Chapter Five

Mara laughed and smiled widely, throwing her head back, her hair flying behind her. Luke smiled at the sight, sitting back and relaxing with a cup of blue milk. Never would he have thought that a girl like her would be sitting in the family's kitchen area, and at his own request. She was laughing with his Uncle Owen, but Aunt Beru was smiling at Luke. His Uncle had made a comment about Bigg's father, the local magnate Huff Darklighter. He had constantly asked Mara to change her source of water supply, but she much preferred working with the independent Lars family. Mara looked at Luke and smiled before turning her attention back to his uncle, as they discussed business.

Beru leaned over to her nephew, with a knowing look on her face. "You like her, don't you?"

He knew she meant more than just 'like', so his eyes widened a little and he stuttered, "Uh..well-"

"It's alright Luke," she said quietly, patting his arm. "She's a great girl."

She's more than a girl, Luke thought, smiling gratefully at his Aunt. She's already well-travelled, in charge of a business, and probably worked on all of the planets she had visited so far. He doubted she was really interested in him at all, and even a couple of his friends had teased 'Wormie' about it.

Beru started clearing up, and Mara offered to help. "Thank you so much for the food," she said, as they stood at the counter. Luke and Owen continued talking behind them at the table. "It was lovely."

"You're welcome," Beru replied kindly. "Thank you for being a friend to Luke."

Mara smiled bashfully. "He's great, I'm glad to have met him."

She thought back to the last four or so months, since Biggs left for the Academy. When Mara wasn't working at the base, or meeting up with Ezra Bridger to discuss purchasing weapons and then transporting them, she usually met Luke. They would race each other through Beggar's Canyon, and it helped Mara no end as being Commander she didn't get enough flying time as she would have liked. She borrowed a hopper from the base to use, telling Luke she bought one to race with. He asked her what she does when she's not at the Cafe, and she had to make up a quick story about working with Roger, Hack and Simms on a side project. She felt bad, but she couldn't tell him. Not yet. Some evenings she would hang out with Luke and his friends at Tosche Station or they would meet herself, Roger, Hack and Simms at a cantina in Anchorhead. It was nice to feel normal, like before she joined the Alliance.

"We'll be heading to bed then kids," Owen announced when Beru and Mara had finished. His wife nodded to agree.

"Goodnight," Mara and Luke chorused before Mara added, "And thanks for everything again."

"Night."

Mara was leaning against the counter, facing Luke. "I enjoyed today, by the way. Thank you for bringing me along."

"Nah don't mention it," he replied. "I can't believe Fixer lost that bet on the race."

"Yeah that was a fair bit of money too," Mara added, wincing.

"I think he might have to use some of his wedding money to pay off that debt!"

"What makes you say that?"

"I saw Camie punch him on the nose," Luke said casually. They laughed. "You know, I think she dislocated it."

"Ouch."

Luke had invited Mara to the huge Boonta Eve Classic Podrace in Mos Espa, as his friends were all going together. They had spent a great day there. He had laughed hard at Mara trying to understand how unfair the race was, finally getting it when the winner was literally the last man standing. Or the last man flying. They had also rode Eopies, to gain entry into the Grand Arena, and Luke sat behind Mara on one. They were fairly tall, and Mara felt unsteady on one, and Luke had grabbed her waist. She leaned back slightly at his touch, and they rode like that until it was time to jump off and take their seats. He had been quite close to her…he hadn't been that close to a girl since he was a kid. It was quite exciting.

"I also can't believe that the Star Tours flight just 'accidently' got involved in the race," said Mara, grinning at the memory. "It was chaos! A lot of podracers were destroyed because of it!"

"I bet those passengers had a hell of a shock," Luke thought aloud, as they laughed again.

"Honestly, seeing that race is something I will never forget," said Mara. "It was insane."

They talked for a while longer, until the power shut down - they had lost track of the time. "I forgot," Mara heard Luke say, in the darkness. "Owen had put the power on a timer tonight."

"I had best get going anyway," Mara told him. "It's getting late!"

"Do you want to stay?" he asked her uncertainly. "There might be Sand People around."

