Luke grabbed his lightsaber, Han his blaster, and Leia a handy flask of blue milk sitting on a nearby table.

"Who are you?" Leia demanded of the intruders. "How did you get in here?"

"Take it easily," the older woman said with a genial smile. "No need to shoot anyone, chop off any appendages, or waste blue milk. I'm Mara Jade Skywalker, your Alter's wife from another timeline. This beautiful young lady behind me is the Mara Jade from the current timeline. As to how we got in here; well, if you don't want former Imperial operatives finding their way into your quarters, you might want to avoid living in the former Imperial Palace. The place is a maze of secret passageways and…"

"Former Imperial Operatives?" Luke interrupted, his blue eyes wide with confusion. "You worked for the Empire?"

"I worked for the Emperor himself!" the younger Mara suddenly spat. "I was the Emperor's Hand, special, set apart! I was devoted to him, and he …"

"You were one of the Emperor's Hands," older Mara interpolated. "One of them. I told you on the way here, Mara – there were lots of us, though Palpatine, being a manipulative rancor, made certain that we didn't know we were each one of many, just a very minor cog in the wheel."

The younger woman compressed her lips, crossed her arms, and tapped one booted foot. "Even if that is true, and … I suppose it must be, I have no desire to marry a Jedi Knight who also happens to be Darth Vader's son!"

"And I," Luke bit back, "have no desire to marry a woman who was a lapshaak to Palpatine himself!"

Mara Jade surged forward and glowered into Luke's face; she was a tall woman and he a relatively short man, so they were nearly eye to eye. "What would you know about loyalty and commitment, Skywalker? You betrayed your own father by joining the Alliance, which destroyed the Empire that Vader served!"

"I didn't have any idea he was my father until a little more than a year ago, Ok!" Luke exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air. "It wouldn't have changed my loyalty because the Empire was horrible but…"

"Children, children!" older Mara interposed, stepping between the twosome. "There is no need to scream. Also, my feet are tingling so I'm going. Mara, give Luke a chance. Luke, be gentle with Mara. She's a mess."

"I am not a mess," her younger counterpart retorted, tossing her red locks.

Older Mara rolled her eyes. "You were abducted as a toddler, and the Empire murdered your family, you were raised to venerate and honor Palpatine, you were made a tool for the Emperor's twisted plans, you…"

The time traveler vanished, leaving Luke, Leia, Han, and a reluctant Mara behind.

Silence fell for a full minute and then Leia said, practically, "Well, Mara, first things first. Do you have any intention of killing my brother or me, or anyone with the New Republic if you get the chance?"

Mara tapped her foot against the floor a few more times and grated out, "No. My time traveling Alter was totally convincing that Palpatine was an evil horror, and that the Alliance was right the whole time. It's just… a lot to take in. Of course, I wouldn't be surprised if you executed me. I have done some horrible things for the Empire."

"I have no intention of sharing your history with New Republic High Command," Leia said briskly. "Is that Ok with you, Luke?"

Luke Skywalker, who was openly staring at Mara, flushed pink and said, "That's fine with me."

Leia nodded and said, "Ok, let's get you a place to stay."

/

Millennium Falcon

Docking Bay #3

Former Imperial Palace

Coruscant

2 weeks later

"Do you know where Luke is?" Leia asked as she wandered into the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon.

Solo, who was struggling with a recalcitrant series of connections on the navigational panel, shook his head to clear it and said slowly, "He told me...um, oh, right, he and Mara are up in the Emperor's old Throne Room."

Leia blew out a breath and asked evenly, "The Emperor's throne room? Did he say why?"

"Something about arguing and plushies and counseling with Mara," Han replied, grimacing at the nav panel. "I wasn't paying a lot of attention, but I know he is with Mara."

"Ok?" Leia said. She leaned over and kissed her husband on the lips and said, "I'll see you later. Good luck with...whatever that is."

"Thanks, I think I'm gonna need it."

The Solos had their own suite of rooms in the former Imperial Palace, but both preferred to sleep on the Falcon. It was more private, more homey, and for Leia, at least, felt cleaner. She attributed that to her growing connection to the Force. Luke had told her several times that the palace was steeped in Darkness, though he was working on cleansing it through the Light Side of the Force.

She assumed that the Throne Room itself was the worst of the worst, where Dark Side energy was concerned, but if Luke was up there, she'd be Ok.

The elevator to the Throne Room was guarded by New Republic soldiers, of course. She nodded and smiled at them, then stepped into the elevator. A moment later, she found herself scowling hideously. The floor of the elevator was made of black Alderaanian marble which, thanks to the Death Star's destruction of her planet, was essentially priceless.

She was really, really, really glad that horrible monster was dead.

The elevator traveled up swiftly and the door opened. She took a step out onto the main floor and ducked instinctively as something sailed over her head and splatted against the closing door of the elevator. She spun around and stared in wonder at the door, on which a thick aqua liquid was slowly sliding down the black paneling toward the floor.

"Leia!" Luke yelped, somersaulting across the room to his twin's side and embracing her. "I am so sorry! Are you Ok?"

Leia leaned into the embrace as she looked around in wonder. She had never stepped foot in the Throne Room before, but she assumed it had previously been unremitting black because that was mostly how Palpatine rolled, but now...

