CHAPTER THREE

Luke leaned back on Mara's couch and gazed at her totally smitten by her beauty. Her reddish gold hair wasn't tied back tonight but flowed over her shoulders loose and silken and just begging to be touched. Her deep green eyes glowed with a hint of amusement.

"You have no idea as to what to talk about? Do you?" She said with a grin.

Her words brought him out of his reverie as he realized he had no inkling as to what topic would be considered 'safe' or 'appropriate' at this precarious juncture of their relationship. He wanted to talk about his love for her and his hopes for the future, but Han was right, all his talk about love and marriage spooked Mara and she wasn't a person who frightened easily. He would have to proceed cautiously. His throat felt suddenly dry and he took a long sip of the water she gave him earlier as he desperately thought of a topic.

"Mara…when our bonding occurred on Nirauan, we knew everything about each other, but your injury made you forget. I know you don't want to attempt the bonding again like we did in the hospital, but I would like it if you knew me better." He hesitated as he tried to gauge her reaction so far. "Is there anything you would like to know about me? I'm willing to be totally open and honest with you."

Mara raised an eyebrow and gave him a skeptical look. "Are you saying you will answer all of my questions, no matter what it is, truthfully?"

The way she said that made Luke reconsider the offer, but it didn't seem fair that he knew every intimate detail about her life and she knew very little about him. He swallowed a lump in his throat as he nodded his head. "Yes."

Mara smirked and opened her mouth to say something, but Luke held out his hands stopping her. "Mara…if you wouldn't mind…please be gentle with me."

She chuckled. "Okay, I'll start with an easy question. When you were a child…what did you want to be when you grew up?"

A wide grin blossomed across his face. "That's easy, a pilot. I was always told my father was a navigator of a freighter. I pictured a life piloting a ship from one side of the galaxy to the other. I dreaded the thought of living my life on Tatooine, scratching out a minimal existence on a moisture farm…everyday the same thing—check the evaporators, repair the evaporators, then sell the water. It was boring and lonely." He looked down and frowned. "I hate to admit it, but I was sometimes angry at my Uncle for not moving us into the city and taking a normal job." He shook his head sadly. "The isolation was almost soul crushing."

Mara nodded sadly. "I know how that feels."

Luke looked up surprised and a bit confused. "Mara you grew up in the Imperial Court surrounded by people."

She made a dismissive wave of her hand. "I was surrounded by people who were never allowed to know the true me. Even my trainers never were fully briefed as to my status as a Hand or of my connection to the Emperor. I would have made a lousy spy if people knew. So, yes, I was surrounded by people, but I was still emotionally isolated from everyone." A small smile came to her lips. "Even Karrde didn't know about my Force talents or what I did prior to coming into his employment. Your father knew about me and so did Ysanne Isard." Mara paused. "But the first person that I was actually upfront with about my past…was you."

Luke smiled. "Was that when you revealed your true feelings for me on Myrkr…at blaster point?"

She gave him an embarrassed smile. "Maybe." She took a sip of her drink. "At the time I convinced myself that I simply wanted you to know what you were guilty of. It didn't seem right to kill a man who was totally clueless at to why he was going to die."

"See, being a naïve Farmboy does have its benefits. It bought me time to fully utilize my charm and manly magnetism on you."

"Pffff!" Mara snorted in disbelief. "Are you sure I was the only one with a brain injury on Nirauan?"

"I'm fairly certain although you do seem to have an effect on my brain." He grinned. "Next question? And remember, take it easy on me."

She looked up in thought. "You offered to bring me dancing. Do you even know how to dance?"

"Believe it or not, I do. I don't have a lot of practice, but I dare anybody to match me in doing the Ewok Celebration dance. He moved his hands in a swaying motion while he sang, " Yub nub, eee chop yub nub. toe meet toe pee chee keene, g'noop dock fling oh ah" He stood and held out an hand. "Come on, join me, you know the words."

She waved him off. "No way Farmboy, for all you know that was some primitive fertility dance."

He sat back down with a chuckle. "Force, I hope not. Leia was the only woman there and she was surrounded by a dozen Rogue pilots, Lando and Han." His eyebrows shot up. "Maybe that's why she looked so happy that day!"

She convulsed with laughter. "I didn't know you had a sense of humor."

He beamed at her cheerfully. "In the past there wasn't much to laugh about. It seemed like one awful event after another." His smile slipped from his face as he recalled all the war and hardship that he and his friends had suffered. He shook away the thoughts and brought his full attention back to Mara. He wanted to keep this light so he could hopefully earn another day in her company. "Anyway, I do know how to dance. I used to go out with the Rogues to dance clubs and I watched and learned to do some of the common dances. I even know how to do a few dance steps from the classics."

A slim eyebrow rose up. "You know classical dance?"

"Just the Coruscanti Waltz and the Hesitation Two Step."

She looked at him impressed. "Did your sister teach you those?"