"Thank you, but I'll be alright," Mara reassured him. "It's a pretty straight path to Anchorhead, it won't take me long."

They fumbled around in the dark, using each other as their guide to get to the garage. They were holding hands by the time they got there, and Luke managed to flip a switch to give them some light. Mara hugged Luke goodnight and she got into her landspeeder, making sure her lights worked as she would definitely need them for the darkness outside.

They bade goodbye to each other and Mara flew up and out of the garage, and headed for her quarters. Truthfully she didn't know how much longer she would staying for, commanding the base. It had been six months now or just over, and she hoped that any new major development on the Death Star situation would involve her returning to the Alliance. Even though that would mean leaving...leaving Luke. They had grown close, and she had yet to tell him of her real work. Roger constantly supplied new rookies to be trained, those who would not have had the opportunity otherwise. Some had even completed their training and had left for the Alliance already, and Jan Dodonna had heard great things about Beggar's Canyon, sending pilots himself to improve their skill. Her last update from the General was that data and intelligence was desperately being sought after about the Empire's new weapon, and they were trying to plant tracking devices and EMP to any Imperial cargo they can get ahold of to find a location for the Death Star, and to try and find its weakness. Any schematics they had so far were not detailed enough. She often thought of everyone, of Nolan, Ani, Talia, Wedge, Wes, Porkins...she missed them a lot. When she was with Luke her mind was taken off them, though.

A couple of weeks later, Mara was exhausted. Some of her pilots had come down sick, so she had to step up and take on a few jobs on top of her own. She had hardly been at the Cafe, not that Kay or Windy minded as they were paid extra. The days were long as she stayed late and then arrived early the next morning to get everything done. She was lucky she didn't come down with the sickness that was going around, and the same applied to Roger - she wasn't sure what she would have done without him.

Finally, things were getting back to normal and Mara traipsed through Anchorhead at what she would consider a reasonable time of the day. Entering the cafe, she noticed Luke leaning against the bar, talking to Windy who was on the other side making a drink.

"Hey stranger," Mara greeted.

Luke looked up instantly, and chuckled. "I hoped to see you. Do you fancy a race later?"

"How about now?" Luke nodded. "Great. Give me two minutes and I'll be back." She could do with a race to keep charged after the last few weeks. She left to go down into her apartment.

"I know the others tease you about it," said Windy. "But I genuinely think that Mara actually likes you. Likes you a lot."

Luke blushed slightly, and looked down. "Nah, come off it," he said, shrugging. "How do you even know I like her?"

"It's obvious!"

"No it isn't...is it?"

"Ready?" Mara returned into view, having changed her clothes. They left for Beggar's Canyon.

They had raced for a couple of hours. Eventually, they landed their hoppers and Mara stepped out, leaning against it, breathing in the fresh...sandy, humid air.

Luke stood by her, looking at her intently. "Mara?"

"Hmm?"

"Where...where have you been?"

"Ask me again sometime." She smiled apologetically at him, and a few seconds later she said, "If you catch me, I'll tell you."

"Huh?"

She grinned, and started to run away from their hoppers. She could hear him laughing behind her as he followed her; she had no idea why she felt like running, it was almost childish but it felt good to be free, to not feel a burden on her shoulders for a while.

Panting, she skidded to a halt as she had ran upwards, stopping at an edge. "Oh my God…"

Luke caught up with her, almost running into her from behind, holding her arms to steady himself. "Got you."

"Luke, look." He stepped around her, but not letting go and saw the sight of clans of Sand People below, heading in their direction. "Come on."

They ran back to their ships, and as fast as they could headed back to Anchorhead. When they got there, chaos and confusion was already rife as Sand People were raiding the outskirts.

"Oh no…" They parked their hoppers in Mara's garage and got out. Mara found her blaster and held it at the ready. "Luke you should get home, it'll be safer-"

"No I'm not leaving you!"

She sighed in defeat. "Alright, come on then."

