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Chapter 32

Mara had been no stranger to seductive tactics.

After all, it had been how she was able to get traitors to speak using the swaying of her body.

For many who watched her growing up, she went from a pretty little girl into a beautiful young woman.

While the Emperor never forced her into a position she'd felt uncomfortable with, she had tended to use her body to her advantage. Men her age were easy to get under. All it took was her all but purring in their ear, and they became a lot more cooperative to questions without even noticing her shoving a blaster to their back and pulling the trigger.

She remembered her instructors' words: 'Being born female does have some benefit in some situations. No matter the age, your body can be a great tool if you choose to use it.'

That was one of the first lessons she'd learned when she was 13. She didn't know why the Emperor made it so. For some people of the Empire, it didn't matter that she was a kid...

'Did it matter to the Emperor?' Something traitorous in her wondered before she sealed it down.

Of course, it did!

It had to.

'Vader had no reason to lie to you,' the voice continued, sounding resigned.

She'd wanted to think Skywalker put him up to it, but he seemed too angry at the time for that to even be called a performance.

Angry on her behalf.

Angry for her pain.

He'd wrapped a blanket around her in the form of his arms and held her close no matter what.

Blast that man and his passive attitude.

Skywalker was something.

And he seduced her.

She never was held like that before, and it made her want to be held like that again.

And now that she knew what his lips tasted like, she couldn't help but wonder. 'What would he look like under those garments? Does he ever wonders the same about me? After all, my black skintight outfit can leave men speechless, or so I'm told...'

Mara sighed, tucking her red hair behind her right earlobe; the same one he'd whispered his love into, the same one he sucked on, the same one that now she was investigating using the nearby mirror, and seeing small bite marks on the area.

She rubbed the spot tenderly, her fingers only bringing more of that heat to that area. A bubbly feeling was in her chest now, no matter what she would have tried to feel before.

A forbidden smile and a blissful sigh escaped her lips. She could only envision him holding her and kissing her again...

The dynamic with all Skywalkers could be best described as weird.

One night at the end of the second week and the beginning of the third, Leia got tired of it and offered the two men, somewhat awkwardly, a place in the dining area of the base for them to all to drink and eat. Vader only almost smiled at the prospect of their family meal. Luke also accepted without even hiding his hopefulness at doing such things with his father and sister... and could only hope they would do it years afterwards with a much bigger family.

The rift between the Skywalker family was big enough.

Luke was also determined to make sure that his family would never have to deal with the pain that they'd all gone through, but the days were still young, and he was brought back to a time where not everything was at peace just yet.

The food was nothing exceptional; only soup, reminding Luke how bitterly undersupplied the Rebellion was at this time period.

It wasn't something that stayed on his mind for long.

He was just grateful they were all finally like a family.

While he loved his uncle and aunt, his connection with his father and sister had been far deeper. This was the closest to a familial semblance that he hadn't felt for quite some time now.

"This is amazing," Leia spoke up, bringing an end to the silence three minutes, almost half-finished with her portion. "Us all being together. It sorta takes me away from the reality of the galaxy."

Vader only chose to continue eating, though Luke could sense he was at peace, too, with the serenity. More than he let on, Vader enjoyed spending time with his children as a father.

Luke looked at Leia with a small smile. "Just the three of us."

Leia nodded, smiling back, "After everything that's happened, it's good to have a moment of peace." She looked at Vader, who was still eating his soup silently.

Luke could sense she was quietly hoping he would add his input.

Leia grunted in annoyance at his lack of taking this moment as it was. Luke could feel it as well. Their father should appreciate this second chance a lot more, but his emotions have been concealed for decades, so he wouldn't show it in public...

'That's something me and Leia would have to fix, in time.'

The former Princess asked, "Don't you agree... Father?"

Vader paused briefly at being addressed, nodded, and then continued eating without responding. Luke and Leia exchanged a glance of exasperation. Surprise surprise, very antisocial.

'Oh, thank the Force Leia got him to accept Anakin Skywalker. That identity crisis was obnoxious as hell.'

Luke tried again, "That's the truth for sure. But right now, we're here, together. And we should make the most of it. All of us." The jab was clearly directed at Vader.

Vader looked up, his expression indistinct. "And what purpose would we get out of this sentimentality?"

Leia met his gaze, an edge to her voice now, "Because we're your children. And I'm sure you're curious about us."

"...The point is made," he paused. Then, he spoke again, "What do you propose?"

"We could start by sharing even more stories. About ourselves, our lives. You can both know me better." Luke recommended.

"Such as the oh so interesting story of a time traveling man old enough to be my grandpa-"

"Father or older brother more like," Luke scoffed.

"-traveling to his teenager body only to discover he has poor impulse control canoodling with his assassin girlfriend?" Leia teased.

"We didn't have sex, Leia," Luke sighed.

