Chapter Seven

Luke Skywalker fiddled absentmindedly with one of the many water vaporators on the Lars farm. He had been fixing them all his life, so it was second nature; he wasn't really paying attention. He had seen damage from sand-clogging a million times before.

He looked up at the sky, sighing. Things hadn't been the same since Mara left. He was without Biggs, and now her. Things had been so quiet. It had been a few months now, and she still hadn't returned. Old Kay who worked at the café hadn't heard anything. But she had promised she was coming back. And she sounded like she really meant it. Mara had even kissed Luke … well, on the cheek. But he could swear he almost felt her lips brush his own, she had kissed him quite far down and even lingered a couple of seconds.

He was sure he wanted to kiss her, properly. Luke knew he liked her as more than a friend, he felt it in his gut. But he didn't know how to go about it … if only Biggs were here for advice. He had a feeling that she liked him too, but then she hadn't done anything about it either.

Boy, did he miss her. He could be himself around her. They had fun together, and he felt like he could talk to her about anything. About his academy dreams...about anything the others would laugh or scoff at. She knew her own value, and always convinced Luke of his own too.

And he hoped she was alright. Mara had assured him she wasn't in any trouble, but why wasn't she back yet? His friends had said she wasn't returning, and certainly 'not for Wormie.' He wasn't sure whether they were teasing or warning him. Luke himself even had a yearning return to apply for the Academy this year instead of next, if she wasn't coming back.

"LUKE!" He whipped around at the sound of his name, and by the tone of Uncle Owen's voice that wasn't the first time he had been trying to catch Luke's attention. He was approaching Luke now, who looked at him sheepishly. "I need a farmhand who will pitch in, not a nephew with his head in the stars half the time."

"Sorry," Luke muttered, returning to the vaporator.

"After you've finished that I need you to take a look at the patch-in droid for vaporator number forty-nine."

"Sure." Luke sighed again as his uncle walked away. This wasn't what he was born to do, and he just had to get away.

A little while later, when Luke had finished repairing the vaporator, he noticed Windy arrive in his landspeeder. He parked up and hurried over to his friend. "Look Windy I'm really busy right now-"

"But Luke," Windy panted. "Mara's back."

The patch-in droid was forgotten as Luke ran to his own speeder, not realising the huge grin that had spread out on his face.

It felt good to be back in command, Mara thought, as she resumed her position at Anchorhead Base. She sat at her old desk, and gave clearance for a pilot to return from his training in the canyon. Now, that was everybody in and accounted for. It was time to make her announcement.

They had all gathered in the rec room. "Ok, listen up. As you know I was away resuming my duties with the Starfighter Corps. They have re-assigned me to a new squadron, which is to be my new priority. As such my command here is almost over and of course Roger will be taking over from me. Originally it was only to be a temporary base, but the High Command are pleased with our efforts and the skill of the pilots we send back. So, that's a well done to all of you. And that's it. Thank you."

She was humbled to receive an applause, and a few pats on the back. She then noticed a pilot sat down who she didn't recognise. He must have arrived whilst she was away.

"Hey rookie. I don't think we've met?"

She sat down next to him and he smiled widely. He seemed like one of those overly-enthusiastic, excitable types. "I'm Dak Ralter, Commander."

"Nice to meet you," she said warmly, shaking his hand. "So where're you from?"

"Well I was born on Kalist VI," he said casually.

She stared at him wide-eyed. "On the Imperial labour colony?" she asked quietly.

"The same, ma'am. I blasted out of there with the help of a great man, Breg, a free spirit who fuelled the flame of liberty inside me!"

She smiled at his words. Come to think of it, he looked quite young, matching his slight naivety. "I think I heard your story. You both hijacked a prison barge and flew to Tierfon, right? Breg is a rebel pilot, isn't he?"

"Was," he corrected her. "I had never flown anything before. Breg was shot and managed to direct me through takeoff before he passed away. Landing was by no means pretty without him."

"But miraculous," Mara remarked, looking impressed.

"And here I am, honouring his memory. Anything to help take down the Empire."

"It's great to have you here, Dak."

And Mara meant it. She sure would miss this place, especially the pilots. She excused herself when she caught sight of Roger, who embraced her in a hug. "Thank you, Commander. This is a huge opportunity for me."

"It is," she agreed. "But I know you won't let us down. I've told them how brilliant you are."

He looked at her in kindness. "I'm glad you're back and staying with us for a little while longer. Do you fancy going to The Weary Traveller tonight for a drink or two? You could invite those friends of yours along?"

