Demendora: I hope to see Luke's adorable smile again, too. You're so right, he deserves so much more than this. That's exactly how I felt post-Sacrifice. Thank you so much for reading!

Rarobin: Thank you so much for the lovely compliment. That really means so much to me as I've put a lot into this fic. I am such a Luke fan and I want nothing for him but happiness and love. I hope you'll enjoy this next chapter, too!

EmeraldEyedJedi: hahaha, I did! I'm wondering what you'll think of the ending of THIS chapter... Thanks!

Ellaisintheair: It made me sad to write it. I'm so glad you're hooked and enjoying. Thanks much!

LynnO.o: You'll find out if Mara's on the other end in this chapter! I'm sorry for making you sad. I hope the rest of the fic will make up for it. Thank you!

Salanderjade: Thank you so, so much. I love your 'heart-whole' comment and hope to bring that to Luke through the course of this fic.

CHAPTER 3

He felt a strange tug at his body, in his body, but didn't move. He merely blinked and then looked around. He was standing in the middle of a room, a room that looked very much like the living room he had just left. He reached out with the Force but didn't feel anyone close. The apartment felt unoccupied and cold.

The furniture around him was different, as were the family holos staring at him from the walls. But he was pretty sure it was the same apartment he had just left, as the layout and view from the window were the same. He was on Coruscant then, but was he on his Coruscant?

He quickly exited the door to the landing pad and jumped up to the next level skywalk. He wandered down the long corridor before stopping to lean against the wall to look at Naelli's machine. It was dark again, the screen blank. He turned it on and noticed a different set of numbers and code, and fervently hoped that was the code back to where he had come. He now had twenty-four hours in this strange but familiar place. Ben's face suddenly came to mind but he pushed it away, knowing that he would be back home to his son soon.

Besides, Ben was on Adumar, and assuming time worked the same in the parallel universe he now presumably occupied, he could make his way back in a few days. Maybe he would treat this as a vacation from his responsibilities. He hadn't taken a vacation in years, though he and Mara always kidded about bringing Ben to the place they had honeymooned and showing him the breathtaking sunset over the crystal clear water. To finally take the time they deserved to be a family, to eat in restaurants and collect shells on the beach. Luke closed his eyes and sighed.

The idea of Mara on a beach collecting shells was so silly, yet it made his heart ache to think that it would never happen. That it had never happened. They had spent their lives moving from one tragedy to the next and it seemed that their son was destined to do the same.

Shaking himself from his reverie, he continued down the corridor and found the exit doorway to the skyramp that connected to shops and clubs in the district. It was late at night, actually almost early morning, and everything seemed the same on Coruscant. The deli he often ate lunch at, two levels down, was there, and as he walked by he saw the night clerk cleaning up. The kid looked familiar, and Luke began to wonder again if he had actually jumped universes or not. Hesitantly, he cast out with the Force, and realized that he couldn't discern Ben's presence. The familiar bond that had been in place since he was born was dormant, and not in the way it was when Ben was mad at him and threw up his emotional shields. It was as if … as if Ben weren't here.

Surer now that he actually was in another reality, Luke pushed away the ache that the loss of Ben engendered. He would go home to him, but even if he didn't, Ben would be fine. In fact, maybe his son would flourish more without him than under his clipped tutelage.

In the meantime, he needed to learn more about where he was and who he was here. If he even existed here, and if Mara existed here. He jumped another level and landed outside of a noisy bar. The flashing lights made Coruscant seem almost itself again, though the signs of Vong reshaping were visible—the loss of the Manarai mountains a noticeable scar in the distance. Mara had often stared off toward the mountains as she sipped her morning coffee in their home on Coruscant, before the war. He could still picture her standing there, the light igniting her hair and giving her a glow of youth and vitality.

Mara. Just the thought that she might be alive here, somewhere in this galaxy, took his breath away. To think that she was living and breathing, vital and full of life, not cold and stiff as she had been when he kissed her one last time in the morgue when he had gone to identify her body…it brought him to the brink of tears and he blinked harshly, fighting to bring his emotional reaction under control.

Ideally he could go to the Jedi Temple to find the information he craved, but he didn't know his status in the galaxy and didn't want to show up and confuse any Jedi who might think that Master Skywalker had just retired to his rooms for the night. That is, if here in this galaxy he was even a Jedi at all. Maybe he was a moisture farmer on Tatooine still, or perhaps his father had never been lured to the Dark Side and he and his mother lived. The possibilities were endless, and he grew excited in the face of them. He realized that he needed to get to a HoloNet station to look up a few things.

