a period of starvation. His stomach would need to get used to food again and to slowly expand back to its normal state. But he appreciated the care she had taken with the preparation; it was better than anything else she had served him during his time here. And throughout it all she just stood there, silently watching him.

"Do you want more?" she asked when he put the spoon down and leaned back in the chair.

Luke shook his head. "It wouldn't be a good idea right now." He spent a moment scrutinizing her. She was waiting for something, but he couldn't read what. Finally he stood up and walked closer to her. He saw her take a deep breath before she held her right hand forward and presented his lightsaber to him.

"Here. Take it. It's yours." As Luke closed his fingers around it he wondered at her choice of words. They were so reminiscent of Ben's and he couldn't help wondering if she had gotten them from his memories. He realized he had just shared more with her than any other person and he wasn't sure what that would mean for the future, neither his nor hers.

"Thank you," he said softly and meant it. He searched her eyes trying to find out what she was waiting for. "What now?"

She shrugged, but the movement didn't look casual or relaxed. "That's up to you. Do whatever you want; I was wrong and I can't undo that. So do what you feel needs to be done."

She met his gaze freely now and Luke realized she expected him to punish her for her crimes. He shook his head in sadness. She had suffered so much and now she expected to suffer further.

"I won't punish you, Mara," he said softly.

"Why not?" she asked, sounding sincerely surprised. "I've hurt you and I shouldn't have. I know that now. You are in your right to punish me for it."

But Luke shook his head. "No. Then I would be no better than those who hurt you in the past." He saw her wincing slightly at that and knew those memories were ones she would rather forget. He took her hand in his. "Mara, I forgive you. I forgive you for everything you've done. I know you acted out of a dark place of hate and anger and that you have now left that behind. I have no wish to push you back into the darkness through punishment." He looked deep into her eyes. "I. Forgive. You."

And some of the tension in her shoulders finally abated.

"I don't deserve it," she whispered.

"Nobody ever deserves it," he told her. "You cannot earn forgiveness; it has to be given freely. And I have chosen to forgive you." He held her gaze until he was sure she understood it, then let go of her hand.

Mara took a deep breath and slowly let it go. Then she turned slightly towards the exit. "Follow the tunnel to the right, then take the left when it forks into two tunnels of equal size. That will lead you to the exit. At the foot of the mountain is a city; it only has a small spaceport, but you should be able to find transportation to either a bigger city or a Republic planet. Here," she added handing him a rough cloth sack. "It has some provisions and a few credits. It should be enough to get you back to the New Republic."

Luke closed his hands around hers. "Thank you. I am truly grateful for it," he said before he took the sack and swung it across his shoulders.

She picked up his cloak and handed it to him as well. "Safe travels." She swallowed then managed to add: "May the Force by with you."

Luke smiled slightly. "It always is." Then he grew more serious as he looked at her. "And may it be with you. Trust in the Force, Mara, and the light, and it will lead you to a better future. Don't let regret haunt you or send you back into the dark; you deserve better than that."

Mara shook her head. "No I don't. But it doesn't matter; you're free and can do as you like."

For a moment Luke sensed there was more to that sentence than met the eyes, but then he simply nodded and turned to the exit. "Take care of yourself, Mara," he said as his parting words. Then he was in the tunnel and on his way to freedom.

He was halfway down the mountain side when he heard the engine whine behind him and turned to look up just as a small, nondescript ship left a cave entrance and angled towards the sky. He knew they wouldn't find her even if they looked; she had left and would not let herself be found.

Luke sighed. He wasn't sure his words of forgiveness that penetrated her guilt, but he hoped she wouldn't do something foolish and punish herself for acting out Palpatine's hate. But there was nothing he could do about that now. Instead he turned back to the trail he was following and continued his slow walk towards the city below.

§

Mara watched him disappear and felt an almost overwhelming sense of despair. He was gone now and he would never be hers. The love he felt for his sister would always bring him back to her, but she had made it impossible for him to ever feel any love towards her.

She slowly fell to her knees and silently started weeping. It was truly over now. No. No, not yet. Not until this whole damn place is gone.

She forced herself back up to her feet and angrily wiped away the tears. She could cry later; she had a job to do first.

Gathering her things she started the many trips back and forth to her ship; there wasn't that much to carry as she lived a frugal life and soon she had the cave emptied. It took only a few tools and a hoversled to get the kitchen unit and refresher station dismantled and stored away in the ship's hold, which only left one thing to do.

Taking a deep breath she went back to the cave where she had kept Luke. For a long moment she just looked at the chains and manacles that had kept him bound to this cave for more than three weeks, then, almost violently, she lashed at them where they connected to the wall cutting the chains free with her lightsaber. They fell to the floor with a loud rattling noise.

She gathered them up with a look of disgust directed at herself and deposited them on the sled. Then she took the first chemical and started spraying it on everything; walls, floor, the stone slab, ceiling ... no inch was left uncovered. She wanted to be sure every DNA sample in here was truly and well destroyed. She had already done the same to what had been 'her room' and the tunnel leading here.
Then she took the second chemical, one that burned very well and sprayed it on the walls and floor as well. Soon there would be nothing but blackened rock left here.

Mara finished up and looked at the cave from the entrance to it. How she hated it now, hated what she had done here. She hadn't even had the courage to confess everything to him and therefore his forgiveness couldn't be real; he didn't even know the true extend of her crimes or what he was forgiving. But she would try and set things right. And that started right here.

With that thought she lit a small, soaked cloth and threw it into the room. She didn't wait to see what happened; even without looking she could hear the sudden roar of the fire, feel the heat, and see the white-blue light spilling from the room. She just walked away from it, but paused briefly to throw a second soaked cloth into her cave on her way back to her ship.

"Start the engines, E-R. We are leaving," Mara told her pilot droid. She cast a brief glance at it and thought she might need to rename it. Emperor's Revenge is not really a good name anymore. I'll need to work on that.

She closed up the hold and sprayed the last of her chemicals around the cavern. The resulting fire would destroy any evidence there might be left. Even from this distance she could feel the air heating up thanks to the other two fires and in another half hour they would have burned themselves out. Even so the stone would be too hot for anyone to enter these caves and tunnels for several hours to come.

She didn't bother starting a fire here; the engines would do that for her when she left.

"Ready, E-R?" She got an affirmative, and cut in the repulsor coils, easing the ship off the floor. Then she kicked in the main engines, angling the ship towards the entrance slightly above, and flew out of the damned mountain. She just had time to see the flash of the fire before she was out and she quickly aimed her ship for space.

Somewhere down there Luke was heading down the mountain, but she did not deserve him, not even to serve him. No, she had blown her chance with him. All she could do now was try and make up for her past mistakes and make sure no one else would ever harm him.

"I don't care who they are or where they will be; if anyone ever tries to hurt him again I will kill them," she vowed quietly. "I'll hunt them down and kill them even if it's the last thing I do." And maybe then the galaxy will be set right again. Nobody will ever touch my jedi again.

And finally the tears did start again, running silently down her cheeks. She would keep him safe even if she had to destroy the Empire herself, piece by piece.