Chapter Four

She certainly was different to anybody he had ever met, Luke knew that for sure. In a way, she was the person he wanted to be. Free: a pilot travelling the galaxy, doing whatever she wanted. He couldn't help but think that Mara Kanos was hiding something else. He couldn't explain how he knew this, he just did.

And it wasn't just that. He felt something when he was around her. And he hadn't felt it for a long time, as he thought back to when he first felt it. It was something entirely different, as when he was six years old he managed to locate a lost screwdriver. His mind told him where to find it, even though he definitely didn't put it there. His uncle had been quite angry at the, what he called, 'stunt' and so Luke definitely learned not to do it again. But Mara opened up that something inside him again.

Luke also thought, with a blush, that she was beautiful. Her smooth dark brunette hair, her bright round-shaped green eyes...he had noticed her kind and wide smile, complimented by her high cheekbones. She was about Luke's height, maybe a little bit taller, and she walked with confidence; she didn't go over the top with her body language. Confident, yet subtle. He tried to remember all of the details.

Mara also seemed to take an interest in him, asking about his life. She had even said at Tosche Station, when he joked about Tatooine not being too much of a disappointment: It's not all bad. She had looked straight at him, and sounded serious. So she had meant Luke. Even though they hadn't long met. Did she feel what he had felt too?

He hadn't seen her for a while, after Kandji was found dead. According to Windy, she wasn't at the café as much as they had expected, largely trusting Kay and Windy to take care of the place for extra wages. They wondered what she got up too during those days. Mara doesn't mention it, so her employees do not ask.

Thankfully Biggs was getting back to his old self, and had been accepted into the Academy and would be leaving soon. Luke didn't blame him for wanting to go as soon as possible, to get away from the bad memories. Because Mara was now his friend, Luke didn't feel too bad that he wasn't going with Biggs.

And his aunt and uncle had noticed this too. They couldn't help but wonder whether Mara Kanos would be the reason Luke would want to stay.

Mara stood in the control room of the Anchorhead Base, tapping away at one of the control panels. Bleeping sounds surrounded her along with lights flashing from the screens around the room. Everything was going pretty well. They were training some fantastic pilots, and Beggar's Canyon was an excellent teacher. Turland Hack and Merrick Simms were the best at training pilots in the skyhoppers, whilst Mara had promoted Roger to be her second-in-command. He was very humbled, but he had deserved it, in Mara's view.

Once a week, Mara also met her black market contact, Ezra Bridger, in the basement of her café. Sometimes it was a good week, where he acquired decent weapons, but other weeks...not so much. Mara nevertheless would make provisions for the supplies to be sent to the Alliance as soon as she could.

She hadn't seen Biggs Darklighter much since the tragedy with the Sand People, which was now almost a couple of months ago. He was devastated, that much was clear. He was getting back to normal, at least on the outside. And when she last bumped into him he invited her to a race with his friends. But Mara also hadn't seen Luke Skywalker much either, only in passing and always briefly. With the race coming up though, she would soon see his piloting skills.

Biggs had said to Mara, when he invited her along to the race, "I think Luke is looking forward to seeing you." With that, and winking, he strode away. He probably noticed her smile involuntarily at his comment.

Luke Skywalker. He was… Mara didn't even know. He was definitely cute, with his blonde wavy hair, his blue eyes, his dimples when he smiled. She had no idea why his friends called him Wormie. Maybe they were jealous, intimidated. He wanted to leave Tatooine and the farmer life, but they didn't. Or they knew they couldn't. But Mara knew she definitely had a little bit of a crush on him. For some reason, it was irresistible and she gave in to it.

Earlier that day, she had had a holographic meeting with General Jan Dodonna. He was in command of the Alliance Starfighter Corps, Logistics and Supply Corps and of the Rebel Base Yavin 4. He wanted to inform her of the update of Operation Skyhook. Princess Leia, never one for sitting quietly, embarked on a mercy mission to deliver medical supplies and equipment to the Ralltiiri High Council. Really, she was supporting the Ralltiiri resistance movement, giving them weaponry and military-grade equipment, some of which came from Mara's own shipments. There she rescued a wounded Rebel soldier who revealed that the Death Star was real, and was a moon-sized battlestation equipped with a superlaser capable of destroying entire planets. She even tricked Commander Lord Tion, head of the Imperial task force on the planet, into confirming the story. He even gossiped that an Imperial convoy was transporting some of the Death Star plans from Grand Moff Tarkin's headquarters to the Imperial vaults.

