A/N: This chapter concerns events from The Mandalorian Chapter 16: The Rescue, The Book of Boba Fett Chapter 6: From the Desert Comes a Stranger, and The Mandalorian Chapter 19: The Convert.

Because there really is no clear timeline for how long Luke trained Grogu before Grogu left, for the sake of this fic I'm assuming he was only there a few months.


Ossus, 9 ABY

.

Mara was on the bridge of the Wild Karrde when the comm came in.

Ghent the slicer-Karrde's youngest, smartest, and most oblivious employee-raised his hand like he was in school. "Captain? You have a priority message on your personal frequency."

Other than raising his eyebrows, Karrde gave no reaction as he crossed to the comm station. Mara paid no attention; she had other tasks to attend to, and Karrde's business was his own. But then he moved behind her and cleared his throat. "Mara, would you assist me in my cabin, please?"

Alarm bells went off in her head. She had no pretenses about Karrde's intentions towards her, but why else would he want to speak to her alone in his bunk? Had to be regarding Imperial activities. He knew an abbreviated version of her history in the Empire, and she wouldn't put it past him to have done his own research.

She stood, pushing away her trepidation. "Sure, Captain." She followed Karrde out of the bridge, keenly aware of everyone's eyes on them.

They could keep wondering. Although Ghent would probably tell them all about the transmission as soon as they were out of earshot.

Mara crossed her arms and leaned against the bulkhead in Karrde's cabin. "What's the problem?" she asked, as he closed and locked the door. Only her deep trust in the man kept her from bolting from the room.

"I just received an interesting query. From Luke Skywalker."

Her arms dropped. He wanted to talk to her about Skywalker.

She should have bolted.

It had only been a few months since they'd seen each other on Chandrila. Since then, he'd sent her a message once, wishing her a happy birthday of all things. She'd replied out of courtesy, and wished him luck establishing his training temple-a nice way to tell him "don't even think about asking me again."

And now he was going over her head and contacting her boss.

Millions of questions went through her mind. She blurted out the most obvious. "Why the hell did he want to talk to you? And why did he have your comm frequency?"

Karrde tapped the front of his jacket. "Information broker, remember? Skywalker and I spoke at the ball in Chandrila. I offered to do him a favor if he ever required Jedi knowledge."

Mara sputtered. "And why the hell would you offer to work for him for free?"

"He's a Jedi Knight, Mara. I figured having him on our side would be advantageous in the long run."

Her fists clenched at her sides. "Jedi Knights are supposed to be on everyone's side." Why did this piss her off so much? Karrde was an adult. He was the captain for Force sakes. He could talk to Skywalker all he wanted as long as he kept her out of it.

Which, by bringing her to her cabin, he obviously wasn't doing. "So he wanted information about the Jedi?" Did Karrde suspect her ability to use the Force? Was that why he'd wanted to speak to her in private? She braced herself to lie through her teeth. If Karrde knew she could use the Force, and he already knew she was an Imperial agent, he would put two and two together. She couldn't deal with him knowing she'd worked directly for Palpatine.

That Palpatine had been inside her mind.

Karrde shook his head. "Actually, no. He wanted information about Moff Gideon."

Mara's jaw snapped shut. Gideon was the monster who had destroyed Mandalore. She'd wanted nothing to do with him even when she was still in the Empire. "He was executed for war crimes."

"Apparently not. He faked his death and is part of what the Imperial remnant is now calling the Shadow Council."

Mara buried her face in her hands. Imperials always came up with the worst names. "Kriff. You knew about this?"

"Word's been getting around. It's why we've been staying close to Coruscant and Chandrila lately. I prefer to keep clear of any remaining Imperial entanglements."

"That better not be for my sake."

"Not solely yours." Karrde cocked his head, examining her like some sort of therapist. "Do you have any idea where Gideon might be holed up?"