Mara loved the idea. It would be a chance to see Luke for the first time. She had already been to Avilatan's and spoke briefly to Kay and Windy, but Luke was the one she was most anxious to see. Because she had been on Tatooine a couple of hours now she could feel the apprehension building inside of her at the thought of seeing him again.

"Definitely," she replied to Roger. "I think we should meet a bit earlier though, I have lots to update you on."

It was already late afternoon, so she shut down the base and headed back to her apartment in her speeder. She didn't tell Kay or Windy that she was leaving. She didn't want Luke to find out from anybody else other than her. Mara still didn't know whether to tell him about the Alliance. Would he be annoyed that she kept it a secret? Would he want to sign up, no matter what Mara or his Aunt and Uncle said? But then she couldn't tell him about Biggs, because he wanted to be the one to tell Luke. She couldn't blame him for that. And then there was kissing Wedge Antilles. Damn that pilot and his effect on her.

What was she supposed to do? This was a predicament. She wasn't meant to meet Luke Skywalker, and certainly wasn't meant to develop feelings for him. But I did. And there was no helping it. Being with Wedge made her wonder what it would be like to be with Luke, kissing him and feeling him…

Stepping into the café her heart almost stopped at the sight of Luke himself. He was leaning against the counter as he usually does, his foot tapping impatiently. They smiled at each other, and Mara found she had ran to meet him halfway, clutching him tightly.

"Hey!" Luke had greeted excitedly as he ran over to her. "Windy told me you were back, when did you get in?"

They let go of each other. "Only a few hours ago." She paused, taking in Luke. Seeing him and his wide smile was giving her butterflies. And in that moment she instantly regretted kissing Wedge and felt a bit guilty about it too. "It's good to see you."

"It's great to see you too!" Luke exclaimed. "It's been so quiet around here." He seemed to notice her sadness as she thought about what she has to tell him. "Are you alright? What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she replied quickly, her smile returning. "So, anything new?"

"Nope, not really … Mara, where did you go?" Mara hesitated so Luke said, "And don't say 'ask me again sometime.'"

She let out a laugh, remembering what she had said to him before she left. "I will tell you. Just not now. I promise."

His eyes widened and he nodded. "I knew something else was happening. I had a f-"

"-feeling," Mara finished. "Yeah, I get those too." She remembered what Biggs told her before she left Yavin 4, and had almost mentioned him.

He cocked his head in a typical Luke way. "Do you remember when we were sitting-" She nodded, and gestured to the nearest table. They sat down. "- in my hopper and something happened, didn't it? You felt what I felt?"

"You didn't get a pain like I did, though?"

"No … I only felt something good, positive," he said. "Like I had a connection to you, or something."

He looked a bit bashful at that comment. Mara said, "I felt you trying to break through, but it just sets off the pains in my head. I don't feel anything good from it, it's like my headaches are a warning from my brain."

"I wonder why we feel it differently," Luke pondered. "You know, I haven't felt it since I was a boy. My uncle used to get mad if I could find things with my mind so I guess I suppressed it. I can't control it as much now though."

"I had my worst headache in years when I first arrived in Anchorhead," Mara thought aloud. Maybe Luke had inadvertently set it off.

"Mara, I think you should let it in," Luke advised.

"I can't," she said instantly. "It hurts too much."

"If you do, maybe the pain will stop?" Luke suggested.

"Maybe." Mara bit her lip and played with her fingers nervously. "I wonder what it is. I can't explain how it feels … before I met you it was like I had another mind in my mind. Like I was being called to. But then I felt you call me, that day in your hopper."

"I didn't even mean to do it, it just happened," he admitted. "I'm glad I've got someone to talk to about it."

"Me too," Mara assured him. "I'm sorry I just brushed it off before, I was … scared."

"You were scared?"

"It happens," she mused. "It's been something my brain has fought since I was a child."

He nodded to understand. "We should try and find out more - oh no."

"What?"

"I'm going to get it when I get back," he groaned. "I forgot to take a look at something for my uncle."

"Be off with you then," she said playfully. "I'll be at the The Weary Traveler tonight, you should come along."

"I'll try," he said, not sounding very optimistic.

They said their goodbyes and he left; Mara remained sitting at the table. Well, she wasn't expecting that. There was so much that was left unsaid but yet she felt relieved she had finally spoken to someone who understands.

Luke has only had positive experiences. Maybe she should let it in. Bring down the invisible wall, no matter the pain. I could find out what I'm really capable of. Luke was able to find missing things with his mind. Who knows where else it could take them?

But with the distraction she hadn't told Luke. About anything. Mara moaned and bought her hands to her face. I still haven't done the hard part.