There was a stunned silence. Mara knew when she found out about it that it was bad, but capable of destroying a whole planet? If they found a key Rebel Base, that would be it. It would be over.

"If it wasn't for you and your team, we would not have had this head start. So thank you, again. We know a lot was sacrificed for that mission." Mara bowed her head solemnly. She remembered the memorial service that they held when she returned. Actually, it was beautiful. The generals and commanders stepped back and the soldiers took control, to remember those who had fallen properly. "I will keep you updated. We will speak soon, Commander Kanos."

Mara had watched as his image disappeared, reveling in the silence, taking in the devastating information.

Now, though, the end of the day was nearing. She wondered how long she would command this base, how much longer it would take to find the Death Star's location and find the different fragments of plans. To find a weakness. To destroy it.

She was pretty sure she wouldn't sleep much that night.

On the weekend, during a humid afternoon, Mara met Biggs, Luke, and their friends at Beggar's Canyon. They were all already there, enjoying malt juices. Luke's face lit up when he saw her.

He handed her a drink and everyone greeted her. "Boss," Windy called her.

Their meeting point was tucked away into the Canyon, their own little spot it seemed. They decided to race in two's, and Fixer straight away challenged Darklighter.

Luke and Mara walked up to higher ground to be able to see the friends below. The canyon was absolutely huge so they wouldn't be able to see them most of the time, but Luke opted for the spot where the Stone Needle was visible. The skyhoppers zoomed away, and for a time they couldn't be seen.

"We're having another race in a couple of weeks," Luke explained, looking more interested in Mara than waiting for Biggs to appear into view. "It's a leaving party for Biggs and Tanks...you should come."

"Sure - there they are!"

Luke tore his eyes away from her and they saw that Fixer was in the lead. Biggs headed straight to the Stone Needle.

"He's not…" Luke's words failed him as they wondered whether Biggs was attempting to thread it, to get the lead. The atmosphere turned tense, as they all gasped as Biggs sped towards the jagged rock circle. If he miscalculated, then…

Luke had grabbed Mara's hand as he watched his best friend with wide-eyes. The skyhopper swerved a couple of times, as if getting the right position, and-

"He did it! I can't believe it! A-HA!"

They all whooped and laughed as Biggs safely threaded the needle. He had done something legendary. And that had shaved a few seconds from his time; he was in front of Fixer.

Excitedly, they headed down to the finish, waiting for Biggs and Fixer. The skyhopper was back in view and Biggs landed it carefully next to the others. He jumped out, swaggering over as they all congratulated him on the feat. Camie was practically hanging off his arm and when Fixer arrived, he did not look happy.

"Mara, your turn to race," Biggs said breathlessly, wiping the sweat from his brow. "You're up against Tank."

"You can borrow my hopper," Luke offered.

"Are you sure?" Mara asked in surprise. When he nodded eagerly she said, "Will you ride with me? I don't know the canyon as well as you."

He grinned and Mara took that as a yes.

"You could have died you idiot," Fixer growled, folding his arms.

"I just had to do it, before I left for the Academy," Biggs grinned.

Luke shook his head. "I just can't believe it," he said to Mara as they headed over to his hopper. "Everyone's going to want to hear about this."

"When was the last time someone threaded the needle?" Mara asked as she got into Luke's airspeeder.

"Since before I was born," Luke said heavily.

She appreciated, since being in Tatooine, the speed of these hoppers. They can be dangerous. They were also easily identifiable with their tri-wing design and triangular cabin. They were quite similar to the snubfighters Mara had flown, as she familiarised herself with the flight controls. Being a Commander here she didn't have much chance to fly, as she had other jobs to attend to. She missed the feeling.

