Chapter 11

To think I'd once complained about how clean the bars were on Coruscant seemed ironic now. If you went deep enough into the lower levels all that tidiness and pretense fell away in sheets. Down here, the air stunk of alcohol, and the never-ending sea of buzzing lights was enough to make your head ache.

But I did my best not to betray that I was anything but comfortable in the dank hole of a joint. Sitting at a back table, I kept my hood up, hoping the shadow it cast would be enough to obscure my identity. I took a sip or two of the cheap liquor in my glass, trying to ignore the stains on the other side of the rim. I almost smiled. At what point had I gotten spoiled to a degree of luxury?

On the other side of the bar, sitting at a corner table was an equally hooded stranger. Though, Luke Skywalker was no stranger to me. We thought it best to have Blent covered from multiple angles, and so we did. The mercenary in question was boldly sitting at a table in the center of the cantina. I didn't know much about him, but I could feel his brazen confidence rippling out through the Force. I found that strange, given he certainly hadn't succeeded at his mission of killing me or Luke.

I could only assume he had no worries about how he'd explain his failure to his contact. Likely he already had a new plan he would outline with them tonight. Whatever the case, we'd find out soon enough. As the minutes passed I could feel the stress tighten into a lump in my throat. I wasn't afraid of the conflict, but I hadn't to have my fears about Mica confirmed. Once we captured the contact and New Republic security made them sing, we'd know one way or the other if Becro was involved in all this.

Still, I tried to save the speculation and focus on the present moment. The Force was surprisingly bright here, likely given the number of living being crammed into such a small space. But even something about the Force felt dank here, not quite true darkness, but certainly not light. Ten more minutes went by before a sense caused me to glance up. Standing in the doorway of the bar was a young woman with fair skin and glistening white hair. But it was the unmistakable icy blue stripes in her eyes that finally made my heart sink.

She was a native of Becro, that much was clear. In spite of how out of place her regal bearing seemed, she boldly walked over to Blent's table. Once she sat down, he smiled at her with the sort of look only more than business partners would have. Reaching for her hand he gave it a seemingly affectionate squeeze. She returned the gesture, but the Force betrayed their true intentions. It was a nice cover for why there were really meeting, but I could feel how obviously fake it was. Glancing across the room at Luke, I could see we were both thinking the same thing.

Except, I always liked to improvise…

Throwing back my hood, I revealed my newly adorned blonde hair and blue eyes. A fake scar was tastefully added to my face just to finish the disguise. Walking boldly over to Blent's table I shoot him an annoyed smile.

"Whose your new friend, Cock?" I asked as I crossed my arms.

He looked up at me, a confused look in his eyes. "Excuse me, do I know you?"

"Really?" I said raising my tone just loud enough to start making a scene. "Is that all you can say to me now that you've got a fancy new girlfriend?" For just a split second I threw my glance over his shoulder to make sure Luke was following and getting into position. When I saw that he was, I went for it.

"I'm sorry but I don't know who you-"

"Save it, we're already through!" I shouted as I unceremoniously threw his drink in his face.

I felt his anger flair as he predictably reached for his blaster. It was a risky ploy, but all he needed to be was distracted and he was. In one swift moment, Luke's green blade was ignited and cut through the barrel of his weapon. The crowd shifted back against the far wall, wanting as much space as possible between themselves and any Jedi business.

Pulling my own saber and igniting it I dared his date to move.

Tossing back his hood Luke read them their rights. "You're both suspected of high crimes against both the New Republic and the Jedi Order. You're to be taken into custody at once."

"Really…?" Blent mumbled in a low tone as he stared viciously at me. Finally, recollection seemed to flair into his eyes. "So you're the Hand…?"

"I'm a Jedi," I spat back at him.

"What you are…" he said through gritted teeth. "Is a traitor!"

All at once his compressed anger flared into violence as he reached for a thermal detonator hidden on his belt. Our senses felt it as if it were happening in slow moment, but it wasn't enough to stop him from activating the timer.

His vendetta ran so deep it was even more important to him than his life…

I felt his hate against my skin; so poignant it was nearly tangible in the air. The crowd gasped as the first beep sounded followed by five more in rapid succession. He had set it nearly to immediate detonation. There wasn't time to think, to feel anything, and yet…somehow, I did.

I thought and felt everything all at once. The sensation of loss and regret tore through me before the first piece of shrapnel could. But I wasn't ready to face that future… Drawing on the Force, I ripped the sphere from his hand and flung it toward a far wall opposite the crowd. The upper part of the wall was studded with octagonal vents that were open to the street below, and I had to ensure the detonator flew through one of them. If I'd timed it right it would explode before reaching the lower level below it. Hopefully, causing as little damage and death as possible.

But life is so often short on perfect timing…

It cleared the hole, but exploded too near the cantina wall, causing a shockwave of debris to fly back toward us and the rest of the clientele. What happened next felt even more surreal... The bond Luke and I shared wasn't anything I was new to anymore, and yet… I'd never felt it so strongly.

In an instant, our consciousnesses intertwined, thoughts and intentions clearly conveyed without a single descriptive word. In unison, we stepped forward, calling on the Force to absorb the impact. The shockwave hit the barrier we had erected, the wave of debris carried with it. I felt sweat beading on my forehead as I struggled not to buckle under the impact. But his sense of presence, of calm power, filled me completely. Stabilizing my wobbling focus I fell into what almost felt like…serenity.

Because at that moment, we shared a oneness that made me believe we could have accomplished anything…

The passage of time seemed hard to measure, but finally, we lowered our hands, the shrapnel falling harmlessly to the floor. "Are you alright?" Luke asked softly, as he turned to me.