.

.

As he slipped into the library, he began to wish that Artoo were with him. He had left him with Ben, knowing the droid would look after his son. He trusted the little droid far more than most people he had ever known in his life. If Artoo were with him he could have plugged in to a jack and found the information he needed within moments. He actually smiled to wonder if there were another R2-D2 droid in this galaxy. He hoped so.

Unsure as to Luke Skywalker's status in this parallel dimension, he had erected a force disguise, rolling his eyes at the small voice in his mind that criticized him using the Force too recklessly. That small voice sounded a lot like Mara, and it was a comfort as much as it was an annoyance at times. Sometimes you just had to use the Force and this was one of those times.

He had chosen Coruscant University's library because it was always open, catering to students who kept odd schedules. He signed in at the front desk and got a temporary HoloNet password after filling out some paperwork with a fake name and address. He logged into the system and typed MARA JADE into the search engine.

Before he could even register what he was seeing the results were in front of him, images of Mara and entries that contained her name. As the HoloNet could be full of fiction and out-right lies, he chose the entry from the Coruscant Encyclopedia and began to read.

.

.

He left the library in a daze, unsure as to what to do next. He was disoriented and tired, mind racing with all that he had learned from the HoloNet, of all the similarities and differences in this new galaxy .

And he couldn't help but think he didn't belong here.

But he couldn't force himself to go back. He had proof now that Mara was here, that she lived mainly on Coruscant, and that… that she had loved him, had been married to him. Well, to his double. She was the mother of two children… two! He remembered how scared Mara had been when she had first become sick, that they had missed their chance to have children and how happy they were when Ben was born and Mara had regained her health.

And now here, in this time and place, his Mara had two children… not his, not really, and he didn't know what to think or how to process it all. So he just kept walking, not really paying attention but knowing that he was heading for the Jedi Temple on Coruscant that shone as brightly in the late evening lights as Yavin had in the jungle moon's sky.

The back of the Temple loomed in front of him, the transparisteel outer casing glowing with the dim inner eternal light that was never extinguished. He stood in front of it and watched as a lone figure descended the stairway that led from the private suites. The Force roared around him, heightening his senses and allowing him to see her clearly, as if he were closer than he was. Her red hair was pulled back into a loose pony-tail and she wore a Jedi robe and to Luke's eyes she was the most beautiful and breathtaking sight he had ever witnessed.

Mara Jade Skywalker was in front of him, and he had absolutely no idea what to do about it.

.

.

Breathing hard as if he had just been over-exerting himself, Luke watched as Mara continued down the stairs and onto a walkway one level up from where he stood. She kept walking and he grew frantic when he couldn't see her any longer, as she melded into a crowd and overshot his view. He Force jumped again, landing on the upper level, ignoring the looks of the crowd around him as he moved after Mara, her red hair a beacon even in the artificial lights of Coruscant's night.

He trailed after her, being careful to stay far enough back, remembering Mara's constant ribbing of just how unsubtle he could be. He had to be careful now because he didn't want to startle her, but it took all of his willpower not to run up to her and hug her or just look at her, to drink in the sight of the woman he still missed so much.

Mara was a dream in motion, and he found himself in a surreal sort of awe to just see her moving, walking. He remembered seeing her so unnaturally still and quiet in the morgue and how painful that had been. Mara had always been the most alive person he had ever known, so full of passion and fire and to see her cold and lifeless had been a punch in his gut.

He watched as she stopped at a small diner. He frowned, unable to go in or risk being caught. He stood next to a locked vendor cart and tried to look inconspicuous, checking that his Force disguise was still in place. He figured she must be getting a late dinner and wondered where the children were and why they weren't with her. After long, almost unbearable moments, she exited the shop again, and Luke let out a breath he hadn't even realized he'd been holding. She carried a bag of takeout with her, and headed back in the direction of the Temple.

Knowing that it was wrong and childish of him, he followed her again, unable to take his eyes from her, even as he took care to deflect the interest of the throngs of sentients around him. His tunnel vision had landed him in trouble before and he didn't want or need that to happen now, not when things were starting to look up for him again.

He trailed after her all the way back to the stairway he had first seen her on mere minutes before. His heart pounded and stomach clenched with loss as she went inside and left him alone again on the skywalk. It suddenly seemed quiet around him, even though the same never-ending traffic zoomed past and the crowds of people were as loud as ever. Unsure of what to do now, or where to go, he took an involuntary step forward, loathe to leave the Temple –and Mara- behind.