Mara shook her head. "He's smart enough not to stay in one place for long. Doubt he has enough resources to retake a Star Destroyer, though. Plus, it would garner too much attention."

Karrde nodded. "That was my theory, as well. Still, any cruiser of his would be hard to break into." He stroked his goatee as he stared at the ground.

Mara blinked at him, still completely off balance by his request. "I don't get it. Why would Skywalker want to know about Gideon?"

"I wondered the same thing. I assume the New Republic will be launching an offensive against him soon, and Skywalker decided to call in his favor for any possible intel."

"But Skywalker's not involved with the New Republic military anymore."

Karrde met her gaze. "Curious, isn't it?"

Mara nearly growled. "If you think I have any sort of insight into Skywalker's mind, you're sorely mistaken. I've spoken to him a total of three times." And every second of each encounter had been emblazoned onto her memory.

"Do you know what else he could want with Gideon?"

Mara threw up her hands. "I don't know! Probably some damned Force thing." She almost added that she wouldn't know anything about that, but she clamped her mouth shut. Offering Karrde additional information would be a huge tell. If he didn't already suspect something. "Was there anything else?"

Karrde shook his head. "Thank you, Mara. No need to keep this conversation a secret, by the way. I'm sure Ghent has blabbed to everyone already."

Mara rolled her eyes. "Why you let him have comm duty is beyond me."

"No point keeping him away when he could slice into the system."

Mara snorted, but that was as much mirth as she could manage. Her mind whirled with possibilities. Was Skywalker going to march onto Gideon's cruiser and attempt to take him out? And if so, why? He'd very deliberately left military action to his friends in the New Republic.

No, there had to be some other reason. Something to do with the Force, like she'd told Karrde.

But Skywalker had contacted Karrde for help. Not Mara.

Apparently, he was done asking her to join him.

Why the kriff did that bother her so damn much?


A week after Skywalker contacted Karrde, the crew was abuzz with the story of his daring rescue. The fire team infiltrating Gideon's cruiser was impressive enough. But Ghent had somehow managed to obtain the security footage, and Skywalker's rampage through the cruiser had been played ad nauseum in the Wild Karrde's mess.

Although rampage wasn't the right word to describe it. Skywalker had been calculating, serene, and invincible. Like the Jedi of old.

The first time, Mara had watched the footage from the doorway, unable to move or speak while she watched Skywalker slice his way through a battalion of Dark Troopers to get to the bridge and rescue a being the same species as the old Jedi master Yoda, but much younger. The exchange between Skywalker and the fire team was barely audible, even with Ghent's handiwork, but it was clear Skywalker was there to take the child to be trained in the ways of the Force.

When he'd spotted her, Ghent had waved from his seat at the main table. "Mara, did you see this? Can you believe it? It's like a holofilm!"

Mara had swallowed hard, and made a mental note to eat in her room until Ghent became fixated on some new vid. "Yeah. It's incredible."

Unlike everyone else, she wasn't surprised by Skywalker's feat. He had been alone with Vader and Palpatine and lived to tell the tale. But it was extremely hard to rectify the man waging war in the security footage with the quiet, affable man she'd shared... something with.

And, to her immense embarrassment and annoyance, she couldn't understand why Skywalker had asked Karrde for information but hadn't asked her for help infiltrating Gideon's ship. What if the fire team hadn't been able to take over the bridge? What if they'd faced stronger resistance? What if those droids had been resistant to lightsabers?

Skywalker hadn't considered any of that. He'd been willing to fight alone. All to rescue someone else he could teach to be a Jedi.

She hated how that made her feel.

At least she wouldn't have to worry about running into him anytime soon. He'd be occupied on Ossus for the foreseeable future.

She'd have to make sure she was occupied, too.


A few months later, Karrde called an emergency meeting on the bridge.

"I'll get right to the point." He clasped his hands behind his back and stood at the rear of the bridge, glancing at them each in turn. Mara did not like the grave look on his face. "It has come to my attention that Moff Gideon has gone missing from New Republic custody."

