We get ever more closer to Return of the Jedi...

DISCLAIMER: I don't always own Star Wars, but when I do, I'm George Lucas.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Mara jolted awake, breath heavy and heart pounding a parsec a minute against her ribs. She glanced over and saw Luke laying next to her, his arm thrown casually over the edge of the standard Alliance issued bed, on his stomach. His breath was even, signaling she hadn't woken him up with her.

She ran a hand through her tangled red hair and sighed. She'd had another nightmare. She was hoping that they would stop since she hadn't had one the entire time on Dagobah when she was sleeping next to Luke. There was something soothing about his presence. It calmed her soul and held her close to the light side of the Force.

Luke grunted and rolled on his back with a yawn, kicking at the covers to untangle them from around his legs. His eyes cracked open slightly, and then more when he saw her sitting up.

"Hey," he called out, reaching for her arm. "What are you doing up?"

"Just a dream," she smiled at him, doing her best to reassure him. He didn't buy it though.

"Nightmare?" She nodded. "What was it about?"

"Falling back into Palpatine's clutches," she murmured. Luke pulled her up against his chest and stroked her hair. They were fully clothed, having merely talked until they'd fallen asleep next to each other, but the way he held her was much more intimate than any other time before.

"That'll never happen," he assured her. "I won't let it. You and me, we gotta stick together."

"He killed you, Luke," she said, fighting back tears. "In my dream, he killed you. I felt you die. Gods, it felt so real. I felt your Force signature just scream out and vanish!"

"Hey, hey, calm down," he said. Mara looked up into his eyes. They were watering with unshed tears. "It didn't happen, it was just a dream. Just a dream. We still have a long time before we even confront the Emperor."

"Oh, Luke," she cried out, tears finally spilling over. She buried her head in his shoulder and squeezed her eyes shut. Luke pushed out with the Force and sent soothing waves to her while simultaneously making his Force Signature brighter and more unblocked than normal to her. Mara relaxed in his arms as she felt the soothing and almost permanent presence that was Luke.

"Better?" he asked and she pulled back and nodded. "Much, thankyou."

"Anytime," he said, and cupped her face in his hand. He stared down at her brilliant green eyes and used the pads of his thumbs to wipe away traces of tears. He kissed her lips softly, and Mara fell into the kiss, pressing herself against him in a sudden urgent need to feel him. All of him.

"Mara," Luke moaned out in between kisses. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled herself up his chest before straddling his waist. "Mara, what are you-?"

"Shh," she hushed. "Luke, I want this. I need you."

"Are you sure?" he asked, a little surprised but not against the idea at all. She nodded and kissed him again. He kissed back feverishly and rolled over so he was hovering over her. She arched her back against his, pressing her hips up into his. Luke gasped slightly at the sudden contact but instead ground against her. His fingers trailed along the hemline of her shirt, dancing almost before siding his hands up her waist and to her ribs, pulling the shirt with him.

Mara reached down and pulled up the garment, exposing her bare stomach and bra. Luke leaned down and kissed her on the lips again. They were loosing themselves to passion, and neither could care less.

"You are so beautiful," he whispered as their lips parted slightly. She grinned up at him and placed a hand on his cheek. He leaned in and kissed it.

"I love you," she whispered.

"Not nearly as much as I do, Mara," he whispered back, kissing her again. They fell into passion, each movement met by the other. . .

When Luke woke up the next morning, there was still a part of him that was surprised to find a thin arm draped on his chest. He smiled and looked over at the mop of red hair that was Mara. He leaned back on his pillow and stared up at the ceiling, grinning like a mad man.

Mara shifted against him, burrowing her head against his chest before yawning and rubbing her eyes with the hand that was draped on his chest. She looked up at him and grinned.

"Morning," he said.

"Good Morning to you too," she said and leaned up to kiss him. He pulled her up his chest and held her there, deepening the kiss. When they pulled apart for air, she leaned her forehead against his. Her red hair fell and curtained around them. They sat there for a long time, just staring into each others eyes before she smiled and whispered, "Morning," again.

"You already said that," he teased.

"It's a good morning," she countered. "Deserves to be recognized twice."

"Indeed it does," he agreed and kissed her again. "Too bad we don't have private showers."

"Why's that?"

"Cause a shower with you sounds like a good way to make a perfect morning better," he grinned.

"You're worse than a Corellian, you know that?" she laughed and then yelped as he rolled over and pinned her to the mattress underneath him.

"What was that you were saying?" he asked cockily.

"I said," she began, taunting him, "that you're worse than a Corellian."

"You're gonna regret saying that," he threatened lightly.

"I hope so," she grinned and kissed him. He deepened the kiss and they picked up from where they left off the night before...

"Luke!" Leia called out as she spotted him walking down the hallway. He turned and smiled widely as he saw her small form walking briskly towards him.

"Hey, Leia, what's up?" he asked. She grabbed his elbow and steered him into one of the side rooms nearby and locked the door once they were in. "Leia, what's going on?"