And soon, they were off. And Mara had to say, she made a great team with Luke. He helped guide her through the canyon. It was so exhilarating - flying in between the huge towering walls, the constant sharp twists and turns, the obstacles...she relied on her good instincts to follow what Luke was saying and navigate through the route he was taking her down. And she was deeply conscious of not wanting to damage Luke's hopper. She did take a few risks, though, as she wanted to show off her good piloting skills.

She won. She was thrilled as she landed the speeder, leaning back in the seat and letting out a breath. Luke was smiling widely, putting a hand on her arm. "You did it! You were fantastic!"

She laughed. "I didn't get a single scratch on her." She patted part of the cabin they sat in as her heartbeat slowly returned to normal.

"I didn't doubt you."

They looked at each other for a couple of seconds before a couple of bangs from Mara's side made them jump. It was the others, knocking on the window. They jumped out, returning to their friends.

"Well Mara I gotta say, I am impressed," Biggs said in admiration. "You're a bloody good pilot. You could give Luke a run for his money."

"She was better than good Biggs, she was brilliant," Luke said in awe.

"I didn't even mind getting beaten by you," said Tank, who shook her hand.

"Come on then, let's see your famous piloting skills," Mara said to Luke, keen to see him finally fly.

"Tell you what, let's go bulls-eye some womp rats," Biggs declared, as they headed to their hoppers. Deak and Windy were watching as they didn't have one, and Camie rode alongside her boyfriend Fixer.

Luke asked Mara to fly alongside him this time. "What are womp-rats exactly?"

"They're rodents," he replied. "Pests. Once they reproduced so quickly that their numbers couldn't be controlled, so the Imperial Prefect and Affiliated Moisture Farmers passed a bounty ordinance of ten credits per rat. That's how I could afford to upgrade to the T-16."

The four skyhoppers flew to the place in the canyon where there were the most rats. Mara eyes widened: they were a little over two meters, and were disgusting rodents. They looked vicious, baring their teeth at the hoppers above.

As the shooting began, Mara learnt that the womp rats were incredibly fast and stealthy. Although in the T-16 Luke was technically the pilot and the gunner, Mara also used the targeting laser, affixed to the pneumatic cannon. Biggs was right: Luke was an excellent pilot and an equally excellent shot.

After a while they decided to call it a day. She high-fived Luke. "I'm pretty sure we hit the most!"

They laughed, exhilarated by the couple of hours they had in the air. Luke flew her to where she had parked her landspeeder. Windy and Deak were nowhere to be seen, but Luke said they had probably headed to Tosche Station.

"Are you coming back with us?" Luke asked as they sat inside his hopper, safely on the ground now.

"I can't," she said sadly. "I'd love to, but I've got some things to do."

He looked disappointed. "Ok. I'll...see you soon." She nodded and was about to get out when he stopped her. "Wait." She paused, and looked back expectantly. "I, er...so you're definitely coming to Bigg's leaving party then?"

"Yes," she replied, sitting back in the seat. "Luke?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you...do you like the Empire?"

"The Empire?" He looked taken aback by her question. "Honestly...I hate it."

"Me too," she said, feeling relieved. She guessed this, but in her line of work she had to be sure. He was looking at her curiously. She felt it...again. Something was pushing through her brain and she saw his eyes widen.

"Do you feel that too?" he whispered. The atmosphere was heavy, and he reached out his hand to hers until-

Mara grimaced in pain, "Ah!"

Luke moved his hand to her shoulder. "Are you alright? Mara?"

The atmosphere reverted back to normal as Luke looked at her in concern. She opened her eyes. "Yeah…fine. I just get these headaches sometimes." What the hell was that? He felt it too, what was going on?

His hand was still on her shoulder. She always felt a bit excited whenever he would go to touch her. "What was that?"

"I don't know, Luke. Probably nothing," she said nonchalantly. "The heat or something." He didn't look convinced. "I've got to go now."

She opened the door and left the hopper. She heard him get out too and walk around his speeder to where she was standing.

"Mara I never said…" She looked at him expectantly again as she placed a hand on her landspeeder. "I was really glad you came back OK, when you went the others to look for Kandji. The Tusken Raiders are dangerous…"

She agreed. They certainly are dangerous. Barbaric was the word she would use. She smiled in thanks, noticing how intense the atmosphere was between them compared to the lightheartedness from earlier. Clearing her throat, Mara said, "I've really got to go. But I'll see you at Bigg's leaving party."

