Healing – Chapter 1
By Sienn (2001)
Rating (for chapter): PG-13
Protagonists: Luke/Mara
Category: Angst/Romance
Series: Part II of "Soul's Trial" Trilogy
Time Frame: 26 A.Y. (immediately after "Soul's Trial I: Jedi Dawn")
Spoilers:
"Vector Prime", "Dark Tide I: Onslaught", "Dark Tide II: Ruin", "Soul's Trial I: Jedi Dawn"
Disclaimer:
I do not own most of these characters. I do not intend to earn money with this story, nor do I express any rights. "STAR WARS" belongs to George Lucas alone.
To see a list of original characters, weapons, names and procedures I created, please check out the appendix at the end of the book.
Mara Jade Skywalker smiled broadly when her ship, the Jade Sabre, dropped back to real space. Right in front of them, the presence of a large, shining ball told her that she had plotted the course perfectly. In less than an hour they would land at the spot Mara had chosen for their vacation.
While Luke had spent another few days in a bacta tank after Priestess Elan's attack on the Criarto, Mara had consulted several galaxy maps and tried to find a suitable planet to take her husband to after he would have been released from the medical centre.
Not only had she wanted something special for him, something beautiful, she had also sought to find a planet that was quiet and not too well visited - Luke's popularity had been boosted all the more by the recent war and its outcome and even while in a bacta tank on Coruscant, news reporters had tried to get to him - "just for a few simple questions," as they had put it. Most of them, Mara mused with a cruel smirk, wouldn't dare to come near her anymore.
After two days of searching, she had finally found what she had been looking for and she was absolutely sure that Luke would love it. It would be the perfect place for him to relax and replenish and to forget what he had been through at the hands of Elan and Mezhan Kwaad. The mere thought of these two women still made Mara's blood boil and even the fact that they were dead now didn't do much to soothe her. As much as Mara knew this was the assassin speaking within her, she would have enjoyed killing them herself, with her own hands, for everything they had done to the man she loved.
While she had thought a little bit of distance from the whole thing would make her anger diminish a lot, the confrontation with her husband's state, mental and physical alike, had peeked her wrath anew. At the very beginning of their voyage, Luke had shown her that he was ready to accept her help and that he had forgiven her for leaving him in the first place. Mara had felt eternally happy when he had placed his hand in hers and when he had given her his smile - the smile she knew so well and loved so much.
Nonetheless, that had been a mere beginning and the way to the old Luke, the Luke she had known before she had left him, before the war against the Yuuzhan Vong had brought so much pain and distress to them all, to the whole galaxy, was stony and full of obstacles. Mara had hoped that the few days of hyperspace travel would give them the opportunity to have a talk or two, or Luke an opportunity to at least begin to relax, but she had been wrong about that.
Totally unexpected for both of them, being confined to a ship the size of the Jade Sabre for the past four days had taken a huge toll on Luke. He had been nervous and barely able to sleep and had tried to distract himself by tinkering with all the machinery he had found lying around in the storage compartments.
Mara knew that he had had the occasional claustrophobic attack in a bacta tank in the past, but for several years now, a thing like this hadn't occurred anymore. Thus, both of them had at first been at a total loss as to why the closeness of the ship afflicted Luke that much and why his favourite place to be was the cockpit, where he could stare out into hyperspace and didn't have "the feeling of being pressed upon", as he had tried to explain to her.
Mara was sure that it was somehow linked to the torture that had taken place on a ship of similar size. What troubled her most was the bundle of contradictions Luke seemed to have become since they were together again. On the one hand, he insisted that he was fine and that he only needed some time to relax and rest; that all that had happened to him on the Shaper's ship was something he could handle quite well on his own and about which she shouldn't worry too much.
His wife would be happy if she were able to actually believe this. His subconscious behaviour gave him away, exposing all his reassurances as lies. The discomfort of being on the Jade Sabre for so long, for example. Luke had never ever had problems of this sort before. Aside from that, his jumpiness and his tendency to not say a word for hours were facts that spoke for themselves - that spoke a very clear language, indeed.