"Sorry," she said, glancing over her shoulder at the closed door. "But I'm breaking command code to tell you this. It hasn't been officially announced yet."

"If you're not allowed to tell me, why tell me?" he asked, thoroughly perplexed. Leia never broke out of her facade of stoic High Command.

"Because if anyone needs to be broken code for, it's you," she said. "This is important."

"Alright," Luke said uneasily.

"Luke," she began swallowing down her nervous energy. "Luke, one of our spies reported back on a possibility for the fleet shift."

"Really? That's fantastic," he smiled. Leia shook her head.

"No, they're building another one, Luke!"

"Another what?"

"Death Star."

It felt like all the oxygen got sucked out of the room. The first Death Star was a monstrosity if he'd ever seen one. The ability to blow up planets... well, it was not a good thing, that was for sure.

"They're what?" he choked out, hoping he'd misheard her.

"They're building another battle station with more power than the original," She explained. "Early specs indicate that it has a more precise targeting system, as well as increased power, and it's larger than the first and able to hold enough Troopers to take a system in a week."

Luke leaned back against the wall behind him. He ran a hand through his hair haphazardly, and exhaled a long stream of air.

"If the Empire ever finds our location once it's activated," he started, thinking aloud. "They won't send ground forces or take prisoners. They'll just eliminate us completely."

By the look on Leia's face, she'd already traveled this train of thought.

"Luke, we have to get those plans, and we need to discover what system they're constructing it in."

"We need to get Han," Luke said. "We need to first rescue him, then focus on the Alliance. If the Empire eliminates us first, Han will never be freed of the Carbonite."

Leia's face paled. "Chewie commed yesterday."

"And?"

"He said patrols around Mos Eisely are thinning, but not by much," she said. "We may have a window in a few weeks."

"Keep me updated," he said and Leia nodded. "Han is my friend too. Don't forget I want him back just as much as you do."

"Thanks, Luke," she smiled and hugged him. He grinned and hugged her back, giving her a helpful smile upon release. "I have to get back to Command now. They have me run a control check-in for the various spies. They call when they can, so we have to monitor the lines round the clock."

"Alright," he said. "I'll see you for dinner though. You're losing too much weight."

"I'm fine," she said, immediately the stoic senator.

"Leia, please," he pleaded and her facade softened.

"I'm sorry, Luke," she sighed. "I keep forgetting that you can see through me more than anyone."

"I'm still second to Han," he shrugged with a sly grin. She smiled weakly before looking back to the door for escape. "Go. You have work to do."

"Thanks again," she smiled and palmed open the door. She slid out into the hallway and back the way she'd come immediately. The door remained open, no one having hit the release. Luke leaned against the far wall and watched the various rebels pass by, unaware of the Jedi laying just a few feet over in the darkness.

Luke caught a tremor of Mara's Force Presence and grinned. She was headed this way. He masked himself deeply in the Force and waited for her to pass by the door. She passed the opening and he grabbed her arm and pulled her in, catching her unaware.

He triggered the door using the Force and it slid shut just in time for him to push Mara back against the door.

"You need to work on your Danger Sense," he whispered, inches from her lips.

"I'm an assassin," she whispered back. "My Danger Sense is impeccable. I sense no danger when I'm with you."

"You should," he grinned. Mara tilted her chin up and leaned closer to Luke. He kept their heads inches apart though.

"You're enjoying this far too much."

"You are too, you know it," he teased.

"Am not," she said. "I'd rather be kissing you right now."

"Really?" he raised an eyebrow. "Because personally I'd rather be sleeping with you right now."

"We're in a public room," she said.

"Who said it had to be here?"

"No one," she shrugged. Luke grinned crookedly.

"Wanna go back to my room?" he asked and she bite her lip, trying to arch herself against him.

"You really don't have to ask," she told him.

"I do, otherwise it's assault," he teased. She rolled her eyes.

"Let's go, Farmboy," she said and Luke released her wrists and pulled away from the door.

As soon as Mara was free, she darted forward and kissed Luke feverishly before pulling away abruptly.

"I win," she grinned and Luke stared back at her in surprise. His expression quickly turned predatory as he grinned evilly at her.

"You're gonna regret that, Jade," he threatened and she grinned and pressed her back against the door.

"Am I?" she asked, and palmed the door open, slipping out into the hallway with a playful grin and darting down in the direction of the quarters. Luke shook his head before running after her. It was going to be a long night.

I'd like to remind everyone that this is a T fic.

Now that that's out of the way! Can we say a big finally? And what about that Death Star?

We're going to have a time jump in the next chapter, skipping over six months. From there we start entering just before RotJ. I'm excited. The last few chapters had to happen but they were slow as hell to write.

NEXT CHAPTER: Chewie Returns from Tatooine

Oh, and I also want to thank you all for reading and reviewing! This is by far my most popular and most successful fic ever, and it means alot that people are actually reading it!