Wild Karrde, Deep Space, 12 ABY

"Jade here." Her voice was detached and professional as she answered the comm. Her cool collectiveness scattered slightly when the accompanying holographic image appeared before her.

Mara leaned forward, trying to hold together a semblance of dignity. Karrde gave her an amused look from his station across the bridge. Luckily, it was late into the night and there were few other staff likely to hear the transmission.

"Hello Mara," the woman said, a diplomatic smile on her lips.

Mara didn't return it. "Leia," she greeted her as respectfully as she could manage. She didn't know why exactly she was so surprised at the call, she'd been expecting it for days, actually. Ever since the news had been splattered across the holonet.

For a several moments the two women stared at each other, Leia, holding all the poise and bearing of her office, and Mara glaring stubbornly back at her.

"I suppose this isn't a social call?" Mara finally said, coldly. She liked Leia, admired her even. She just wasn't sure that they would ever be close to being friends.

"No," Leia finally answered, her tone slightly strained. "I assume you've heard the news about Luke?"

"There's scarce else on the holonet," Mara conceded. "I noticed that the danger to the Academy was relegated to an afterthought."

"Yes," Leia pursed her lips. "Obviously Callista made a much more interesting story," she said disdainfully.

"Obviously," Mara held herself in check. The truth was, she was just as indignant as Leia at the treatment of Luke's private life. Oh, she was pleased that Callista had left him, but she objected to having Luke's internal pain packaged and presented for mass galactic consumption.

Mara desperately wanted to ask how Luke was faring, but couldn't bring herself to give Leia the satisfaction.

"Luke has taken it fairly hard," Leia said, relieving Mara of her dilemma.

"I can imagine." She answered noncommittally, knowing where this was probably heading.

Leia visibly composed herself, clasped her hands on her lap and took a deep breathe. "He's locked himself away on Yavin. He's refusing to teach, refusing to see anyone. I was wondering if perhaps...you would consider going to him."

"He's your brother," Mara folded her arms defiantly. "You try and cheer him up."

"Mara, I've tried," Leia's voice cracked, ever so slightly. Mara squinted a little, examining the small image before her. Outwardly, Leia seemed the epitome of calm, but further scrutiny revealed telltale signs of stress, dark circles under her eyes, her hands clasped a bit too tightly in her lap.

Mara pretended not to notice. "Then what makes you think I'll fare any better?"

"Because no one else has been able to get through to him," Leia continued, faltering slightly over the words "At least try," she entreated.

"Sorry, Leia. I've got more important things to do than to go around chasing wayward farmboys." Her tone was indifferent.

"Please, Mara," Leia eyed her desperately. "I know you and my brother don't always agree, but I've never known you not to be there for him."

Mara shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She hated being guilted into things like this. Unfortunately, both of the Solos were extremely good at it. Several tense moments passed before she gave a sigh of resignation.

"Fine, but only for Skywalker's sake." Mara gave her a full look. "Not because you asked me to."

"Thank you, Mara." Leia's face showed genuine gratitude and thankfulness. Mara nodded curtly and cut the connection without another word. She settled back into her seat, contemplating.

Karrde threw her an amused look from across the datapad he'd been pretending to examine.

"Weren't you going to see Skywalker anyway?" he enquired. "I'm positive that's why I cleared you for leave."

"Yes." Mara countered, staring out the viewport. "But she didn't need to know that."

"So you let her sit there and practically beg you?"

Mara bristled at the words. "Look, Talon, this wasn't for my own personal enjoyment. If Organa Solo knew I was going to see Skywalker voluntarily... "

"She would what?" Karrde cut in. "Think you were his friend? Be grateful for your foresight and compassion? She wouldn't have thought any less of you Mara," he added gently. "In fact, I believe it would have had the opposite effect."

"I don't need her approval, Talon," Mara said brusquely. "Or yours."

"That's too bad, Mara." He walked over to the seat next to hers. "Because you've always had mine. And my respect."

Mara managed to give him a small smile. "I know, but-"

"You appreciate it, but you don't need it, is that what you were going to say?" Karrde grinned.

"Sith, you're almost as bad as Skywalker sometimes," Mara grumbled, her countenance falling rapidly again.

"And without a drop of the Force," he boasted inanely.

Mara grunted under her breath, then rose to her feet. "I leave at 1400," she informed Karrde, then made her way towards the door and away from the conversation.

"Give Skywalker my regards," he called after her.