"No, I'm pretty sure you were close though," Leia smirked devilishly. "Look how young our father is. He and my mother must have gotten to know each other in short timing. Come on, father, when did you first did the deed with my mother?"

"Why is that important?"

"Oh, only to teach Luke why he shouldn't always rush," Leia teased.

"I'm older than you," Luke pointed out.

"I'm only pulling your leg," she threw forward her hand. "Come on, Father, tell us."

Vader sighed, "...A week after we reunited before our marriage after I got my first prosthetic."

"Wait, wait, wait, you guys married a week after you reunited?!" Leia almost spit out the soup she was eating. "Haven't you two ever heard of patience?!"

"We believed we were prepared," he would insist he didn't squeal.

"Are you going to follow our father's example?" Leia taunted Luke. "Start a tradition at marrying at nineteen."

"I mean if Mara ask me..." Luke chuckled, "I'm sure our father would love leading me down the aisle."

"I don't think marriage at 19 is ideal..." she started.

"It sounds just fine to me," Vader said.

"You're not supposed to be enabling him, Father! What would our mother say?"

"Take notice, Leia, your mother didn't protest to marrying me at nineteen despite being five years my senior." A spark of amusement lit across his face.

"Yes, but this is my helpless brother!"

"Helpless?" Luke repeated the word.

"Man, the men of my family..." Leia gripped her forehead. "You guys are hard up."

"Hard what?" Vader tested the slang.

"Hard up. Don't worry about the definition."

"I won't," Vader promised after holding her gaze.

Luke knew she wasn't going to let him off that easily. "I bet you were on the bottom."

"Bottom of what?"

"When you and my mother were having sex."

Vader reddened, "That's none of your business!"

"My, oh my, is the mighty Imperial Enforcer embarrassed?" A mirthful glint passed through her eyes. "Who do you think will be on top between Luke and Mara?"

"Leia!" Both Luke and Vader chastised her.

"That's highly inappropriate!" Vader exclaimed

"Besides, like our father said, none of your business!" Luke didn't stutter. He didn't!

Leia grinned sardonically, sipping down her drink of moof juice, deliberately keeping eye contact. She lowered the drink, still grinning. "Am I going to become an Aunt soon or...?"

"Leia!" Luke chastised again.

"What?" She shrugged. "You and Mara are the same age! If you can marry, the airlock has to be sealed sooner or later, Lukie."

"Please stop making sexual references, Leia," Vader all but pleaded.

Both looked to see his face was downcast. There was absolute humiliation across his face. The disadvantage of having a helmet concealing his true emotions had never been clearer!

"You're blushing!" She giggled.

"I am most definitely not!" Vader insisted.

"Liar," Leia responded, lacking any anger in her tone. She blew him a raspberry. "Can't hide from me, dad!"

"Like I said, Leia's weirdness aside, let's tell some stories," Luke cut in, smirking.

Leia nodded. "I'll go first. Did I ever tell you about the time I stole a speeder bike and outran a squad of Stormtroopers?"

Oh, Luke knew that story but decided not to spoil the moment for their father.

Vader looked at Leia, a hint of astonishment in his voice, "You did what?"

Leia grinned, "Well, I'd stole a bottle of liquor from a poor spacer. All I could remember was the old man being like "You little brat!", calling some Stormtroopers, and then I was out of there! I could barely remember running though!"

"You got drunk," Vader's fist shook in rage.

"Tipsy," she said as if correcting him, "I dropped the drink, and it happened when I was sixteen. We all have been there." She shrugged.

"Who's we?" Luke remarked.

"Fine, you tell us a story. After all, humility requires admitting past shame."

"As you wish," he laughed slightly. "I decided to run away from home when Uncle Owen and I had words."

"You're both in trouble-" Vader started.

"I never got in trouble-" Leia cut him off.

"Me neither," Luke added.

"Not with your adoptive parents but with me," Vader continued flatly.

"I'm technically older than you," Luke snickered.

"That has no bearing here. You could have gotten hurt," Vader growled. "Such insubordination would have been unacceptable under my watch."

"That was a long time ago. I was fifteen last time I tried. I think." Luke rolled his eyes.

"And we both grew!" Leia added.

"If your mother witnessed what both of you have done as children..." Vader began.

"She would have what? Give us a spanking?" Leia added a barb. "And all of the sudden, it matters what she would have thought?"

"Probably," he replied, unsure, ignoring the second half of that statement. "We'd never discussed disciplinary action we'd planned for you two before she died. However, I believe she would have been the enforcer."

"Hyping yourself up as being the favorite parent?" Leia quipped.

He snorted, "No, her parents were stricter than my mother, thus a quality she would have no doubt adapted."

"Who would you think have gotten punished more?"