Kriff. Mara hated being right about things like this. A shiver of foreboding went down her spine. That fire team should have let him kill himself. "He broke out of prison? How?"

"It was during transit. Must have been the work of the Shadow Council."

Mara scowled. Damn Imperials couldn't leave well enough alone and restart their lives like she had. At least Palpatine and Vader were dead. She picked at her fingernails as Karrde explained everything he knew, which wasn't much. The New Republic itself was just as perplexed about how Gideon escaped and were keeping whatever intel they had close to the chest.

Karrde sighed and rubbed his goatee. "I'm telling you all this because Gideon running around again will affect our business. For the foreseeable future, we'll stick to loyal New Republic territory. No point in taking unnecessary risks when we make more than enough profit in those areas."

The rest of the crew murmured its assent. Mara rubbed her face as a new implication of Gideon's escape ran through her mind. Skywalker had rescued that child to train in the Force. If Gideon was free, would he go after Skywalker for revenge? It's what most Imperials would do in his position, and Gideon was nothing if not a typical Imperial.

A vision of Gideon tracking down Skywalker and bombarding Ossus from orbit made her shiver.

Karrde ended the meeting and left the bridge with Aves in charge of the shift. Mara was on duty, but she told Aves she'd be right back and hurried after Karrde.

She cornered him in the mess and shut the door. Thank the Force Ghent had finally taken down that vid of Skywalker. She didn't know if she could handle watching it now.

"How did you hear about Gideon breaking out?" she demanded without any preamble.

Karrde cocked his head at her. "The usual NR sources. Why? Do you not believe them?"

She ignored his question and countered with one of her own. "Does Skywalker know about it?"

Karrde frowned in confusion... and then realization dawned on his face. "I don't know. I assumed someone in the New Republic would notify him."

"If they know how to get a hold of him," she said pointedly. "And if the information about Gideon hasn't been deemed classified."

"It has." Karrde wet his lips. "You saw what he did on Gideon's cruiser, Mara. I think he can take care of himself."

The hair on the back of Mara's neck stood on end. Skywalker shouldn't have to take care of himself. There was no reason for him to stand alone all the time.

Unless that was how he'd decided to live his life from now on.

She blew a strand of hair off her face. She was being ridiculous. As if her rebukes had any affect on his decisions as a Jedi.

Whatever. Skywalker wasn't her friend, but he didn't deserve to be hunted down by Gideon, either. Not after the way he'd saved the galaxy.

When had she started thinking of Palpatine's death as saving the galaxy and not ruining her life?

She worked moisture back into her throat, keenly aware Karrde was studying her every move. Let him make his theories. "With your permission, I'd like to tell him about Gideon's escape."

Karrde nodded. "Of course. I'll input his comm frequency right now." He moved to the comm station in the corner of the galley.

Even though he couldn't see her, Mara shook her head. "I mean in person, Karrde. I want to tell him in person."

Karrde stopped short. "You want to meet with Skywalker?"

She lifted her chin. "Is that a problem?"

He turned around, slowly, his face a blank slate. Damn him for being able to do that better than she could. "That should be doable. Aves can pick up your duties while you're away."

"I won't be long."

"Do you even know where he is?"

She clenched her fists, remembering the last time they'd said goodbye. Apparently Skywalker's location was a secret to the greater galaxy, but not to her. That should mean something.

Yet he hadn't asked for her help with Gideon. Is that why she was set on informing him in person? To tell him off?

She forced her hands to relax. She was being stupid. She'd grown a damned conscience over the past nine years and had no reason to wish harm on Skywalker anymore. That was all. Plus, he'd helped capture Gideon, and the more Imps ended up in prison, the better. "He said he'd be on Ossus." She trusted Karrde to keep that secret close to the vest.

Karrde nodded knowingly. "That makes sense. It has Jedi history."