That evening Mara was in the cantina, with Roger, Simms, Hack, Dak Ralter, and two other pilots: Nala Hetsime and Cinda Tarheel. Nala was a brown haired and fair skinned mystery, Mara never got much more than basic information out of him. She suspected he was being courted by Cinda, a confident fast-talker, with long black hair and bright blue eyes - she was considered very pretty. Sultry, almost.

Mara was updating Roger on what she knew so far, about what he should know seeing as he'll be commander soon enough. She had told him the most important things about the Death Star and its potential to destroy planets back at the base, and anything she was telling him now was through a code they had figured out - nobody was around them, but you never know who or what might be listening.

"So how's it going with Bridger?" Mara asked him, referring to their Black Market contact.

"Fine," he reported. "It's like you said, some weeks he produces decent stuff. Other weeks, we only get clothes or something, not any weapons or ships."

"Clothes are always good though," Mara reminded him. "Some people come to us with absolutely nothing. They need to be issued stuff like new clothes, even a toothbrush."

"That's true. It makes all this worthwhile, doesn't it?"

"It sure does, Roger."

After that Luke and his friends arrived to join them, so no more Alliance talk could be had. Whilst the new arrivals headed for the bar, Roger leaned over to Mara and whispered, "Does Luke know about us?"

"No."

"Will he?"

"Yes. At some point." Luke returned and sat down next to Mara. "So your uncle let you off the hook then?" There was silence as Luke looked deep in thought about something. "Luke?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, when I told him I was meeting you he did," Luke explained. "He thinks you'll be the one to stop me from going to the Academy, he was pleased to hear you were back."

"Oh does he?" Mara asked, intrigued. "Well it's true. You don't have to join the Academy."

"We've dreamt about it for years," Luke said thoughtfully. "Biggs and me, I mean. I haven't thought about anything else."

"You could come with me," Mara suggested. "When I leave. We both know I can't stay here forever."

"I know, and I wouldn't want you to," Luke assured her. "But do you really mean that?"

"What?"

"About me coming with you?"

"Of course. You're a good pilot, I could use you."

"For just my piloting skills?" he asked, feigning hurt.

Mara laughed. "You know what I mean. It would be hard to leave you here…" It really would be. Maybe this is the moment to tell him -

"Welcome back boss," said Windy from Luke's other side as he sat down. "Did ya' miss us?"

"Of course I did," she replied, though only really looking in Luke's direction. He was smiling to himself, probably about the last thing Mara said.

"Did you go anywhere exciting?"

"You could say that."

"Has anyone ever told you," began Windy, "you're quite mysterious sometimes?"

"Well, I'd hate to be predictable," she joked. "That's just boring."

"We could have used you a couple of times," Fixer said to Mara, leaving over to them. "The Sand People raided Anchorhead again. You're handy with a blaster."

"Really? Was it bad?"

"More casualties," said his girlfriend Camie. "A lot more than last time."

"Are you safe?" Mara asked Luke. "You're quite cut off from Anchorhead. Which I know isn't doing very well, but there are more people there to defend the place. There's only three of you."

"Uncle Owen can hold off a whole colony with his blaster," Luke said confidently. "He's had to do it all his life of course."

"So have you still deferred your application to the Academy?" Mara asked.

"I've cancelled it completely," he said, sighing. "We've almost got enough vaporators to make the place pay off. Uncle Owen's promised me he only needs me one more season."

"Which is what? Another year?" Luke nodded; Mara bit her lip. "Oh."

"You won't be here for another year, will you," Luke guessed sadly.

"Er … well, no -" Mara looked around, and back to Luke. "Come outside with me." He followed her out of the noisy cantina and they slowly walked down the pathway together. "I've got something to tell you." He was still silent so she continued. "I'm leaving Tatooine. For good."

"How long have you got left?" Luke asked quietly.

"Only a couple of months," she replied. "I'm sorry, I didn't have much of a choice. Those, er, friends need me."

"That's … a shame," he said, stopping in his tracks. "Did you even need to come back?"

"Not really, no."

"But you did."

"Of course I did," said Mara, her heart falling to the floor as Luke looked at her with sad eyes.

"Why?"

"I couldn't not see you again and say goodbye properly," she explained, after some thought. She was close to telling him about her feelings for him, but that would hurt him more, as she was leaving. And he basically said he couldn't go with her because of his family commitments.

"Oh," he said, sounding disappointed. "You said earlier I could go with you."

"The offer still stands," she said quickly. "But there's something you should-"

"I can't," said Luke, looking irritated with himself. "I promised Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen I would stay."

"And you shouldn't go back on that," she agreed. She had almost told him. Maybe he wasn't meant to know; not yet.