Yavin 4

Resentment came to Mara swiftly and easily. She resented Callista for leaving her this mess to deal with. She resented Organa Solo and the Jedi here at the Academy for lacking the spine that was needed to confront a certain Jedi Master. She resented the humidity of the jungle, seeping into her clothes and skin, she resented the animals that screeched and called to one another making it impossible for her to think clearly. But most of all, she resented Luke Skywalker for coming into her life and complicating things so much for her. And the fact he didn't even have the decency to sulk indoors, where such depression belonged.

Instead, he had forced her to trudge through kilometres of jungle, chasing after the whisper of his Force sense, while the mud sullied her boots and her mood grew foul.

She eventually found him, leaning against the strong, ample trunk of a Massassi tree, its overgrown roots winding between his legs. His eyes were closed and his face was pained, highlighting the darkness underneath his eyes. A wave of sympathy passed over her, but she quickly repressed it. The last thing Skywalker needed at the moment was another person feeling sorry for him.

"Is this a public pity party?" she asked as she approached. "Or invitation only?"

Luke laughed bitterly. "Come to gloat, Jade?" He didn't open his eyes or move in any other way to acknowledge her presence.

"No," she moved closer still, until she stood right next to his seated form. "Gloating would imply that you've done something wrong, and I don't think that is the case."

"Always semantics with you," Luke opened his eyes to slits, but that was enough for her to see the pain within them. "What makes you so sure I haven't done something wrong? I mean I must have - she's gone."

In a rare display of indulgence and solidarity, Mara joined him on the ground, placing herself in a space between the tree's giant roots. She wasn't quite facing him - her shoulder close, but not quite touching his own.

"I don't suppose you've come to tell me how sorry you are," he said voice tired, strained.

"I wouldn't insult you like that, Skywalker," she answered calmly. Mara's dislike for his lost love had been obvious, even to Luke. To offer her condolences in such a contrived manner would be the highest hypocrisy. Besides, Mara knew expressions of sympathy were the last thing he wanted, or needed, to hear.

Luke didn't answer her, but she felt a slight recession of his pain, his sorrows held at bay by her presence. They sat in a silent companionship for several moments, and Luke closed his eyes again. Mara found herself opening up to the sounds of the jungle, of the nature that surrounded them. It had its own presence in the Force, she realised. It was in the air, the trees, the small ground-dwelling animals and the birds that flew above them. The Force swirled around them, bound together in their shared company. It was peaceful. Mara understood why Luke had sought his solitude out here.

"Did it bother you?" Mara asked, finally, quietly into the air.

Luke turned his head slightly towards her. "Did what bother me?"

Flushing slightly, Mara turned away. She wasn't sure why she'd said anything at all. "Callista... she... " Mara twisted back around to face him. "She would always call you The Master. Especially around the other Jedi."

"Did that bother you?" Luke was inquisitive.

"Only on your behalf," Mara defended herself. "I never thought you were comfortable with titles like that."

Luke turned his gaze back to the tress ahead of him. "I'm not," he whispered. "But Callista was a Jedi of the Old Order. They... held different beliefs."

"Did you ever wonder whether she was attracted to your status as a Jedi Master, rather than... "

"Rather than what?" Luke snapped, suddenly angry. "Is it so inconceivable for a woman to care for me, to love me..."

"That's not what I said," Mara retorted, his own outburst swiftly raising her defences.

"It's what you implied," came his sharp reply. "That Callista only loved me for by title, my abilities in the Force." He stood abruptly and moved a safe distance away from her.

"Well, it's not such a great stretch of logic," Mara rejoined, scrambling to her own feet.

Luke turned and glared at her angrily. "How dare you," his voice was low and dangerous. "You didn't know her at all. You couldn't possibly understand what happened between us."

"Look, Skywalker, I didn't come here looking for abuse from you," Mara put her hand on her hips defiantly.

"Although you're more than willing to deal it out," he shot back.

Mara huffed irritably. "All I'm saying is that maybe you misread her intentions. Love blinds you."

"And how would you know?" Luke took and ominous step towards her. "Have you ever been in love? Do you even know what it is?"

She expected a brutal anger to come at his words - an undeniable hurt to burn within her. But Mara simply felt cold as a numbing chill clutched her heart; an immediate and automatic deadening of her emotions. Before he could react to his own harsh words, Mara had turned on her heel and walked briskly away.

She heard his voice call after her, but she ignored it. Ignored the rain that began to fall, completing the task that the humidity had begun. Mara didn't care, walking deeper into the jungle, heedless of the danger of her actions.

Eventually she came to a stop, as the light rainfall became a howling wind and a bitter downpour. Her hair hung limply around her as she sat down harshly on a nearby rock. Mara took stock of her situation, it finally occurring to her that she was even further away from the Temple where her shuttle was docked. In her haste, she hadn't properly thought out her escape. She was sure that she could find her way back, it would simply take more time that she would have liked.