So Mara knew full well that her husband had problems of far more serious a nature than anyone had thought. What she didn't know was whether they were only caused by the memories of the torture he had undergone or whether there was more to it.
He was pretty hesitant towards her and that was something that irritated Mara deeply. Because it was obvious that he didn't hold any grudge against her. He had repeatedly told her that he loved her and that he had forgiven her, had even insisted that this mess had been his fault. Mara had been reasonably shocked at this and had asked him what gave him this thought, but he hadn't answered her question and had instead quickly changed the subject.
After several more tries, Mara had just given up getting him to consider this and decided she would wait until he opened himself to her fully. She really hoped that the upcoming holiday would help him to restore his mental balance - and to heal his body. His weakness was still worrying her and she was determined to give him everything he wanted during this vacation. He had deserved it, that was for sure.
The internal communication system cracked and, with a whiny edge to his voice, the object of her contemplations brought himself to notice again. "Mara, this is ridiculous! Why don't you let me into the cockpit?"
Mara grinned broadly, imagining her husband sitting in the lounge, annoyance darkening his boyish features while he focused on the small intercom. "I told you it's a surprise, farmboy. So stop complaining. You've got no reason to do so." Bringing her ship into a nice starboard curve, she set course onto the western continent of the planet before her, inwardly chuckling with amusement at the impatience of her love. Despite his Jedi training, this particular ability was not one of Luke Skywalker's strengths. Especially not if it had to do with any surprises in his private life. A soft sound permeated the cockpit's air and Mara imagined how her husband shuffled on his seat, trying to withstand the urge to just open the cockpit hatch with his mind and rush in to see which planet he would spend the next weeks on.
"Well, all right. Just hurry. I'm sick of being cramped in here," he finally said, his voice sounding tired and bodiless.
Mara grimaced bitterly - he had changed, changed a lot. Or rather, his behaviour towards her had changed. There was no bantering between them anymore, not the way it used to be before all these things had happened. Sometimes Mara felt like Luke thought three times about every word he was going to say to her and that he was even afraid of being near her at times. It was a riddle to her - she couldn't find an explanation for his behaviour. He was not angry, he was not disappointed - when she reached towards him with her mind, she felt his love for her and how he enjoyed her mental touch. But if it came to physical touches - she sighed inwardly. He was afraid of them and she hadn't yet figured out why.
Just another question she would try to find answers to while they enjoyed being alone with each other for a really long time.
"Don't worry, farmboy. Just try to hold on a little longer. Only a few more minutes to go," she assured him, then switched off the intercom without waiting for a reply and opened a channel to the planet that was getting bigger and bigger in the viewport.
"Hanna City spaceport, this is the Ruby Fire, requesting permission to enter the planetary atmosphere and landing on a private estate. Do you copy?"
"Ruby Fire, this is Hanna City spaceport. Permission granted. We wish you a good time on our planet, Mistress Stonn."
Mara couldn't help but grin: "Thank you. Ruby Fire out." Switching off this channel, too, she gave the coordinates of their final destination to R2 and leaned back in her chair. As Leia had insisted, they didn't travel under their real names. Luke's sister had been sure that they wouldn't have a calm minute should anyone learn where Luke Skywalker could be found. News reporters, ambassadors, and functionaries - they all couldn't wait to get a minute with the Jedi Master. He had always been honoured and respected as a hero in most parts of the galaxy, but after the whole Yuuzhan Vong matter, this had evolved into a kind of worship Luke found extremely troubling. For someone who knew him, it wasn't hard to tell that Luke wasn't proud about what he had done above Ithor, but for almost everyone else in the galaxy, he and the Jedi Order were the reason that there was a peace treaty between the New Republic and the Yuuzhan Vong and that planets that had been taken away from their inhabitants were returned. That captives who had been scheduled for sacrifice or misused for slave labour were brought back to their families and healed if they had been biologically tampered with - as the Yuuzhan Vong loved to do with their hostages.