Mara narrowed her eyes. What did Karrde know about Jedi history? She shook her head. Didn't matter. Karrde knew something about everything. "So, yeah. I'll head out right away if that's not a problem."

Karrde cocked his head at her again. She could see the questions in his eyes, not to mention feel them in the Force. She was still a puzzle to him, and he believed Skywalker was one of the missing pieces. Let him think all he wanted, as long as he let her go.

Even if he said no, she'd go anyway.

Karrde gestured toward the door. "Of course, Mara. Safe travels."


It only took a day to get to Ossus, but Mara was on edge the entire time. Logically she knew the chances of Gideon tracking down Skywalker before she got there were miniscule. Plus, Skywalker would probably be able to sense an impending attack through the Force. Didn't matter to her, though. For some damn reason, she wanted to see this through to the end.

She'd gotten soft after the fall of the Empire. That fact didn't make her as mad as it used to.

Ossus was a lush planet, its surface painted with blues and greens. As Mara studied the navicomputer to determine her approach, she realized she had no idea where the hell Skywalker was on the surface. She didn't have time for a methodical search, and the planet had no settlements or landmarks to make an educated guess of his location. She'd have to fall back on old tactics from her days as the Emperor's Hand.

She leaned forward in her chair and stretched out with the Force.

Skywalker's presence was like a physical blow sending her back against the cushion. She felt his tentative probing, a tendril into her mind. Mara?

She instantly pulled away. No. She didn't want anyone else in her head ever again. Not even Skywalker.

But she had no other way to locate him. She squeezed her eyes shut and forced herself to reach out again. I'm coming in. Where are you?

She could feel his curiosity, but she kept her mental shields high-not that Skywalker couldn't break them down if he wanted to. But he kept his distance, and simply sent up what she could only describe as a flare in the Force. After that, it was easy to determine his coordinates. She let the autopilot do the work, still reeling from that short mental contact. It hadn't felt smothering, like Palpatine, but the reminder was enough.

She landed in a clearing, focusing on the tasks of flying, pushing aside the stupid nerves bubbling to the surface. After the ship was powered down she stayed in her chair for a long moment, staring at her hands. Her stomach was about to tie in knots. Coming to an unsettled planet to warn Luke Skywalker of impending danger might have been the stupidest idea she'd ever had.

As she thought his name, her head jerked up. He was standing a hundred or so meters away, watching her through the viewport. His hand came up in greeting when they locked eyes. She didn't know what else to do, so she waved back, feeling like an idiot.

Blowing out a breath, she jumped to her feet and hurried out of the shuttle. Get it together, Jade. It's just Skywalker.

Just Skywalker. That was the problem.

She stomped down the ramp, letting her annoyance fuel her. Annoyance was better than insecurity. Annoyance was much better than fear.

She stopped at the bottom of the ramp and glanced around, taking in the surrounding area. Even nine years out of the Empire, she couldn't stop thinking like a spy. Maybe that wasn't a bad thing. It had served her well in Karrde's organization so far.

"Mara," Skywalker said, his lips turning up in an approximation of a smile. He wore that boring black Jedi attire again. She'd liked the suit better, but she supposed that wasn't practical for Jedi training. "I never expected to see you here."

She shrugged, refusing to let him get the upper hand. "I like to be full of surprises," she said. Skywalker flat-out grinned at that, like he was remembering an old joke. She didn't bother asking him to explain it. "Nice place you got here," she continued. In the distance, droids constructed a large, circular building. The only other structure she could see was a smaller building made of the same types of stones. "You at least got a refresher?"

"I don't smell, if that's what you mean."

"I'll take your word for it." She moved closer, leaving the ramp down. Wasn't like anyone was gonna barge into her ship and steal her stuff. Speaking of... she glanced around again, reaching out with the Force as she did so. Skywalker was the only being she could sense. "Where'd the baby Yoda go?"

Skywalker chuckled. "His name is Grogu."