"Mara," he said slowly, looking troubled. "Is there something happening between you and Roger?"

She frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I overheard you earlier," he explained. "Are you together?"

"No," Mara said sharply. "What on earth makes you think that?"

"He asked you whether I knew about you two," he further explained, looking relieved.

"Oh, well he's coming with me," Mara said. "You know his family were sold into slavery and then they died. He doesn't want to stay for much longer." She felt bad for lying, but this wasn't the time to tell Luke about the Alliance. And selfishly, she thought of the many Rebels who had died recently. She couldn't lose Luke.

"I thought it was something else, but I had to ask …" he trailed off, and there was silence until he spoke again. "We'll make the most of the time you've got left."

He sounded a lot more optimistic than before, and determined too. Mara smiled. "Absolutely."

"Hey, Luke! You owe me a drink buddy!"

The two of them looked behind to see Windy hanging out of the cantina. "Let's get back inside," said Mara. They returned to the cantina, which had become a lot noisier. A band had started and a lot of people were up and dancing. "Fancy a dance?"

She grabbed his hand and led Luke to where their friends were, joining in with them. Apparently the others had downed a few shots to boost their confidence, so it was fair to say that Mara and Luke had an amusing night watching the others around them. And Mara was not surprised when Windy failed to turn up to work the next morning, he was probably nursing a hell of a hangover.

The first month had gone by so quickly, Mara thought sadly as she approached Beggar's Canyon in a borrowed skyhopper. She was meeting Luke and his group of friends there. She still hadn't told Luke about the Alliance and her own work. There was no point - nothing had happened between them and he wasn't going to leave his family. The less he knows, the safer he is. They also hadn't spoken about the 'connection' much, because how could they find out more? Mara didn't want to have a nasty headache anyway, so unless it happened accidentally, then she wasn't about to push it.

Now that Luke knew of Mara's leaving, she had handed over management of the café to Kay Tallon, who practically ran the place anyway. She was thrilled and grateful, as Mara had given it to her for free. The staged operations that happened in the basement had been shut down, and now Roger had arranged a different place in Mos Eisley to meet Ezra Bridger. Everything was winding down, but not seeing Luke.

When she arrived and jumped out of the hopper, Luke was locked into an argument with Fixer. Mara hurried over to see what was going on, the others sipping on malt juices watching the drama.

"Listen," Fixer was saying angrily, "anything the great Biggs Darklighter could do, I can do! I'm as good as he ever was."

"Oh yeah?" Luke challenged. "Well then, why don't you prove it? Why don't you thread the Stone Needle, like Biggs did? That ought to shave five seconds, or better, off your time"

"You're on Skywalker," Fixer snarled. "Let's race, just you and me."

"Fine." Luke turned around and almost jumped at the sight of Mara. His features softened. "Oh, hey."

"Hey," she said cautiously, following him to his hopper. "What was that about?"

"I'm just fed up of Fixer thinking he's better than everyone else, and slandering Bigg's name," he said bitterly. "I called him out on it."

"Good for you," said Mara. "Although you know he's just jealous, right? You're younger than him but an excellent pilot, maybe even the best on Tatooine."

Luke shrugged humbly. They had stopped as Camie was sounding quite hysterical behind them. "But you make stupid immature decisions when you're like this!" she was saying.

Mara rolled her eyes. "Get a grip, Camie," she muttered.

Deak was calling them crazy so he was left with the job of consoling Camie whilst Windy asked to ride along with Fixer.

"Are you coming with me?" Luke asked.

"Yep."

They continued to Luke's hopper. "Is there any chance I can talk you out of that?"

"Nope."

"I want to thread the needle," Luke explained slowly. They both knew it was an incredibly dangerous manoeuvre.

"I figured," she replied casually. "I want you to win. Don't worry about me ... us."

She climbed into the cockpit, as did Luke. He fired up his hopper and they saw Fixer race away and round a corner. Luke gripped the controls and Mara had never seen so much concentration and determination on his face. Then, they were off.

Very soon Fixer was in their sights. He was dead ahead, rattling along next to the towering canyon wall. In no time at all the hoppers were neck on neck, hurtling towards where the bottleneck stood. Mara turned sideways to look at Luke, who was breathing heavily.

The needle was in sight now. Luke's maneuvering was near-suicidal as he almost fought against Fixer in the hopper next to them, but Mara remained calm. Luke knew what he was doing. The jagged rock face was getting closer as Luke tried to watch Fixer and control his own calculations at the same time, so they didn't crash into the loop. It was a completely different sensation being inside the hopper, rather than just watching Biggs attempt it from afar.