So they had changed their names and were now travelling under the cover of Li and Rena Stonn, a wealthy couple from Coruscant seeking some solace after the stressful times in the galaxy. Up until now, it seemed to work. Mara hadn't spotted any other ship in the vicinity of the planet and it was practically impossible for anyone to know that they were coming - not even Leia and Han knew where Mara had taken Luke. To cover even further whatever tracks they might have left, the former Emperor's Hand had used a very complicate jump pattern. It was possible to reach Chandrila within five hours, starting from Coruscant, but she had consciously calculated for four days to put any would-be pursuer on a wrong track.
Adding to this the fact that the Jade Sabre, thanks to Lando and Luke's long-time acquaintance Airen Cracken, had state-of-the-art surveillance equipment and scanners, ensuring that there was no tracking device anywhere on the ship, they should be quite safe to spend some lonely weeks here.
Admiring the beautiful landscape below her as her ship sped over seemingly endless plains, Mara's smile became genuine. It was a quiet, beautiful planet - something Luke would like. When R2 gave a low whistle, she took control over the ship again and prepared the landing procedures.
*~~
Luke Skywalker did his best to suppress his impatience. This particular part of the Jedi Code had always been his weak spot, but lately it had become much more of a nuisance than it usually was. That his wife made such a secretive fuss about the planet they were going to didn't help him either, of course. At least, and Luke counted this as a BIG improvement, his nervousness was now motivated by curiosity. Mara had promised him that he would like the planet she had chosen and she had said it would be a big surprise for him - something he had, as far as she knew, never had.
Luke had been to many planets in his life, though he hadn't had the time to take a closer look at most, so he wondered what it was Mara had come up with for him.
There was, however, another reason for his nervousness - Luke had originally wanted to ask Mara to let him land the Sabre. For days now, he had been feeling the unnaturally strong urge to get behind the control stick of a ship again. He didn't know why, but he was somehow afraid he had forgotten how to fly.
His wife though, his beautiful wife, hadn't even given him a chance to ask - she had just pushed him into the lounge, sealed the cockpit and threatened to stun him if he tried to come in and peek. Luke snorted softly. That was just Mara. As if she were really be able to stun him anyway.
Impatiently tapping his foot, Luke nodded to himself. Yes, he was curious and he was miffed because he had to sit here and let her land the ship. That was the only reason why he was that nervous.
His resolution held for about thirty seconds, then he sighed and leaned back into the seat. There was no good in lying to himself. The second Mara lowered the ramp of the Jade Sabre, he would be out of here and he would be glad about it.
Luke hadn't shared his feelings about that with Mara, not entirely. She knew that he was uncomfortable in the restrained space of the ship, but while she still pondered why - oh yes, he knew that she was constantly pondering about what he did or not - Luke had long since recognised why he felt as he did.
Since the moment he had opened his eyes on the Millennium Falcon, after his family had freed him from the slavery under Elan, unbidden, horrible memories had kept coming back. They assaulted his sleep and often enough his moments awake and they had brought him something he hadn't asked for. He had recognised that Mezhan Kwaad's ship, where he had undergone things he wanted nothing more than to forget, had been built much as the Jade Sabre. The same size, the same assortment of rooms of the same size.
This knowledge haunted him and made him jumpy and sometimes he had the feeling the walls would close in on him and engulf him, just like the drev-membrane had tried with his spirit. He shivered slightly when this word passed through his head. It had been C-3PO who had told him how the thing was called - as always in his mechanical life, the protocol droid hadn't quite understood that Luke didn't even want to know. Now he knew it, though, and it made him sick whenever he thought about it. From time to time, his hand wandered unconsciously to his forehead and stroked the place where the hole had been.
That was the only thing he still couldn't recall - how this membrane had come into his head. When he came to this point in his nightmares, in his terrible daydreams, a barrier built up and pushed him into reality again. Luke was not sure whether he wanted this to change or not, whether he wanted to know everything or not.
Perhaps he didn't want to know it, he mused darkly, but he would have to shed light on it if he ever wanted to become himself again.