"Wow," she said.

"Isn't it wonderful?" Luke asked, looking around in satisfaction. The entire room now boasted blotches of paint, some large, some smaller, all brightly colored. There were yellows and reds, teals and greens, purples and pinks. It was exotic. It was odd.

"It is at least peculiar, which is a big step up," Leia said. "What are you doing?"

"Well, Mara and I are talking," Luke said, waving a hand toward Mara Jade, who was pointing a paint gun toward a hitherto pristine black wall. "And we're arguing, and we are talking to our counseling droid, and we are working on Dark Side energy, and sometimes, when we get worn out, we throw paintballs at the walls and stuff. Lightens the place up, don't you think."

"Definitely!" Leia agreed. "It is certainly better than unremitting black, and quite interesting in an abstract art sort of way."

"Great!" her twin said sunnily. "So, what can we do for you?"

Leia blew out a breath and said, "Look, I don't want to interrupt you if you are busy, but you wanted me to give you my report about our time traveling visitors, and I just finished it. I'm sorry it took two weeks, but I've been feeling sick, and the whole thing with the diaspora going crazy has taken up my time... "

"It's fine, Leia," Luke said gently. "But yes, I want to read it."

Leia silently handed her holopad over, and he wandered over to Palpatine's throne, casually lifted a few plushies off it using the Force, and sat down. Leia eyed the floating bantha, rancor, starbird, and coloclaw fish plushies for a few seconds and turned her attention on Mara, who had lowered her paint gun and was looking out over Coruscant.

Leia walked over to Mara, noted again how much taller the redhead was, and said politely, "How are you doing, Jade?"

The woman gave her a sidelong glance, cogitated, and then said, "Pretty well, all things considered. I mean, it's been a crazy couple of weeks and it has been challenging, to put it lightly, to have my entire galaxyview dismantled so firmly, but yes, all in all..."

She glanced behind her at Luke's dark blond head and said softly, "Your brother is really nice."

"I know," Leia responded, equally softly.

Luke had excellent hearing. The throne spun around and the galaxy's only Jedi bent a disapproving look on Mara. "Leia is really nice too."

The women snorted in unison, and Leia shook her head in a pitying way. "I'm not as nice as you are, Luke. I think it could be argued I am not nice at all."

"You are too!"

Mara lifted a placating hand, "The princess is noble, courageous, bold, and an excellent diplomat, but she doesn't exude sunshine like you do."

Luke flushed and rolled his eyes. "I do not exude sunshine."

"Yes, you do," Leia said with a grin. "It's a good thing, mind you. I am 100% certain that if I was the one Vader had set his sights on, he wouldn't have turned back to the Light."

"You can't know that!" Luke argued.

"Sure I can," Leia said, now somberly. "Because it was your belief in his capacity for good that brought the good out of him. I had no such hope."

"She's right, Skywalker," Mara said sympathetically. "I think there was just a kernel of goodness in there and you dug it out of him through sheer stubborn determination and love."

Luke sighed and rubbed his neck. "Maybe you are right. Anyway, about this report, apparently something called the First Order rose up out of somewhere..."

"Unknown regions and Outer Rim regions," Leia said grimly. "They got some info from a version of you from the future, and he wasn't too talkative, but they talked about someone named Snoke who was building up navies in the Unknown Regions. Also, they said this child I am carrying turned Dark, which is horrible and terrifying."

Luke leaned back and closed his eyes for a full five minutes, while the two women waited patiently.

"I think," Luke said when he opened his eyes, "That it is really important that the New Republic doesn't focus too firmly on the Core worlds. Tatooine and Ryloth have been struggling under Hutt rule for ages, way before the Empire. Places like that have been neglected for too long. We need to work on stamping out slavery and not ignore the horrors happening just because they are a long way from here. Maybe that will keep this New Order from becoming entrenched."

"Ok, that sounds...sensible," Leia agreed.

"I also think that...we need to not overdo things personally," her brother continued, now rising to his not very impressive height. "I know the future travelers said I ran off and became a hermit, which is just so dumb that I can't imagine it, but ... I know we both have looked into our mother's life. She was queen at 14, and a senator a few years later, and she was in a forbidden marriage, and Anakin Skywalker was running around trying to save the galaxy, and I think they both were completely overwhelmed, and then everything went to chaos."

"That makes sense, actually," Leia admitted. "As much as I'm mad at our time traveling selves, I have found the last couple of weeks easier in many ways because I'm not stuck with all this Alderaanian diaspora business, because, of course, they hate me now. That upsets me, but given how sick I've been, it is nice being able to rest more."

"I think we both feel like it is our job to save the galaxy, partly because of our personalities, partially because Vader nearly broke the galaxy," Luke said. "So we just push and push and push, and toil and toil and toil. Sometimes even we need rest."

Leia frowned and then nodded slowly. "You're right, of course. I feel guilty when I stop working though the pregnancy has helped a little – I mean, I am growing a little human person and can't totally exhaust myself because I might hurt him. But still, Han keeps harassing me that I need to rest more."

"We both do," Luke agreed. "I think we need to make it a priority to not get weird and stupid and crazy."

Leia smiled at this and said, "That sounds like a life goal – let's not get weird and stupid and crazy."