He nodded, biting his lower lip and stepping back. "Bye Mara," he said quietly; she barely heard him.

She flew away in her speeder, wondering what the hell was happening between them.

No, she knew. It was whether she should let it or not. She definitely felt something for him, and if she was guessing right then he did too...

Wedge Antilles. She gasped, putting a hand to her mouth as her fellow Corellian popped back into mind. She hadn't seen him for so long now she hadn't even thought about him today. Mara wondered if he thought about her, because he had kissed her briefly once, and she thought she had feelings for him. But then he hadn't made a move...on the other hand, neither had she.

She sighed, groaning aloud, "I was only supposed to be worrying about the Base!"

A couple of weeks later, Mara was heading back to the spot in Beggar's Canyon. Bigg's leaving party had come around quickly, and it would be the first time she had seen Luke since their last race. Since they last met, many in Anchorhead knew of Biggs threading the Stone Needle. He would be leaving with a hell of a reputation, which was probably what he wanted.

Biggs greeted her as she arrived, surprising her by giving her a hug. "Mara. Thanks for coming." She could smell malt juice on his breath.

"I wouldn't miss it," she told him warmly as he put his hands on her arms. "When do you leave?"

"Tomorrow." He led her over to where the others were sitting. "We've been meeting at this spot for years," Biggs sighed wistfully as they sat down. Luke and Mara shared an awkward smile.

"Don't tell us you're regretting going now," snorted Deak.

"Hell no, I can't wait to get off this rock," Biggs clarified. "But we've had so many memories haven't we?"

Mara accepted a juice from Windy who said, "Once when Luke and me were cruising down the Canyon, we crashed, d'you remember?"

"I'll never know how you evaded the Sand People," Biggs said in disbelief.

"We don't either," Luke said honestly. "And we had to convince the Jawas not to steal my hopper."

"We camped in a cave near the wreckage," Windy continued, "and got cornered by a Krayt Dragon."

"That doesn't sound good," Mara said. "Those huge reptiles? How did you escape?"

"This old hermit Ben Kenobi chased it away. Lucky he was passing through, really."

"He tamed a Dewback, taking us home," Luke said thoughtfully.

And it was like that for awhile. Stories were told, in a way so Mara could join in, and everyone was actually getting along.

She sat back, content as they laughed at something Biggs said. Mara saw the shadow loom over her own, and the sudden cries of her friends caused her to throw herself sideways, watching as a Tusken Raider's gaffi stick collided with the ground instead of her. Mara gulped as the spike-end of the stick penetrated the sand.

"Move, let's get out of here!"

Mara fumbled around under her tunic, finding her blaster and firing before the Raider could do any damage. Luke helped her up onto her feet as the clan seemed to be following its fallen member. The others were running wildly to their speeders, with the exception of Biggs.

Luke held Mara's hand, as they backed away from the clan. They swerved their heads towards Biggs when he yelled out; one had jumped on him from above, and his gaffi stick had struck a blow to Bigg's head.

"BIGGS!"

They ran forward in a panic as Mara threatened to use her blaster again. The Raider just shrieked at her, so she shot him. Well, he was warned. She struggled with Luke to drag Biggs to Luke's hopper, as their attackers were quick on their feet. They put Bigg's arms around their shoulders, pulling his unconscious body along as they hurried away from the Raiders.

Panting they finally reached the hopper, Mara firing her blaster at those closest to them.

"Mara get in!"

Not looking back, Mara squeezed next to Luke and he set off. They yelled and cowered slightly as the Raiders began throwing things at them, many more seemingly appearing out of nowhere.

"Oh no…" Luke moaned, slowing down.

"What're you doing? You can't slow down!"

"It's the Diablo Cut," Luke muttered. "It's a part of the Canyon-"

Biggs was starting to come around and he said groggily, "Diablo Cut! No one's ever done it before…probably for the good reason that it's impossible!"

"Luke, you have no choice now," Mara said softly. "I believe in you."

He looked at her and she nodded, placing her hand over his on the controls. He looked ahead and breathed heavily, racing forward and away from the Sand People.