It was then that she felt Luke's presence reach out for hers anxiously. She withdrew hurriedly, but it was enough for him to discern her exact location, and he appeared within minutes, looking harried. The rain had plastered his fair hair to his face, his thick, dark clothes clinging to his skin tightly.

Luke approached her cautiously. "I'm sorry for what I said, Mara," he prodded gently. "It was completely insensitive of me. I never meant to hurt you." He took a tentative seat on a nearby rock, crossing his legs underneath him.

"It takes a lot more than words to hurt me, Skywalker," Mara answered tersely.

He shot her a mixed look. "Then why did you run?" His voice was soft.

Mara looked away. "I did not run, Skywalker," she informed him. "I walked away because I came here to comfort you and you threw it back in my face."

For a moment he looked contrite and sorrowful, but it was soon placed with a wry exasperation. "Well, just for future reference, Jade, telling someone to get over a person by implying they were never really loved in the first place is a horrible form of comfort."

Mara saw the clarity of her actions, how much her words must have cut him. She could have traded an equally impressive barb with him, but chose to show some restraint. "Duly noted," she said.

Luke nodded, pleased, and a contemplative look crossed his face. "The thought did cross my mind," he said, after a long silence. "That Callista loved the Jedi Master, and not me."

"I didn't really mean that-"

"No Mara," Luke cut her off. "Don't apologise. You've never spared my feelings for the truth, and for that I've always trusted you. Don't start now."

Mara was startled by his words. Without realising it, she'd become like the rest of his friends and companions. Distorting and twisting the truth in order to comfort him, to benefit his self-worth. It was a travesty to her own character, and she's slipped into it so easily.

"Skywalker... " she began, before she realised that she wasn't sure what she wanted to say to him. "I -"

"Shhhh" came his hushed reply. His eyes were closed again, and he breathed deeply, seemingly oblivious to the rain that was falling hard around them, scarce prevented by the dense tree canopy above. "Please, Mara. Just sit with me."

She wasn't sure what he meant by the invitation. He didn't seem to be meditating, or to be in the first stages of a trance. She reached out to him, slightly, through the Force, and he grasped the tendril tightly, holding onto her, inviting her. Did he want her comfort, her to join him in a shared awareness of the Force? Or perhaps her mere presence was enough. Mara wasn't sure, but she closed her eyes, ignoring the rain that fell around her.

"Alright," she answered, her voice barely a whisper.

Night had fallen by the time they returned to the Massassi Temple, the moonlight silhouetting his features. He turned to her, smiling. "Thank you, Mara. I'm glad you came."

She nodded and turned to walk toward the hanger where her ship was berthed. Sitting out in the rain had seemed right at the time, but now Mara was cold, wet and a little dizzy. She was anxious to get on her ship and into hyperspace so she could have a hot sanisteam.

"Mara?" he called after her.

"Yes, Skywalker?" She turned and put one hand on her hip.

"My sister sent you didn't she?"

She couldn't quite discern his tone. Perhaps he wanted an expression of friendship, of loyalty. To hear that she'd come to him without the prodding and pleading of his sister. To know that she valued his happiness, his wellbeing. Mara wasn't sure she could give him that. So she lied.

"Yes," she answered dismissively.

He was visibly disappointed, but covered it with a warm smile. "Well thanks all the same."

Mara drew her jacket tighter around herself, although it was still soaked through and did not provide much protection against the cold. An involuntarily shiver ran through her and she blinked a few times to refocus her vision as she turned back to her ship.

But Luke had caught up with her, his firm hand grasping her shoulder and turning her back to face him again. "Mara, are you alright?" he asked, concern plain on his face.

"Fine." She tried to shrug off his hold, but he did not let her go.

"No you're not," he said, his eyes boring into hers and she blinked again. "You're flushed," he observed, resting the backs of his fingers on her cheek. "And you're shivering."

"It's cold," she defended herself, trying to keep the dizziness at bay.

"No it's not," Luke said. "You should stay here tonight, Mara. I'll get quarters prepared for you."

Mara shook her head, pulling weakly from his hold and stepping back. "No, I'm fine," she insisted – she didn't want to spend a second longer on Yavin 4. She had done her duty and pulled Skywalker up out of his funk, now she wanted to be gone, alone and at peace.

Luke rolled his eyes. "Mara," he said with obvious exasperation. "Don't be so stubborn."

"Stubborn, Skywalker?" Mara shot back at him. "Why don't you just…" But the words slipped away from her, and Mara put one hand to her temple, wondering why the ground was spinning. The last thing she felt was Luke's arms around her as everything went black.