They warily walked through the street, Mara using her blaster if she saw one of them attacking someone. Members of the Council were yelling about stopping the Sand People from getting any further into Anchorhead. Mara got separated from Luke in the confusion and she immediately panicked, knowing that Luke was unarmed. She soon spotted him, and she froze at sight of a Raider aiming his gaffi stick at Luke, who had his back turned to it; his attention was on another one.

"Luke!" Mara yelled, running towards him and shoving him aside; she cried out as the stick instead shot into her side.

She groaned and breathed heavily, pulling the stick out of her side and dropping it on the floor. Luke had rushed over to her, his face contorted in pain as if he felt her wound; his hands grabbed the sides of her face and she felt delirious, and couldn't make out what he was saying. Her eyes drooped and her knees felt shaky, but she felt sick when she held her hand up and saw fresh blood dripping off of her fingers.

Luke gently took her arm on her good side and rested it on his shoulders, and gently began guiding her. She leaned into him as she began to sweat at the pain. Shakily, she raised her blaster and held it up for Luke. He took it and nervously, at first, began using it. Mara looked up after a couple of minutes and saw the Municipal Council Hall approaching...she could only guess, and hope, that there was a medical droid in there.

After that, she couldn't remember anything else.

Mara slowly opened her eyes, and blinked a couple of times to get focus. She felt groggy, and the ceiling she saw told her she was lying down.

"Oh thank God." Mara turned her head slowly to see Luke sitting next to her, looking relieved. He had dried blood on his white clothing. "How're you feeling?"

Mara looked down at her side and saw a thick white bandage. The pain had gone, at least. "Not too bad, considering." It was then she realised that there were other voices in the room, and she sat up as best she could to see they were in a wide room, and other people were being attended to by a variety of medical droids. "What happened? Are the Sand People gone?"

"Yeah," Luke said quietly. He looked pale. "I...can't believe you did that. You saved my life."

"What are friends for?" Mara said, smiling at him. "Don't worry about it. I'm fine now, see?"

"Well...thank you," he murmured. Mara tried to sit up some more, so Luke leaned forward to help her. He put a hand on her back, and held her own hand and she used his strength to sit up properly. "I don't know how I could ever repay you for that."

"You don't need to repay me, and I wouldn't want you to," Mara insisted. "I had never felt panic like I did when I saw the Raider aim for you. I'm just glad you're ok."

"You're glad I'm ok?" Luke asked in shock, as he gestured to her bandaged wound. They both laughed a little, and he moved to sit on the edge of her makeshift bed, facing her. "You know...you're acting as if saving someone's life comes easy to you, like you've done it before."

"Am I?" Mara said, trying to sound casual about it. Well of course she had, with the Alliance. "I just didn't want to see you get hurt, that's all."

"I doubt any of my other friends would have done that for me," Luke said, staring at Mara intently. "Except Biggs, I guess."

"I'm not like them," Mara replied. Why was he reading so much into it?

"I know." Luke cocked his head to one side, in a really cute way, or so Mara thought. They sat in silence for a few seconds, and Mara looked down at where her hand was on the bed. Luke's own hand was close to hers, and he began to caress her fingers gently. He looked a little unsure at first, maybe even embarrassed but he relaxed seeing Mara's warm smile.

"Aha, look who's awake!" Mara moved her hand to her lap as Owen and Beru came into sight.

"We can't thank you enough for today," Beru said warmly, giving Mara a hug.

After a visit from Luke's Aunt and Uncle, who dragged a reluctant Luke away for the night, she was visited by Roger and some of the pilots from the base.

"I'll be back in tomorrow as normal Roger," Mara insisted. "They're letting me leave first thing."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, the medical droids can do wonders," Mara told him. "I bet it looks like nothing more than a scratch under these bandages now."

And she was right. The following morning, the droid allowed her to leave the makeshift hospital they had created. It was actually quite sad, she thought as she walked through the Hall and back outside. Many were injured, and some were even dead. Finding people injured or dead was not uncommon, but not on this scale. The Sand People were growing bold, attempting to attack a town.

She first when to Avilatan's, opening it for the day, leaving Kay and her droids in charge. Apparently Windy's father was injured during the raid so they didn't expect him in. Then she headed straight for the Rebel Base. She was glad everyone was accounted for - no one else apart from her got caught up in the attack. A couple of hours in, she received a message from General Jan Dodonna.