"My sister taught me the Waltz, but the Two Step was taught to me by my Aunt Beru." He looked down at the floor embarrassed. "It was for a school dance."

She gave him a warm smile. "I can't imagine a Tatooine farmboy doing a two-step…especially at a school dance. And I could never picture you asking your Aunt to teach you. I thought you would be too shy."

He gave her a sheepish grin. "I didn't ask her. She caught me in my room rehearsing…practicing how to ask a girl to dance. I was looking into a mirror and saying, 'Hi, I'm Luke Skywalker, would you care to dance?' or 'I'm Luke would you like to dance with me?'" He stopped and chuckled at the thought. "Anyway, Aunt Beru caught me and ask who I was going to the dance with. Of course, nobody…but I sort of hoped I could build up the courage to ask a certain girl to dance with me."

Mara leaned back with a grin. "This sounds interesting. Was she your first love?"

Luke shook his head. "No, she didn't even know I existed. I had a crush on her from afar. And I had very little hope of getting a dance with her; she was the most popular girl in school. I told my Aunt that there was little chance of me getting a dance."

"So why did she teach you the two-step…that seems like an odd choice."

"My Aunt went to that very same school when she was my age and she knew the last dance of the night was always the same classical song…it was the school's way of clearing out the gymnasium. She also knew it was rare for a boy to ask a girl to dance since few knew those particular dance steps. She convinced me that if I learned the two-step I probably would be the only boy willing to ask a girl to participate in the last dance. So she taught me." He turned slightly red in the face. "My poor Aunt's feet were probably sore for weeks. I think I stepped on them three out of four times."

Mara smiled widely. "So did you get your dance with your dream girl?"

"I got a dance, but not with my intended dance partner."

"So what happened?" Mara asked.

Luke shook his head not knowing if the story would put him in a good or a bad light. "There's no story. I danced with somebody else, that's all."

She feigned annoyance. "I thought you were going to bare your soul to me…I guess not."

He flushed darkly. "Okay, I'll tell you. I was correct that my crush would be continuously bombarded with dance partners all night. It was the usual jocks, team captains, class leaders, and the cool rich guys with fancy speeders. Finally we came to the last dance and the band took a short break to set up a couple instruments. I had my eyes on her. Her name was Sandra. She was standing across the dance floor laughing with some of her girlfriends when a group of loutish smashball jocks came up behind me talking about who they were going to dance with. I thought it would be Sandra or one of her friends, but they were betting each other to dance with a friend of mine named Daria." He sighed but then continued. "She…I don't know how to put this without sounding crass. She was a bit unattractive, with a bad case of acne and braces. Her family was actually poorer than mine and she wore a hand-me-down dress and didn't have a stylist to do her hair like a lot of the other girls… but she was a really nice girl and smart. She would sometimes tutor me in history." He took a deep breath and continued. "Anyway these guys were betting on who would go dance with her. If the guy had the guts to dance with her they would get so much money from the others and if he could get the girl to kiss them there would be bonus credits. Of course they would all have a good laugh with the guys in the locker room the next day." He shook his head. "It was a cruel hoax."

Mara leaned forward transfixed by this story of Luke's childhood. "Go on."

"Well, when the band started tuning up for the final song I started moving towards Sandra. I could sense one of the smashball players walking behind me and heading toward Daria. At the last second I veered away from Sandra and came to a stop in front of Daria. We both knew each other so it shouldn't have been a complete shock to her, but I could see in her face she was overjoyed. I offered my hand and asked her if she wanted to dance."

He looked over to Mara and he could see her smiling at him. "She said yes and as we turned I noticed the smashball player looking surprised and unsure as to what to do. He turned to his friends and shrugged his shoulders and then I guess he decided to dance with a pretty girl from the 'in crowd'…so he asked Sandra."

Mara gave him a sad look. "Oh Luke, I'm sorry that you didn't get your dance with your crush."

Luke chuckled. "Don't be. I should have asked Daria to dance way before that. I felt bad because I realized I didn't because my young self was just as shallow as those guys. It turned out well though. Daria and I had a nice dance and I don't think I broke any of her toes that night. And those guys got what was coming to them."

Mara's eyebrows rose. "How so?"

"Well, one of Sandra's friends heard that the smashball players had dared their friend to dance with the most unattractive woman in attendance…and since he danced with her…well her and her friends thought they were trying to insult her. All the cool girls turned a cold shoulder to those guys for the rest of the school year."

Mara laughed as she stood up and walked over to her music player and put on a tune one could do a two-step to. She then walked over and offered Luke her hand, pulling him out of his seat. "I would be honored if you would dance with me."

Luke grinned. "You're not doing this as a cruel bet, are you?"

She pulled him into her arms as they started the dance. "Maybe somebody bet me to dance with the most handsome Jedi in the room."

"Then I am a very lucky that Corran is not here."

She gave him an inviting smile, her eyes dancing as she leaned in closer to him and whispered into his ear. "Shut up and dance, Farmboy."