Chapter Five-Part Two

The holo flickered on with the movie title blazing above the holoprojector: LUKE SKYWALKER AND THE DRAGONS OF TATOOINE!This was followed by the sight of an X-Wing fighter coming out of orbit and landing on a vast desert plain. The cockpit canopy popped open to show the pilot taking off his helmet to survey the landscape. He was blond and with a cleft chin…but that was pretty much the extent of his resemblance to the real Luke Skywalker.

Mara started laughing as the holo showed a very large actor climb out of the X-Wing and hop down to the desert floor. He was almost as tall as a Wookiee, with broad shoulders and a thin waist. Even though he wore a bulky orange flight suit Mara could see the bulging muscles of the man move under the clothing. She turned to her companion sitting next to her. "Luke, you really let yourself go since your rebellion days."

Luke gave her a tight smile. "That is Tondarz Trivette, six-time Galactic Bodybuilding Champion. He is about two heads taller than me and outweighs me by fifty kilograms. Why anybody would cast him to play Luke Skywalker I'll never understand."

Mara gave a hoot. "Oh, I understand!" At that point in the show the actor playing Luke had unzipped his flight suit and took off the top half, tying the sleeves around his waist. He was wearing a very shear tank top underneath that gave the audience an excellent view of his physique.

Luke gave a groan. "You aren't attracted to big muscular guys like that, are you?"

Mara smirked. "No, I'm attracted to small guys like you." She then laughed when Luke scowled at her.

The actor spent the next half hour moving around the desert sweating—his muscles glistening and flexing. Mara turned to Luke. "There is not much plot, is there?"

He shook his head. "Nope, There's just a big, sweaty, muscular guy, waving a lightsaber and later slaying a non-existent fire breathing dragon. They could have at least used a Krayt Dragon in the movie."

Mara shushed him as the hero crested a dune and saw a scantily clad woman tied to a post in the distance. The actor ran to the beautiful woman and untied her. She was disorientated from the heat but she was able to look up at the huge man holding her in his arms and say, "Who are you?"

"I'm Luke Skywalker, I'm here to rescue you!"

Mara just about fell out of her seat laughing. "Isn't that the line you gave your sister on the Death Star?"

Luke blushed. "Yes Mara. Can we turn this off?"

She tried to answer a couple times but continued laughing. Finally she composed herself long enough to say, "No, I want to see how this ends."

"It ends like all action movies. The hero gets the girl."

Mara gave him a wry look. "Is that how our story is going to end?"

He smiled. "I hope so." Luke looked up to the holo and covered his eyes. "I hate this part."

The actor and actress were now kissing and it was quickly turning into a romance scene. The fell down to the sand and were in an ardent embrace, kissing passionately. Mara frowned. "Luke you really should have brought that woman to a medical facility. She surely was suffering from heat stroke and dehydration."

"I know," Luke said with a mock look of embarrassment. "I really was a cad back then…taking advantage of disorientated women." He watched the scene and shook his head. "If they actually did that on the Tatooine desert they would get second degree burns…and the sand…they would be scrubbing sand out of…well, just about everywhere. Who has sex on desert sand?"

Mara started laughing again. "So this isn't a documentary? You don't sacrifice virgins to the sun gods to ensure a good water harvest?"

Luke snickered. "Luckily, no. If they did, me and half of the members of my school 's Droid-botics club would have been thrown to the dragons."

She laughed and then gave him a slow, knowing smile. "Luke Skywalker never got lucky while on Tatooine?"

He shook his head. "No, it didn't happen for me until after the battle of Yavin."

"Oh, the Rogue pilot scores. Who was she?"

Luke looked away. "I don't want to talk about that, Mara."

She crossed her arms across her chest. "I thought you wanted me to know everything about you. Don't you have knowledge about me?"

Luke sighed. "It's just that it wasn't my best moment. The Rogues got me drunk and I mean drunk. I woke up with two naked women in bed with me. I grabbed my clothes and ran out of my barracks room totally panicked. I don't know who they were and I don't know if we actually had sex." He looked away. "That is not something I would do sober and I am not proud of it. I don't take advantage of women."

Mara smirked. "It sounds like they might have taken advantage of you or the Rogues were playing a trick on you. That is a very common prank for military guys. You find your friend passed out and you then put him in a very compromising position so he wakes up in a panic."

Luke simply shrugged. Mara was about to say something else when the actor on the holo was attacked by a fire breathing dragon. The muscle-bound actor ignited a blue lightsaber and attacked the creature. After a series of back flips, front flips, cartwheels and other computer generated special effects the actor was successful in dispatching the dragon. There was then another mushy love scene between the actor and actress before the holo faded to black.

They sat silently for a moment. Luke was embarrassed by what he revealed about his Rogue days. Mara glanced over to him and gave him a wan smile. "Luke, don't be embarrassed. You said that when we bonded I saw everything about you…and I fell in love. The fact that you are not bragging about that event in your life tells me you are a good, kind man." She hesitated for a moment. "And knowing you, it probably was a Rogue prank."

He looked down at his hands in his lap. "Thanks Mara."

She leaned closer to him rested her head on his shoulder. "I'm not ready for the Force bonding…but I think I am ready to take this relationship to the next level"

Luke felt his stomach flip flop nervously. "What do you mean exactly?"

She reached a hand up to caress his face. "I mean we start with kissing, then maybe a little more than kissing…and see where it goes from there."

Luke chest tightened and he was having trouble breathing. Finally his chest loosened enough for him to form words. "That sounds… wonderful." He then leaned in and kissed her hungrily.

.

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The morning light passing through his bedroom curtains woke Luke early the next day. He turned and smiled when he saw Mara lying next to him. He snuggled up next to her, his warm flesh pressing against hers. He kissed along her jaw line and then gave her earlobe a gentle nibble. "Wake up sleepyhead," he whispered to her. "Do you want me to make you breakfast?"

She turned over and blinked at him with sleepy eyes. "See, that pick-up line did work for you."

He pulled her into his arms and gave her a passionate kiss. "I'd like to try another pick-up line. Will you marry me?"

She gave him a long contemplative look that made him nervous that she was going to say no. "Does that mean you will stop wooing me? Because I have come to like all the attention…especially the attention you gave me last night."

He smiled. "I will never stop wooing you. We can be married fifty years and I will still be your eager lover."

"Well then," she said with a smirk. "My answer is yes."

Luke felt like an enormous pressure was taken off his shoulders and he gave a happy sigh of relief. For the first time since their return from Nirauan he dared to believe that maybe this story was going to work out like the Holos—where the hero wins the heart and hand of the beautiful maiden. "Thank you Mara, thank you." He pulled her into his warm embrace as he buried his head into her shoulder. He was so happy he couldn't help but shed tears of joy.

He pulled away from her and tried to covertly wipe them away, but then he saw Mara was crying also. She reached up and wiped a tear off his cheek. "You don't have to hide your joy. I feel it to. It's a mixture of happiness and relief that you finally found somebody to travel with you in this journey of life. It is an amazing feeling."

Luke broke out in a wide smile. "It's a feeling I want to last forever."

Mara pulled him to her for a lingering kiss. When their lips parted she said, "Yes, forever."