It was a bumpy ride. Luke had to rely on everything in his being to pilot them all through it. This was a part of the Canyon where bits of the rock face jutted out here and there, where unexpected dead ends forced them to retreat, where creatures of Tatooine were disturbed of their peace and quiet. They were launched forward by an angry Krayt Dragon at one point. Finally, Luke flew them through an extremely narrow cut, tilting the hopper sideways as they held on to each other. It was narrow, steep-walled and deep. If Luke got this wrong, they would fall. These walls were nearly vertical, in contrast with the rest of the Canyon she had seen so far.

They made it. They flew out of the narrow cut and into open air.

"I knew you could do it," Mara said breathlessly, patting Luke. He breathed out again, looping around the Canyon and towards Tosche Station.

"You're both crazy," Biggs muttered. "We could have been killed."

"But we weren't," Mara reminded him. "Why did you have to get yourself injured by a gaffi stick anyway?"

They arrived at Tosche Station, thankfully in one piece. Mara and Luke helped Biggs out, the latter insisting he was fine as they walked inside.

"There you guys are!" Windy exclaimed, jumping up from his seat. "We were worried!"

"Thank you all so much for waiting," Mara said sarcastically.

"I took the liberty of flying your landspeeder back," Windy informed her casually.

"Thank you."

"What the hell happened?" asked Tank as a dazed Biggs sat down.

They recounted the tale, and Biggs ended it with, "Well, it was a hell of a send-off."

Later, Mara and Luke was standing in the garage of Tosche, Biggs proudly showing them a T-16 he had built himself.

"A true pilot should know every last detail of his ship, of how it works," he said, a little bit arrogantly, Mara thought. "It's a bit rough around the edges, but I could hold my own against any pilot."

Luke laughed, as it was a bit of a scrap heap. Mara narrowed her eyes as Biggs looked really angry and entered his cabin. "Race," was all he said, in a challenging tone.

"But Biggs you hit your head and there might be Raiders still out there-" Mara reasoned, but his ship blasted out of the hangar and he raced away at a hell of a speed.

Mara followed Luke into his hopper, and they followed Biggs. "What is he thinking?" Mara asked incredulously.

"I've never seen him angry like that before," Luke mused.

They managed to catch up with the pilot after about five minutes, but his hopper wobbled near the entrance to the Canyon. It was shaking and swaying because of the speed Biggs was going at.

"Oh no…" Bits of the craft began dropping off, including the engine as the ground became littered with various bits and pieces. They watched in horror as it all crashed to the ground, rolling over several times before finally coming to a stop. They raced down to the wreckage, and Mara found the pilot's seat.

"Luke, he's not here!" She feared he had been ejected from his seat...in that case he could be anywhere.

"ARGH!" Mara whipped around to see Biggs, laughing and tackling Luke from behind. She placed a hand on her heart, glad he was alright.

"Biggs you cretin," she said, irritated, punching him on the shoulder. "You scared me half to death!"

He tousled her hair and threw his arms around his two friends. "You'll laugh about this in the future."

She rolled her eyes playfully, but they all started laughing there and then.

The friends found themselves back at Tosche Station once more. Biggs had said goodbye to his friends inside, and Luke followed him outside.

Mara waited a minute or so, and she too went outside. She saw Luke and Biggs hugging, and when Biggs departed for his hopper Mara stood by Luke's side as they watched him fly away.

Luke looked really sad, so Mara put an arm around him, squeezing gently. "I can't believe he's going without me," he sighed. "We always talked about going together and after graduation going into business together."

"You still can," Mara told him. It was only then that she became so painfully aware of how close they were, probably on the scale from when the three of them were sitting in Luke's ship earlier. She hadn't realised, at first, that Luke had leaned into her slightly when she had put her arm around him comfortingly.

She let go slowly as he said, "I'm glad you're here."

She smiled. "Yeah?"

Luke nodded and admitted, "I won't feel so alone."

Author's Note: Thank you to you guys who review, favourite/follow me or this story, it means a lot! If possible let me know what you thought of this chapter, I changed it a lot of times as I was never wholly happy, but I think I've got it right now. Also, credit goes to the Star Wars Wikia, I used various pages to write some of this. :)