"Who are you?" a crisp voice demanded near his ear, startling him. His heart pounded furiously at the sound of the voice.

Mara's voice.

He tried to turn, but felt something hard jam between his ribs. "I asked you a question," she growled, standing close to him to disguise the blaster she now held on him. He wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry at the familiarity of the situation. "I want to know why you were following me."

"I… Mara," he said, dropping his Force disguise. "I didn't want to tell you this way…" Wagering that she wouldn't pull the trigger, he pulled away roughly and turned on her, breathing in sharply at the sight of her, so achingly close.

But there was no welcome in the narrowed green eyes that stared at him. And he didn't have time to move as her fist smashed into his face, knocking him back onto the sidewalk.

Holding a hand to his bleeding nose, a huge grin broke out across his face in spite of himself. "Gods, Mara," he said, looking up at her. "I've missed you."

.

.

She waved him into a chair at blaster point. She had spoken to him gruffly as she lead him in, telling him that she was taking him to her suite of rooms to keep from causing a commotion in the Temple proper with his appearance. Once in the suite he couldn't stop himself from looking around in awe, even as he held a handkerchief to his nose. This was the same suite he and his Mara had occupied in the Temple, but it was so different here, with holos of Mara's two children adorning the walls. The furniture was as practical and comfortable as it had been in his residence with Mara, but it all looked new, and different. They had made do with what furniture they could find in the aftermath of the war, but it looked as if this Mara had time to pick out pieces that she liked, and had time to make their suite into a home.

His eyes lingered on the holo closest to him, of the children, though he could hardly say they were kids any longer. The boy, Ben, looked to be the age of his own Ben, and his heart gave a tug at just how much this child looked like his. The same red hair, Mara's hair, and bright blue eyes. But he looked happier, and was smiling in the holo, his arm clutched around his sister.

Sister. A daughter. Reading about her on the HoloNet, Luke could almost understand just how his father had felt when he had learned of Leia's heritage. The reality of this child was amazing and so unexpected. He had known, of course, that each of these realities could take a different path, and that things could be so drastically different, but he had expected something along the lines of he and Mara not being together or that the Empire had never fallen. He had not taken the time to think about other children, and his heart tugged to see this woman who looked so like him, with her cleft chin and blonde hair. She was beautiful and somewhat older than Ben and he found himself wondering about her. All he'd read on the HoloNet only that her name was Betrys and that she was a Jedi Knight.

"Who are you?" Mara's voice cut into his musings and he swung his attention back to her, dropping his hand from his face. The bleeding had stopped, but his nose was still tender and he suspected it would bruise. Still, he was unable to stop another smile from spreading across his face. She looked so much as she had before and so alive that it made his heart throb with happiness.

He felt her probe the edges of his Force sense and opened it completely to her, not wishing to hide anything from her. "Mara, my name is Luke Skywalker. I'm not your husband, but I am Luke."

Mara's lips pressed together tightly. "You're not Luke Skywalker and quite frankly I'm getting sick of people pretending to be him. He's dead and he's not coming back."

Luke looked into her eyes and saw the pain there, mostly hidden by the anger she was projecting at him. He understood all too well how she felt. "I know he's dead… I read it on the HoloNet. But like I said, I'm not claiming to actually be him, well, from a certain point of view. But I am Luke Skywalker…and I can prove it to you."

Fingers turning white about the handle of her blaster, Mara let out a huff of unamused laughter. "Let me guess. You want to show me your bionic hand or you want to tell me just how you felt when Darth Vader told you he was your father. Save it, I've heard it all before."

He wondered what she meant about that, but didn't waste time with the thought. "Look, can't you feel me, Mara? You have to feel that my presence in the Force is like your husband's…"

"You are nothing like my husband!"

Luke raised a hand in a time out gesture. "I didn't mean, that… look, just … my mental shields are down. Look into my mind, and you'll see what I am Luke Skywalker. My wife was Mara Jade Skywalker. It will sound completely crazy, but after all we've been through together, I trust that you will hear me out. I'm from a parallel reality."

"That's a new one," Mara growled after a beat. "I'll give you points for originality. But again, I want to know what you want. Why were you following me?"

"I was following you because I wanted to see you," Luke said, swallowing hard. "I haven't seen you in so long, Mara… Please, just look into my mind. We can clear this up in a matter of moments." He looked her straight in the eye and dropped every shield, reaching to her in the Force.