I felt breathless for a reply, but I managed one. "Fine…but we've lost them."

In the smoke and chaos, our two suspects had conveniently disappeared. I was about to vent my frustration when I saw Luke smile, shaking his head. "No, I don't think we have."

Once the panicked patrons had all cleared out, we heard a familiar and welcome voice. "Lose something, kid?" Han asked with a lopsided grin as he and Karrde corralled our suspects back inside.

"Hey," I playfully shouted at them. "I told you guys we could handle this, no reason to be lurking around behind our backs."

Karrde smiled at me, surveying the damage we had managed to survive. "I'd say you took care of the worst of it yourself, Mara."

"And who's watching Ben, if you're down here playing smuggler?" I teased Han, pretending I wasn't grateful for the assist.

He shrugged. "I left him on the sabacc table in the joint across the street. And, I might add, we were cleaning up before we had to come and finish your business."

Talon shook his head. "Actually, he's with Shada, safe and sound, I can assure you."

I grinned at him. "Don't worry, I knew Han was kidding, he'd be dead otherwise."

And that much was absolutely true.

There should have been a sense of relief in it being over. Logic dictated that the worst had to be. New Republic security was interrogating the missing link to this whole mess at the very moment. And yet…I knew it was never that simple.

Sitting in our dim conversation area Luke and I had ironically said very little. We both knew why without needing the help of the Force. The contact's tie to Becro was literally written all over her face. She was a native, now all that was left to ascertain was how deep the conspiracy ran. And given the history, it didn't take much to think it ran all the way back to the Grand Governor.

All the way back to…Mica.

"Have you contacted Corran yet?" I finally asked.

I already more or less knew the answer, but my tolerance for the silence was wearing thin.

"Yes, I'm afraid so…" he whispered in one weary breath.

"What did you tell him exactly?"

"Just to only act on what we know for certain, but to be mindful of what we suspect."

"Which translates to…?"

"I can't tell Corran to convict a student of a crime this grave just because a member of his race is involved."

I nodded. "I know, I agree… But at the same time, if we're too trusting…"

He stood, pacing away in the other direction. I could feel his frustration fighting to break through his composure. Finally, he turned back to face me, a boyish earnestness on his face. "I have to go back. I should be there to protect the students no matter what happens."

It wasn't a surprise, I felt the same way. All I wanted to do was face Mica head-on.

"Then let's go, we can still get the word about what security found even if we're on Yavin."

His emotions unexpectedly bristled at the suggestion. Each thorn spelled out his feelings in painful detail. I relaxed back on the couch with a sigh.

"Luke…"

For a moment, a sense of awkward vulnerability filled his features. Suddenly, he reminded me of the younger man he must have once been. The man I could only guess about. For all the ways that I knew him inside and out, we all had little secrets we kept. One of Luke's was the sudden sense of doubt and fear of incompetence. He didn't know if he'd handled this whole twisted thing right, and now he was worried it would cost someone dearly. He was worried his compassion for a struggling student had blinded him to Mica's true nature.

And at the center of it, glowing like that supposed form of weakness the old Order would have highlighted, was his worry over me.

"If we go," I said softly yet with firmness. "We go together."

"It's you he seems to hate the most…" he finally whispered. The words were truthful, and yet they still stung. "Do you know how dangerous that makes him?"

I smirked slightly. "Luke I'm not afraid of the kid's feelings, not even his hate. You seem to forget, hate and I are old friends. We lived together for most of my life. I know you feel like you've let your goodness blind you in all this, but I have a confession of my own. I don't think that kid really wants to harm anybody, not even me."

My words struck a cord inside Luke, as he sat back down beside me. The soft features of his face seemed to sadden. "I know that, Mara… I feel it too." Slowly he pulled off the black glove covering his prosthetic. Flexing his fingers slightly his emotions turned back to the past.

"But that's the true power of the dark side, it has the power to push even good men to do what they despise…"

He turned to me with silent tears welling behind his blue eyes. "When I faced my father, I believed I could win simply because I was right. Because what we were fighting for was right. And yet…horrible things can still happen."

I took his right hand in my own; the fake skin cold to the touch and yet still filled unquestionably with his warmth.

"And yet…" I whispered. "Right still won. Your goodness isn't a weakness, Luke, it's the very thing this galaxy so desperately needs." I took a slow breath, my thoughts fixating on the angry person I had for so long been. Mica wasn't an unreadable stranger to me, no…he was painfully familiar.

No matter how foolish, I wanted to face him. I wanted to redeem him if he at all could be redeemed. It didn't really matter if he'd been involved in the assassination plot, hate was already a crime he was more than guilty of. The Jedi code forbade it, so any who had it were forced to hide it, suppress it in hopes that it wouldn't fester.

But fester it always did, until the infection was more real than the person you had been at the start. They weren't wrong to say that love could often be the root cause of that hate, but it could also be the key to redemption.

The willingness to feel the width and depth of pain as what you love was torn away from you. To bleed out every drop of that rage until what you were left with felt empty but pure.

I looked at Luke deeply.

A seemingly empty shell of a heart, but with space enough to one day…feel love again.

That was the only path through hate.

I knew it…

I'd taken it.

Like a wounded animal, I'd spent ten long years finding my way down it. In the worst of it, I hadn't imagined anything or anyone would be waiting for me on the other side…

I leaned forward to wrap my arms suddenly around his neck. I felt his muscles tense in surprise before relaxing into the embrace.

It was the only way out.

Somehow, I'd make Mica see that.

I had to…