"Commander Kanos?"

"Hi, General."

"This connection isn't great, so I'll make it quick," he began. "We need you back. Temporarily, of course. The Alliance High Command are assigning a new Squadron, to be formed of only the best - it'll be an elite unit. You need to be part of the reassignment in person. Afterwards you can return to your duties."

"Am I to leave here straight away?"

"As soon as you can, Commander. Make the necessary arrangements. We'll be awaiting your return at the temple."

Mara sat down, feeling excited and nervous all at once. It'd be great to see all of the old pilots again, and of course Nolan, Ani and Talia. She did think it odd she has to make a journey to be reassigned into a new Squadron, it must be a pretty big deal. That, or he forgot to mention she's required to carry out missions whilst she's back there.

"Roger?"

"Commander." He appeared into view and leaned against the door-frame.

"I've got to return to the Alliance for awhile. I'm not sure how long I'll be gone, but I'm leaving you in charge until I get back. I'll leave a message for Bridger so he knows to meet you instead."

"You'll be sorely missed," he said kindly. "But thank you for putting your trust in me."

They shook hands and grinned at each other. "I'll miss this place," she admitted. She said goodbye to the pilots in the base, and headed back to Anchorhead. It was then that Luke Skywalker appeared into her mind. She would miss him a lot, and she dreaded telling him she'd be gone for awhile. She looked down at her fingers as she flew into the town, smiling at how gentle and innocent his touch was yesterday. She thought she might blush, the way he looked at her, but her insides tickled slightly instead.

Re-entering the cafe she approached Kay, who was not very busy as people were most likely cleaning up the mess left by the Sand People. "Hi boss."

"Hey," Mara greeted. "I've just received some news, and I've got to go away. As in, away from Tatooine. You're in charge until I get back."

"I'd be more than happy to."

Mara smiled in thanks and put a hand on her shoulder, and she looked up at the door opening. It was Luke. They greeted each other and she served him a drink from behind the counter. He reached into his pocket, but she stopped him. "For the hundredth time Luke, it's on the house." He was such a gentleman. Every single time Mara poured him a drink he always tried to pay for it.

She leaned against the counter, twiddling her thumbs. "I went to see you this morning, but you'd gone by the time I got there," Luke explained. "I'm glad you're alright."

"Thanks," she said quietly.

"Is something wrong?"

She sighed. "Listen, Luke. I've got to go away for awhile."

His face dropped. "Really? Why?"

"Er...it's a long story, but I heard some news from some old friends and I've got to go to them," she tried to explain, realising it sounded very mysterious.

"You're not in any trouble are you?" He asked her nervously.

Mara laughed. "No, no. Even still, the less you know the better. It's something I've got to do, so trust me."

"I do," he assured her. "I just...I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too."

"Are you leaving soon?" He asked, sounding hopeful that she might have a few days left.

"Yes, this afternoon when I'm ready," she replied. Mara walked around the counter, and held her arms open. They hugged each other goodbye. "I'll be back before we know it."

"You are coming back?" He asked for reassurance as they pulled away.

"I promise." And to prove her point, she kissed him tenderly on the cheek. Probably lower than was necessary, as it was to the side of his lips almost.

He looked a little awed, and he knew but didn't care. Was it that Mara had the chance to get away from Tatooine, but was coming back? If she hadn't have met Luke, would she have bothered coming back at all? He felt the spot where she kissed him, and smiled. It wasn't all bad that she was going, after all.

Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed! Thank you to my reviewers, and to the guest reviewer I couldn't personally reply to - I like 'Lukara' haha! This isn't properly edited to be honest, I wanted to get a chapter out there this week as though my deadlines are next week and I'm very nearly done, I'm quite busy after that. I've booked a couple of weeks off work, and I'm doing stuff like celebrating my 21st birthday, returning home and spending lots of time with family, figuring out what I'm doing in the summer and in September, etc. So I'll see you all in a couple of weeks! :)