"Stay out of my mind!" Mara snarled at him, and he almost grinned at the familiar refrain before he could stop himself.

"Please, Mara. I would never invade your mind—look into my mind, instead. Please," he said again, ready to beg if necessary.

After a long and terrible moment of visible hesitation, she reached out to him through the Force. He saw the blaster tremble in her hand as she looked into his memory and saw that he was telling the truth. She saw that he was Luke Skywalker and that he had been married to Mara Jade Skywalker. He let her see snapshots of their life together and to see their son, and then allowed her to feel his anguish at Mara's death, following it with the vision that had led him to her. The effort of showing her all of these things was overwhelming, the lack of their Force bond making the transfer that much harder.

That was another thing he had not thought about, the fact that he would not have a Force bond with this Mara. That bond belonged to his Mara alone, but even as he sat there watching her react to what she was viewing from him, he could feel echoes of something, as if he could feel the phantom lines of the bond that had once existed with his wife. He wondered if she could feel it, too.

He finished with showing her how he come to be in her time, using the device that he carried safely in his pocket. The weight of it pressed heavy against his thigh, a reminder that this was not his Mara or his life, and that there was another place where he belonged.

Mara drew in a shaky breath and looked at him, but her eyes were still narrowed and hard. "The question doesn't change, Grand Master Skywalker. What do you want from me?"

"I don't… I missed you, Mara-"

"You missed me?" Her voice was laced with incredulity and she looked at him as if he had grown another head.

"Yes, and I know that we're not… I know that I'm not your husband, but-"

She cut him off again. "You're right. You're not my husband and you never will be."

Her eyes were wet now, damp with tears, and Luke's stomach plunged at the look of anger and betrayal there.

"Why are you here? Your wife is dead. You should have gotten over her, not come here to remind me of all that I don't have. Can't have. My husband is dead and has been gone for thirteen years. And now you're here, wearing his face…" She trailed off when her voice broke, looking away from him.

Luke jumped up from his chair, completely undone, as always, by her rare tears. He tried to move to her, to touch her, but she jerked away.

"Don't touch me," she hissed. She looked up at him, her eyes bright and damp but still hard. "What did you think was going to happen? Did you think you would show up here and I would jump into your arms and we would have some kind of happily ever after that you feel you've been denied?"

Luke had no answer for her, and just looked at her, swallowing hard, knowing she was right.

"If you truly are who you say you are then I know you're smarter than this, at least, my husband was smarter than this! He did not play so fast and loose with my emotions and would never have left our children. I saw Ben in your vision. Did you leave him alone in the place that you came from? What about our son, Master Skywalker?"

"Ben is sixteen, and a Jedi Knight. He's currently on a mission to Adumar. He's fine. He's so like you, Mara. Strong and resourceful, capable of things I would never be capable of."

"And our daughter? I didn't see her in the vision you showed me."

"We… Mara and I only had Ben," Luke said. Mara looked at him sharply, but didn't say anything further. She put her weapon back in her waist holster and sat down eyeing him until he sat, too.

She looked at his hand, resting on his knee. "Looks to me like you need to move on, Master Skywalker," she said, gesturing to the two bands he wore on his hand.

He had already noticed that her ring finger was bare. And her words hurt, but he was sure that was her intent. She wanted to hurt him like he was hurting her. "Maybe I don't find it as easy as you apparently have." He regretted the words almost immediately, but could do nothing to take them back.

Mara's mouth set into a straight line. "Where is it?" she asked harshly. "The device that brought you here? Where is it?"

"I have it," Luke said. "It's safe."

"Can I see it?"

Luke looked at her warily. "Why?"

"I think you know why," she answered. "You don't belong here."

He set his face, wanting to argue with her, but one look in her eyes told him that the damage was done. "You're right," he said at last, heaving a sigh. He suddenly felt ashamed at what he had done. "I don't." He pulled the device from his pocket and let her look at it. She took it after a momentary pause and examined it.

She held it gingerly, examining all sides before pressing it back into his hand. "Go back," she said.

Luke's finger hovered over the screen, and he reached out to press it.

"Wait!" Mara choked out, grabbing his ringed hand before his finger could make contact with the screen. She searched his face. "I-"

He met her gaze and their eyes locked, a moment lengthening between them until she squeezed his hand, panic in her eyes. He shook his head. "I was just going to turn it off. I can't leave, Mara… the device needs twenty-four hours to recharge."