But what worried him far more was Mara. He tried everything to be as she wanted him to be. He would not make a fuss about anything anymore and he wouldn't enforce his presence upon her - neither bodily, nor mentally. But she was so... so curious in this regard. He felt irritated by how she treated him. For the first time in their marriage, Luke didn't know how to handle the situation. He was not angry at Mara, had never been. She had made a decision and he had accepted it. That she was here again, with him, was wonderful, but Luke allowed himself no illusions. He wouldn't make the same mistakes over and over again. Mara had her own life and he was not necessarily as big a part of it as he had originally thought he was. It hurt, but he would accept it if it meant she stayed with him and was happy.
Before he could lose himself further in these thoughts, the hatch of the lounge whooshed open and Mara walked in, grinning from ear to ear.
"Are we finally there?" he asked, missing the mischievous twinkle in her eyes completely while he unstrapped and rose. Mara just nodded, eyeing him intensely.
Luke sighed his relief aloud: "Thank the Force. I thought we'd never make it." Feeling the excitement and apprehension of smelling real air again and of seeing the sky above him, Luke began to make his way over to the ramp.
"Where do you think you're going, Skywalker?" Mara asked, a chuckle escaping her lips.
He turned, perching an eyebrow, meeting her stare befuddled: "Well, outside of course."
"Not without this." Before he could say another word, she had come up beside him and swung something around his eyes, blinding him effectively. He battled down a sudden surge of panic, chiding himself for being this fearful. After all, it was his WIFE.
"Mara, what …?" A hand coming out of nowhere and planting itself on his mouth silenced him. "Be quiet, farmboy. Just give me the pleasure of really surprising you, ok?"
"You wouldn't need the blindfold. You'd just have to say 'Keep your eyes closed, Luke,'" Luke said, finally successfully calming his erratically beating heart, but not entirely banishing the nervous tremble from his voice.
"You'd cheat," Mara laughed, taking his wrist and leading him down the corridor to the boarding ramp.
"I'd not cheat!" he exclaimed indignantly, but was cut off from ranting further about this when he felt her leading him down the ramp. The fresh air hit him totally unexpected.
It smelled good - marvellous, in fact. He could hear the twittering of birds not far away and a rather strong wind pulled at his hair.
"Good boy," Mara's voice whispered right beside his ear, causing him to jump in surprise. "Now just keep quiet and follow me."
Luke nodded, not feeling totally at ease in the situation. He didn't like being this helpless, being guided, not being able to see where he walked and to decide himself which way to go. Stubbornly trying to suppress the shady memories of obeying every word Priestess Elan had said, he concentrated on his surroundings - as much as he could feel and smell of them - and found a source of distraction and relaxation. The soil he was walking on was soft and it feathered, his mind drawing the conclusion that it was probably lawn or something like that. He enjoyed the feeling, trying to recall when he had last walked on something other than permabeton, transparisteel or yorik coral. It had definitely been too long.
He felt Mara's joy at his reaction and her amusement when he frowned as the soil got even softer and almost caused him to stumble. Luke recognised the feeling of shuffling, and the sounds of it. This was sand. He was walking on sand. Could she have brought him to Tatooine?
No, this was impossible. His home world didn't smell like this. And there were no lawns on Tatooine. Even the richest people on the desert planet couldn't afford to keep something like this alive and beautiful. So which planet was it?
They descended a long time, telling Luke that there must have been something like a precipice. The path had many curves and several times Mara urged him to take care of stony parts. He was about to ask her whether she really believed he would fall - after all, he was a Jedi Master and that he couldn't see didn't mean he would stumble anytime soon. Despite his blindness, he was very well aware how it had to look around him - at least in basic pictures.
Then, finally, they had finished their descent and Luke twitched when a shrill bird cry somewhere above him caused a whole lot of similar cries to answer. They sounded vaguely familiar to him; he was sure he had heard something like this in holovid-tapes of before.
After a few more minutes of walking, two things finally let Luke recognise where he was. For one, the air suddenly smelled salty, rather wild and fresh, something he had only smelled once in his whole life. And second, he heard the steady, regular beat of water splashing against land. He felt sudden excitement take over and reached for his blindfold, tearing it off his face.