"Whatever. Where'd he go?"

He sighed and glanced at his feet. "Perhaps we should sit down."

"I don't expect to be long, Skywalker."

"Call me Luke. All my friends do."

She stiffened. "I'm not your friend."

"I'd like you to be." He turned around and gestured for her to follow him. She huffed but trudged behind him anyway. It was all she could do not to roll her eyes at his back. He'd probably know she did it.

Knowing his idealism, he probably wouldn't care.

They ended up on a bench overlooking the construction. Mara pointed at the building. "Is that going to be your training temple?"

"The main building, yes." Skywalker sat up straight, but there wasn't as much pride in his eyes as when she'd seen him before. "It will take a while before this place becomes what I envision. If it ever gets there in my lifetime."

Mara eyed the spider droids doing all the work. "You call in old favors for those things?"

"Maybe."

"You called in another favor recently."

Skywalker nodded knowingly. "Karrde told you I inquired about Gideon."

"No, Karrde asked me what I knew about Gideon. What I don't understand is why you didn't ask me directly."

He shrugged. "I didn't think you would appreciate that. You never seemed to want to talk about your past in the Empire."

"Yeah, well, I never had an important reason to do so before."

"Letting someone get to know you isn't important?"

Mara growled low in her throat. She was supposed to be asking the questions here. "Fine. If you didn't want to make me uncomfortable and ask about Gideon, why didn't you at least ask for my help infiltrating his ship?"

Skywalker watched the droids work. For a moment, his eyes looked far away, and she wondered if he could sense some disturbance in the Force. But then he looked back at her, his blue eyes clear but unreadable. "I wasn't sure what I'd be up against. It was better to go on my own."

"Seriously? What happened to two Force users are better than one?"

"I asked you three times if you would consider my offer to join me. You made it quite clear you didn't want to come."

She almost threw up her hands in exasperation. "Yeah, to explore the galaxy! I'm a lot better in a fight.

He bit his lip like he was suppressing a smirk. "I'm beginning to see that."

She looked away and shook her head. "You fought your way through Gideon's ship to rescue that child-Grogu. The only reason you would do that is because he was strong in the Force."

"That's not the only reason I would rescue someone."

Of course the noble Jedi Luke Skywalker would think that way. "Okay, fine. But that is why you rescued him, isn't it?"

"Yes. I brought him here to be my first student."

"Then where is he?"

Skywalker looked away, sadness crossing his usually serene features. It was the first time his composure had cracked since she arrived. He leaned back on his hands, and didn't look back at her as he spoke. "He decided to leave."

Mara jerked away from him. Skywalker had risked his life to rescue Grogu, and Grogu had just left after a few months? "That doesn't seem very grateful." She didn't mean for that to come out as angry as it sounded.

Skywalker waved a hand, still not looking at her. "Don't blame him. I gave him a choice to continue training as a Jedi with me, or to return to his Mandalorian family. I could sense attachment in him, and knew if he wasn't able to let that go, he would never reach his full potential as a Jedi. Even worse, that attachment could lure him to the dark side."

Mara stared at him for a long moment. "Well that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard."

His head snapped back toward her. "Excuse me?"

"Why the hell would he have to choose between his family and being a Jedi? Why can't he have both?"

Skywalker blew out a breath. "This is the way it was done before. Attachments get in the way of the will of the Force. That's why children were taken to the temple as younglings and raised there." His gaze shifted, darkness crossing his expression. "Attachments corrupted Jedi in the past. I can't let that happen again."

Mara stared at him, unable to believe what she was hearing. "That's shavit, Skywalker. Attachments are what help people." She should know; if Karrde hadn't accepted her into his organization, where would she be now? Even Skywalker's kindness during their first meeting had made her start to believe there was more to the galaxy than simply scraping by day to day, hating herself for what she'd been... and what she no longer was. "Besides, this isn't the Jedi of old. They failed for a reason. This is your order, to build as you see fit."