Vader actually smiled. Not a smirk, or a obscure jerk of his lips, but a real, legitimate smile. It made him look like Luke more than Leia in that moment. "You."

"Maw?" She put a hand up to her chest as if insulted.

"Your tongue tends to take absence in rationale."

"Hey, that's unfair. Luke is a time traveler. I'm pretty sure he wasn't always this way."

"I wasn't," Luke confirmed.

At that comment, Luke wondered what would his mother have done compared to Beru and Owen if she'd witnessed his disobedience streak as a teenager; running away from home, disobeying his parental figures, telling Owen and Beru to kark off, embarrassing them in front of guests, telling them that they were not his parents, and... yeah, best not to think about it.

It was really surprising that Owen and Beru only sent him off to his room after every incident, and it made Luke feel even more ashamed about how patient they were with such a brat he once was.

Luke knew if Ben even dared think of doing half of those things to guardians and babysitters, and words weren't effective enough, Mara would have raised all seven Sith hells on their son. Hell, he would have delivered such punishments himself. Hopefully, his son wouldn't try any of his parents like that, but he had some traits from his father, too. They - sometimes both of them - did have to discipline him a few times using a sterner voice.

The rest of the moment continued in this manner, with Luke and Leia sharing even more stories, drawing Vader into the conversation. Despite his initial resistance, Vader found himself listening, even asking questions and inputting his own stories as a teenager in mischief.

All, even their father, could agree on one thing.

They would be doing this again.

After dinner, Luke decided to go look for his Uncle and Aunt. It had been quite some time since they had interacted, and though he understood that they were dragged down in this mess that became his life, the time traveling Grandmaster vowed he would appreciate them.

Luke made it to their quarters, "101", and walked inside.

"Ah, Luke!" Beru smiled in greeting, turning around and staring at the form of Owen resting on the bed, also lit up with a smile.

"Guess he'd decided that we are finally worthy of his undivided attention," Owen quipped with no sincere anger behind it.

He grimaced despite that. "Sorry about that."

"Aye, don't worry, Luke. We know that you are holding a lot of things in," Beru reassured.

He smiled, "And I have been a lot more busy nowadays than I ever was on the farm." For a moment, an intentional whine imbued in his voice.

"I thought you would be used to that," Beru offered. "Unless we were lied to and this is just another prank of yours."

Luke groaned. "I wish." He gave them a fond smile. "So how have things been since we had left Alderaan?"

"Unique"/"different," Beru and Owen answered at the same time. The two exchanged a look at one another.

Luke nodded. "I understand. It took me quite some time to get used to not living on Tatooine either. And with Vader pursuing me..."

"Yeah..." Owen rubbed the back of his head. "We didn't see that coming."

Beru frowned, her lips pursed. "Who's that girl you have been with a lot lately?"

"You mean Mara..." Luke stated more than asked.

"Yes, we haven't seen you much since she got here," Beru pointed out.

"She's my... well she was the wife I told you guys about," Luke answered, rubbing the back of his forehead in awkwardness.

What happened next stunned Luke.

"I had a feeling that was her but I wasn't too certain! That?! Seriously, that, Luke?!" Owen looked uncharacteristically cheerful. "That's my boy!" he stood up and clapped him on the shoulder.

'Who is this and what happened to my Uncle?'

"I've guessed so since your Uncle told me..." Beru, on the other hand, assumed her standard protective nature, "has anything happened?"

"Not that I'm complaining," Owen chimed in.

"Take this seriously!" Beru scolded. "Don't play this off like a joke now that I'm being strict, Owen Lars!"

"Not a big deal. We just met far sooner then our original meeting point." Luke answered.

"Not a big deal?! NOT a big deal?!"

"Aunt Beru..."

"You're both nineteen. I don't have a problem with her but I'm worried about the possibility of wedlock."

Luke expected this from Owen more than Beru. By far, he and Luke argued frequently back on Tatooine, but compared to Beru and Luke's ones, it made those look like a Jawa at the size of a Hutt.

"While I can't deny that we might have children sooner than originally, it won't happen now. We have to finish sorting themselves out first-not quite ready for the responsibility. But it can happen and if it does I'll cross that bridge when I come to it."

Owen nodded as if he respected Luke's maturity. Beru, on the other hand... "I still don't know-"

"I haven't been a kid for years now, Aunt Beru," Luke dismissed. Some things never truly change. The moisture farmer realized that the older woman wouldn't let go. A distant memory came to mind. It wasn't necessarily an old wound; he honestly didn't care anymore, but it disgruntled Beru to see him so hurt. "She's different from Camie."

"Camie led you on and hurt you, Luke," Beru persisted. "She left you crying for three days afterwards."

"Not every woman is the same..." Luke rebuffed. "You just have to give her a chance. I promise you through time..."

"It's not just that, Luke. You're still teenagers. No matter what you been through, you're not the age you were before." Beru said softly.