And then, after he had blinked several times against a now blinding sun, he saw the most beautiful sight he had ever faced and felt immediately at ease on this planet.
*~~
Mara had been mesmerised by just watching his facial expressions change from the point they had left the Jade Sabre. Trusting her Force sense to keep her from stumbling, she had nailed her gaze on his gaunt, but for her still so handsome features so as to not miss any of his reactions.
She had been able to tell immediately that he liked the air on the planet, had felt his muscles relax as he had breathed deeply. While she had guided him along the way, she had practically seen on his face the direction his thoughts had taken. First he had furrowed his forehead in intense concentration when she had taken him over the lawn. Mara had almost laughed out loud upon the expression on his face when he had almost stumbled as the lawn became sand. And then, when they had been only some dozens of meters away from her surprise for him, she had felt his sudden understanding and excitement.
She herself felt indescribably happy that he loved it so much. Standing at the beach of a world he still didn't know, he stared out at the sea, a sea that glittered silver under the bright sun, and seemed fascinated.
Smiling, Mara walked up to him and took his hand, following his eyes as they tracked a bunch of native sea birds drawing their circles high in the air. "Do you like it?" she asked expectantly.
Luke turned his head, staring at her with wide, blue eyes that glittered like those of a little boy that experienced the wonders of the universe for the first time.
"It is wonderful," he whispered, sinking to the ground without letting her hand go and watching the tiny waves that splashed onto the sand only half a meter from his feet.
As he sat there, his hair ruffled by the sea wind, his eyes shining with a happiness he hadn't felt for weeks and his hand resting in hers, Mara felt like her heart would spill over with love for him. Her choice of a vacation spot had been fine - that gave her hope that everything else would play out for the better, too.
After some moments of silence, Luke lifted his stare once again, eyeing Mara curiously: "How did you know?"
"Know what?" she asked, pushing some hairs out of his forehead. Of course that was in vain; the wind was strong, but she felt the urge to do it, to touch him. In fact, she did want nothing more than to kiss him right now, but every time she had tried in the past days, she had felt insecurity and irritation from him. After a few seconds of silent pondering, she decided not to risk spoiling the moment.
"That I've never been at the sea," he said quietly, giving a hesitant, but radiating smile and letting his gaze sweep once again over the endless, glittering panorama before them.
Mara shrugged: "Lucky guess."
Luke perched an eyebrow, giving her one of his 'Oh, come on' stares and Mara gave in laughing: "Well, maybe I didn't guess that much. I asked Leia."
Luke grinned, then took a real look around him, seeing a huge cliff dotted with the occasional bushy plant. That had to be what he had mistaken for a simple precipice. The sky had a normal enough colour; there was only one sun, a silver sea and a beach with sand that was so totally different from the sand he knew.
Engrossed, he let some of it run through his fingers. "What?" Mara asked, enjoying seeing him examining the surroundings and seeing the delight in his features. They had held so much tiredness, fear and sorrow in the last time that it was wonderful to see those worry lines vanish and joy creeping back into his eyes.
"It's so... soft," he said, clearly not knowing how to express himself. Shifting his attention towards her, he explained: "On Tatooine, the sand was hard - hard and hot. If there was wind, you had to protect your skin or it could get really nasty, you know."
Mara just smiled. After a while, she poked him gently at the shoulder: "So, Jedi Master, any guesses which planet I've brought you to?"
With a mischievous sparkle in his eyes, Luke jumped to his feet and smiled down at her. "The moment I could see again," he claimed. Mara perched an eyebrow. "Sure. Whatever you say," she mocked.
Luke laughed, then folded his arms before his chest: "I may have never been here, Mara, but I know which planet in this universe has silver seas and is that close to Coruscant."
"And?"
"Well, we're on Chandrila," he stated, turning his back to her and staring along the beach that seemed to go on forever without any living being on it. "Though I don't know exactly where," he added after a while.
Mara rose to her feet and went up behind him, embracing him from behind, laying her chin on his shoulder. She caught his short shiver and his almost not-to-notice flicker of insecurity, but then he relaxed in her arms.