"I can't just ignore something like this, Mara."

"Why not? You have a family, don't you?"

He refused to look at her. "That's different."

She pressed her palms on the bench and leaned toward him. "Is it, really? What are you going to tell your nephew when you train him? That he can't see his parents anymore?" She snorted. "I'm sure that would go over well with your sister."

His expression turned pained. "This isn't your business."

"Apparently not." She rose to her feet and started to walk away in frustration, but made herself turn back around. She'd come here for a reason. "Gideon broke out of prison."

Skywalker's brows drew together as he looked back at her. "I felt a disturbance in the Force. I guess that was it."

Or maybe it was me being pissed at you for not asking for help. Mara kept that thought safely in the shielded part of her mind. "I figured he'd come after the kid again. But he's gone, so... " Mara waved her hand. She hadn't needed to come here at all. She really was stupid.

"Thank you for warning me. Does Karrde have any idea what Gideon will do next?"

Mara shrugged. "He's as in the dark as you are. Not a place he likes to be."

Skywalker swallowed. "I know the feeling."

Mara rubbed her forehead. "Look, maybe you should leave the planet until the situation with Gideon blows over. Just to be safe. He's not above coming after you for revenge even if Grogu isn't here."

Skywalker stared at the construction droids. "Don't worry, Mara. I'll be fine."

She snorted. "Yeah, I'm sure you will."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"That you're apparently hell bent on doing everything yourself!"

He stood and moved toward her. With any other person, it would be seen as an intimidating gesture, but not Skywalker. "Why do you care how I rebuild the Jedi Order? You have no intention of becoming one."

His rebuke stung more than it should have. She shook it off. "I care because I'm a person who lives in this galaxy. If the Jedi are the guardians of peace and justice, then the decisions you make here will affect everyone."

He sighed heavily, head hanging low. "Yes. I know."

Okay, that probably wasn't the most tactful way to get through to him. But this was no time for tact. "Have you at least spoken to your sister about this?"

"She chose not to finish her training."

"That's not what I asked. You trained her to begin with. You plan on training her son. Shouldn't she get some sort of say in how things are run? What about any other Force users you run across? What if they're our age, or older, and have families of their own? Are you really planning to take children away from their parents?" Her voice was growing shrill, and she forced herself to stop talking, but she couldn't stop her anger from boiling. Her repressed memories were almost as bad as the real ones.

Skywalker sighed again and rubbed his forehead. Dark circles surrounded his eyes, and the lines on his face were more pronounced than ever. "Why are you here, Mara?"

She frowned. If he thought he could throw her off balance, he was sorely mistaken. "I told you. To let you know Gideon escaped. I thought you'd want to know."

"But why are you here?" He gestured around them with both hands. "You didn't need to tell me that in person. Is it just to berate me for my choices?"

Her fists clenched. "I came here because, despite…" She trailed off, confused about how to describe their parallel histories in the Empire and Rebellion, their differing views on the Force, and his status as a Jedi and hers as a smuggler. "Everything," she settled on, "I was actually starting to like you. And I don't want to see you get hurt."

She looked him up and down, once again wondering why the hell she had decided to come here. When the hell she had started to care.

And if Skywalker's thoughts on attachment meant that his feelings for her were way different than she thought about him.

Some questions were better left unanswered.

Her jaw set, but it wasn't in anger this time. "But you're fine, so I guess I can leave. Take care of yourself, will you?" She meant that in more ways than one.

She made it halfway to the boarding ramp before Skywalker called out to her. She turned back to him, mental shields still raised, but willing him to see the truth in her words.

He lifted his chin and didn't back down as he told her, "I'm sorry."

She raised her chin back at him. Her throat constricted and she wasn't sure how to respond. In the end, she simply repeated, "Take care of yourself, Skywalker."

She walked up the ramp of the shuttle, wondering when she'd see him again.

For the first time, she hoped it would be soon.