Luke's speed increased. That was the only way to thread the needle, at the right position at an incredibly fast speed to make it through the other side. Fixer realised Luke had gained the upper hand and pulled away; Mara didn't dare speak for fear of distracting her pilot, but she was completely at his mercy. If he got this wrong -

"I did it!"

They cheered as they flew through the loop. Luke had threaded the needle. But that had come at a cost - the dangerous flying and the insane speed had caused the hopper to rattle horribly. It didn't sound good at all.

"I think you've lost a stabilizer," said Mara as Luke tried to regain some control. "Careful, or you'll fry your instruments!"

With no stabilizer the ship was veering dangerously out of control, and the hopper bumped into rock formations and the canyon wall a few times before Luke was able to land it. They both rejoiced at the rocky landing - it could have gone a lot worse.

"And you still beat Fixer!" Mara exclaimed.

"I think I proved myself to them," said Luke, who was still breathing heavily. "I'm cut out for more than this life."

"Is that what you were trying to do?" Mara asked. "They probably know that already, really. And I do."

He smiled in thanks, and they jumped out to survey the damage. "Uncle will be furious," Luke stated as they looked at the battered hopper. It didn't look great. "I guess I won't be racing for awhile."

Fixer had landed a few meters away from them, and Windy practically fell out of his hopper in shock. They obviously had a bumpy ride recovering from losing the needle to Luke, as they had to go around it and find a different route back. Fixer however looked furious at losing.

"What are you both trying to do, kill us all?" Windy asked angrily as he stormed off to where Deak was waiting. Camie ran over to Fixer, and she was in a bit of a state. She had obviously watched the near-miss. The could have been crash…

"I'll help you tow this back if you like," Mara offered.

"Thanks," said Luke gratefully. "I think I'd give my uncle a heart attack if I turned up flying this with no stabilizer."

Mara quickly retrieved her own hopper and attached Luke's to the back of it, and soon they were flying to the Lars' homestead.

"That was fantastic," said Luke, who despite busting up his skyhopper, was grinning. "I wish Biggs and Tank could have been there to see that!"

"It was pretty spectacular," Mara agreed. "You're now the second person in living memory to thread the needle. That's something."

"I'm sorry I put you in danger back there," he said sincerely.

"I knew what I was getting myself in for, you don't have to apologise."

"I don't think you flinched once, you were so calm. I bet Windy was squealing the entire time with Fixer."

"I've been piloting for way too long to let a race get to me," she said confidently. "And anyway, I knew I was in good hands."

Luke smiled in triumph as she pulled up and stopped outside his farm. Luke leaned over to leave, but hesitated and resumed his sitting position. "Mara, can I ask you something?"

Mara's heart thumped. He sounded nervous and it was making her nervous. "What is it?"

"You know the Municipal Council party that's coming up?" Luke asked, to which Mara nodded. "Are you going?"

"I received an invite, but I hadn't really thought about it," she said. "Why?"

"So no-one's asked you then?" She shook her head, wondering what he meant by that. She soon got her answer. "Will you go with me?"

"As in, be your date?" Because if that's the case, then yes please.

"Yeah," he confirmed, nodding eagerly. "I would like that."

Mara tried to hide her shock, but was pretty sure it still seeped through somehow. This was the first time she had been asked out on a date properly. By somebody who cared. "Of course I will. I'd love to."

Luke grinned widely, blushing slightly. "Great. I'm looking forward to going now," he admitted, laughing nervously.

She smiled back, noticing over Luke's shoulder and through the window that a figure was coming out of the small dome that was their entrance to the homestead below. "I think that's your uncle coming Luke."

"Wish me luck," he said, sighing probably at the prospect of explaining his hopper situation.

"Don't let him kill you, if you can help it," Mara said seriously. "I wouldn't want you to miss our date."

"I wouldn't want to miss it either," said Luke. "I've wanted to ask you for ages."

Mara waved to Owen who returned the gesture as he got closer; just as Luke was getting out Mara said, "I wouldn't have said yes to anyone else Luke."

He gave her one last smile before facing his uncle, still looking a little bit in awe at what just happened. And when she felt Luke's hopper disconnected from her own, Mara headed off back into Anchorhead.

Well, that changes things. She was going to have to tell Luke. To tell him everything. It's like she had said to Biggs - no secrets. Especially if something happens between them. Which she hoped it would. Though she was leaving, Mara decided Luke has to know how she felt. Who knew how that would work out, but at the moment, she didn't care. And even though Mara was only a bit more experienced than Luke was (if he had any at all), if he didn't make a move then - I am going to.

Author's Note: Ta-da! Things are heating up now. Thanks to everybody as normal :)