"Somewhere far away from civilisation. And reporters," she said softly.
Luke smiled at that. For a while, they just stood and enjoyed, until he shifted in her arms and looked curiously at her: "So, are we supposed to sleep on the beach for the next weeks, or what?"
Mara laughed, overplaying her irritation at the rather harsh way he had made himself free of her. "Of course not. Come on."
And with this, she made her way up the path they had come along earlier. Luke followed her somewhat slower, still having to be careful of not overdoing it. When he had finally caught up with her and saw what was supposed to be their home for a time, he could only gape.
"Mara! That's... that's.."
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Mara grinned, standing before a huge bungalow that looked rather expensive. White stone and a huge garden were the most striking witnesses to that fact, as well as some parts of the walls being wholly made from glass, giving insight into beautiful, but extravagantly furnished rooms.
"It's..." Luke shook his head. "Gods, Mara, how did you PAY for that? Have you robbed some bank while I was in the bacta goo?" He finally made his way towards her, coming to a halt in front of the door leading into the house.
His wife snickered annoyed: "Skywalker, don't think about money now. I wanted you to have a great time, so don't complain or I could change my mind."
"But..." he began, but was put off by Mara glaring at him: "Don't spoil the moment, farmboy. It belongs to Lando, ok? He bought it from Mon Mothma some years ago and I've got the keys for it."
Luke closed his mouth, contemplating this a moment, then began: "Lando ---?" A daring look from his wife made him close his mouth at once: "Ok, I'm quiet. "
Mara nodded appreciatively: "Better for your health, anyway. Come on, I'll show you around."
*~~
Some half an hour later, Luke stood in the garden behind the house, admiring the great view. From the terrace, he could see nothing but the sea, for miles and miles, without anyone or anything else. There was much greenery all around, something he liked a lot, having never had it in his childhood.
The inside of the house was no less appealing to him, the rooms being spacious, yet cosy, with a chimney in the living room, a bathroom that was the size of a small hall and a bedroom that wasn't much smaller.
All in all, a pretty place - a place he'd never thought he'd live in for more than a day. Luxury estates weren't what Luke appreciated normally; he was a simple man, had always been, but he admitted that he liked it here. The place had him enchanted.
Turning around to go back inside, through a glass door that led directly into the living room, he caught sight of a tiny, white-furred creature that watched him out of a small bush. Big ears and eyes almost let it seem like a rabbit, but yet, it wasn't. He knew exactly what it was, having studied some files about Chandrila years ago.
"See what we've got here," he said softly, approaching the little animal quietly. "What are you doing here, little one? How did you get over the fence?"
Laughing about himself for asking questions like this to an animal, he kneeled down some two meters in front of it and held out his left hand, the real one. "Come here," he coaxed. "Come here, I'm bringing you out of there." With a soft squeal, the animal retreated further into the leaves of the bush, causing Luke to crawl after it slowly.
When it had reached the fence and couldn't go any further, it began to hiss, but Luke knew exactly that squalls, as they were called, couldn't inflict much damage, even if they wanted to. Just as he caught it and held it securely in his arms, Mara's voice sounded behind him. "Lost something, Skywalker, or playing gardener? I thought you'd help me get packed out in there."
Luke smiled to himself and wiggled out of the bush.
*~~
Mara had folded her arms and was admiring her husband's backside while he freed himself of the bush, rose and turned around.
"Neither of those, Mar. I've just found a little uninvited guest, that's all." He smiled broadly, but frowned when Mara's eyes widened.
She could only see a white, furry heap in his arms that quivered reasonably. When she held out a hand to touch it, a small head peeked up, with two glittering, black eyes staring at her curiously and suspiciously at the same time. It still quivered and once and again tried to jump out of Luke's arms, but it seemed to have understood that no one wanted to harm it. Yet.
"Skywalker, what is that?" Mara asked, her tone changing slightly.