"But I'm not fully 19 either. I love both of you, but you cannot shield me anymore." He hated how cutting those words came out to be, but it was reality. They all knew it.

"Luke is right," Owen cut in. "Not every woman is the same. If Luke trusts her, then I trust her too."

Beru glared at him, before at Luke again, "Look, I'm sure Mara is a nice woman, but I want you to be careful. Both of you in fact. You're a time traveler with years of experience, and things you honestly shouldn't know, but she is a jobless young woman who came from where exactly? The line of bounty hunting?"

"Somewhat," he confirmed. "She was sent by the Emperor to spy on me..."

She became livid. Her features darkened, becoming a contrast from the sweet woman she usually was. Luke knew what was coming. "And kill you?! That only proves my point! You have gotten too involved that the Emperor now sees you as public enemy number one and would send his agents after you! You foolish, ignorant boy! This is why we should have never left! There are thousands of Imperials looking for you! You could be killed! Oh kriff, you could be killed! You can't just go off and put yourself into danger! We'd raised you better than that! How can you be this irresponsible and foolish?! Really, Luke. What am I going to do with you?"

"And they say I overreact," Owen quipped.

"Shut up, you!" Beru turned her ire on him. "You're both in the dragon's lair here!"

"Aunt Beru, my grandmother and Cliegg Lars got together through hard times. Remember? She was a slave, and he fortunately found her and saved her life?"

Beru nodded.

"Well, Mara is not exactly free either. She's just enslaved through a different means. She truly believes that the Emperor is a father figure for her. Even years later, she was still haunted in some form of what he did to her."

"Oh, Luke..." Beru's eyes softened.

Owen looked down, grief across his face. "My father always disagreed with slavery. At the time, I'd thought we shouldn't even get involve, yet we did, and he'd brought home the only mother I ever had."

Luke nodded and placed a hand on his shoulder, squeezing softly in comfort. "In my time, Mara sabotaged the Imperial Remnants' efforts. Without her, everything would have been much worse. I trust her to do the right thing..." He didn't bring up that Thrawn may have succeeded in conquering the New Republic were it not for her. Speaking of which, Luke would have to do something about that mess. The Chiss hadn't yet invaded the galaxy, and while he may have some questionably moral goals, he would cross that bridge when it came to it. It wasn't like Vader didn't have any influence at all when it came to the Empire, and that wouldn't have increased if Vader didn't continue to play his cards right.

They'd never actually met in person, which complicated matters on Luke's end further.

"Luke, that's not the point..." Beru said, much softer now. "You're still a young man, and we're still here. We don't want you to be hurt. You nor her naturally."

Owen looked up, a pained smile across his face, "Well, dear, I think us being overprotective isn't going to stop them."

"Owen Lars!"

"I learned on Tatooine that we cannot shield Luke away from what he was born with, and if you two do explore a more romantic terrain again..." Owen gave him a look, "I hope you do honor your word and use protection, but hormones aren't so easy to managed."

"We cannot let them risk the possibility of children, Owen, not now. Luke is still nineteen and... how old is this girl exactly?" Beru's pointed look was on Luke again.

"Nineteen as well."

"Ah, ha!" Beru pointed up in triumph. "See what I mean! Wedlock is a possibility. What if you two get pregnant? What if you have to deal with overwhelming responsibilities because you can't control yourself? What if-"

Luke gripped the bridge of his nose. "Aunt, that is ridiculous. If we do get pregnant, that would be a choice that we make and I will take care of her and the baby." What was worse was that he could understand. He imagined he would have the same reaction as a parent if Ben ever spend that much time with a girl his own age.

Beru's face wearied out. "I'm sorry, Luke, but I don't want you being hurt again..."

"I won't be," Luke said before stepping out. "Mara won't hurt me."

"We'll see," she mumbled.

His eyes narrowed as he felt something familiar from a lifetime ago tug at him from afar.

Luke followed the sensation, exiting their room, soon finding that he was back in his own quarters.

"Protective, they are?"

Luke's vision prickled for a moment, feeling the Force Signature. He turned around, wondering where he was.

"Oh?" An almost taunting voice followed. "Forgotten me you have, hmmm? Expected, it is." The voice prodded from seemingly afar and yet up close at once.

"No, but you were always able to surprise me."

He turned around and spotted the Grandmaster himself, sitting on the bed. Much to his disappointment, he was projecting halfway across the galaxy. Seeing his father's reaction to Yoda's sudden appearance would have been amusing.

Nevertheless, formality and respect for his past Master won out.

"Master Yoda," Luke greeted, falling into the instinct to bow before the Jedi's forefather. "It's... It's been a while."

"So many years, it has been, Grandmaster Skywalker?"

Well, that answered the question of whether Yoda knew about Luke's case or not.