"That's a squall. They are native here. It must have gotten in here with the cleaning personnel and hasn't found its way out again," he explained, overplaying her obvious discomfort. "Right, little one? You've gotten lost," he added in a soft voice, caressing the animal behind its ears and sending him soothing thoughts. The little thing relaxed and began to purr - or at least to do something that sounded similar.
"Then bring it out of here," Mara stated. She had never liked this kind of animals, and she didn't want to begin to now. Luke sighed exasperated and seemed to be disappointed, but brought it out nonetheless.
Mara watched him go, then looked over the sea. It was so beautiful here and Luke had liked it. That was the most important thing. She hadn't wanted to disappoint him - he surely didn't want to keep this animal, did he? Though with Luke, you never knew.
She stood there for a while, enjoying the sounds of the sea, the birds and the feeling of being alone and safe with her husband, then she turned and went into the house again.
The living room was really spacious, two of its walls being entirely made of transparisteel and looking out over the sea. A huge chimney was the striking part of it, a few earth brown pieces of furniture, big and stuffy, but tasteful, grouped around it. From there, a small door led to the kitchen and the dining room. She took a small stairway of a couple of steps up and stood in the bedroom.
This had originally been her favourite room and she did admit to herself that she could barely wait to spend a night in one bed with her husband again. It had been far too long since she'd felt his body beside hers. Far, far too long.
When she entered, Luke was lying on the left side of the bed, his head turned towards the opened window. A slight breeze ruffled his hair and his breathing was getting slower, indicating that he was in the process of drifting off. In this state, there were still almost no lines in his youthful face. Only around the eyes could his age be guessed.
Smiling to herself, admiring his delicate features, she went up to him and sat down on the edge of the bed, just watching him. As much as she would have loved to let him sleep for a while, it would be better to wake him up. He had to get assimilated to the day-night circle of this planet that was slightly different from Coruscant and it would be better to begin immediately with this process.
"Luke?" She pushed him slightly. His eyes fluttered a little bit, but he didn't wake up immediately.
"Luke? Wake up, Luke!" Mara urged laughing, leaning down to shake him a little bit stronger. But she didn't even get a chance. The moment she had said these words, his eyes had opened and now he stared at her, shivering softly.
"Hey, what's the matter?" Mara asked irritated, taking his hand into hers and eyeing him intently. Luke just kept staring at her, frowning, slowly shaking his head. "I... I don't know. It's... it was just like a sort of déjà-vu."
Mara caressed his hand, worry still obvious on her face. "You ok?"
Luke nodded smiling, stretching a little bit.
"See what you get out of just lying down in bed," she teased, hoping to ease his mood further. To her utter surprise, the reaction it caused was quite the opposite of the one Mara had intended to provoke. Paling instantly, Luke practically jumped to his feet, giving her this half-enthusiastic, soothing and at the same time mournful smile she had never seen on him in the time before the Yuuzhan Vong.
"You're right, of course. I don't want to disturb you." He laughed shortly, nervously, then turned around. "I'm going to get the rest of the luggage." And with this, he fled from the scene. She heard his steps just until he was out in the garden, then saw his slender form vanish behind a couple of Chandrilan trees.
Still rather stupefied, she lowered her gaze onto the spot where he had rested just minutes ago. Somehow, she had the feeling a terrible misunderstanding had just occurred between them.
*~~
Luke leaned heavily against the Jade Sabre, taking a few deep breaths to steady his heartbeat. He should have known it - he really should have known it. Only a simple embrace and a couple of smiles had made him commit the same mistakes he had vowed to avoid.
What had he been thinking, lying down in the bed Mara wanted to sleep in? Hadn't she made it clear enough to him what she thought about him?
Yes, Luke pondered, she had, but then, she had behaved so differently during the last few hours. She had embraced him and taken his hand and he had begun to hope again. Somehow.
Giving a trembling sigh, Luke turned to see R2-D2. The droid was busy dragging two bags out of the storage compartment. Perhaps she'd just wanted to test him. Or she had been in a curious mood. Anyway, it was nothing that should make him think Mara had changed her opinion. He wouldn't be that naïve anymore.
Steeling himself, he grabbed the two satchels from his little astromech and headed back to the house.