Chapter 27

Luke and Mara disappeared through the passage that led to the hidden door behind Guru's study. Their lightsabres' hum echoed down the dank passageway and illuminated several cracks that had recently appeared in the walls. Several tons of debris scattered over the ground where huge chunks of ceiling had become dislodged.

"If Threepio were here, he'd probably tell us this passage wasn't entirely stable," Luke quipped.

"Our situation is dire enough without bringing Goldenrod into it," Mara retorted.

Luke flashed her a smile, but it quickly vanished when a violent tremor shook several fist-sized rocks from the dilapidated ceiling. Mara's danger sense flashed in the back of her mind, and she pulled Luke and herself against the wall as a large boulder dislodged and planted itself where they had been standing. The cavern continued to shake, and the two Jedi had to struggle to remain on their feet. Mara eyed the ceiling warily. The small fissures were rapidly branching out and joining others along the walls and ceiling. She turned to Luke to warn him about the eminent cave-in but instead of dodging falling rocks, he was standing serenely relaxed against a wall with his eyes half closed.

"I think now would be a good time to get out of this deathtrap," he said in a faraway voice. He looked relaxed, but Mara saw the beads of sweat gathering at his temples. Luke would not be able to keep the mountain from crashing in on them for much longer. She grabbed his hand, offering to join her strength with his and immediately felt a wave of gratitude from him.

"Okay, Farmboy, you just concentrate on keeping the passage clear, and I'll get us out of here," she said. He gave her an imperceptible nod, and they dashed up the rest of the passageway to the hidden door. Not bothering to figure out the strange locking mechanism, Mara jabbed her lightsabre into lock and sliced through the metal as if it were shimmersilk. The door groaned as she kicked it open. Then they dove through the opening as another tremor even more violent than the last swept through the passageway. Luke released his hold on the ceiling and the mountain poured itself into the space destroying any evidence that it ever existed.

"I guess we won't be going back that way," Luke said, picking himself off the floor and lending Mara a hand up. "Thanks for the extra juice."

"Anytime. Besides, I figured we'd just stroll out the front door anyway," Mara replied.

"You would."

Mara rolled her eyes and planted brief kiss on his lips, then surveyed the office. The mountain's protests had a clear impact on Guru's mansion. Books and art pieces lay haphazard on the floor, there were cracks in the plaster along the walls, and they could see into the room above them through a hole in the ceiling. Mara tried the power switch only to find that all power in the room, and probably the mansion, had been knocked out. Stepping out into the hallway, they found much of the same. Shards of glass from the large, picturesque windows littered the floor. The air was thick with dust from the debris, and the only light filtering through the haze came from the first rays of dawn breaking over the ocean.

"So do you think Callista and Guru are hiding out together?" Mara asked.

Luke shook his head. "I doubt it. They didn't seem to be on friendly terms last I saw them together. But if they want us to perish with them, they might be hiding out to keep us here. They would've known I couldn't leave anyone behind to die."

"That's what I hate about being a good guy," Mara retorted. "We're always so damn predictable. You know, we could just let them get themselves out of this mess."

Luke cocked an eyebrow at her.

"Alright, so where do propose we start looking? And remember the clock is ticking." Before Luke could reply, a crash echoed through the mansion originating from the grand reception chamber. "Or we could simply walk into an obvious trap."

"Hey, it's what the good guys do," Luke elbowed her. "We'll just have to outsmart them."

"Walking right into their hands isn't what I would call smart," Mara argued. The she gave a sigh of resignation. "Let's go."

With their lightsabres in defensive positions, Luke and Mara entered the reception chamber. The room had been hit as hard as the rest of the house. Several of the decorative columns had been knocked loose and now lay like over-sized blocks on the floor. There were too many places to hide in the room, and it made Mara uneasy. She reached out with her Force senses, searching for any other person in the room. She could feel Luke clearly, and he was doing the same. But she could detect no other being. If Callista were in the room, she was doing a superb job of masking her Force signature. Guru had no such skills, so Mara surmised that he must have escaped into another part of the house. She began to form a question to send to Luke through the Force, but he quickly shook his head and brought his finger to his lips. Obviously he was worried about eavesdroppers, even Force-sensitive eavesdroppers. Instead, he motioned for her search the right side of the room while he searched the left.

Luke disappeared around a still erect column, and Mara wound through the mess of fallen potted trees. The room was quiet. Too quiet. She could feel a pair of eyes on her, tracking her, stalking her. Her grip tightened on her lightsabre, and her muscles tensed in preparation for a fight. She tried to open her senses as wide as possible. A rustle in one of the shrubs behind her caught her attention, and she whirled around to defend herself. But no one was there. She turned back around to continue her search and too late saw the fist sailing through the air. Callista's punch connected with her jaw and sent her reeling backward with stars in her eyes. Mara had no time to reorient herself before Callista grabbed her from behind and brought her lightsabre up to her throat. She kicked Mara's lightsabre sending it flying over a pile of rubble.

"Callista, DON'T!" Luke shouted. He appeared from behind a tall, squat statue. "You don't want to do this."

"You don't know what I want," Callista spat.

"This is getting really lame, Callista," Mara gasped, blood running down the side of her mouth. "Don't you think this is a little immature?"

Callista tightened her grip around Mara chest, constricting her breathing. "Shut up!"

"Callista, this isn't you. You are better than this," Luke tried again. He stepped slowly closer.

"Get back!" Callista screeched. "I'm through with both of you! I'm through with Guru, through with the whole galaxy! It's not FAIR!"

"Of course it's not fair," a new voice said softly. All three jerked their heads toward the newcomer. Annaïse confidently strode toward Callista and stopped only when she was a mere meter from her and her captive.

"You!" Callista's eyes had widened with shock, fear, anger and something more.

"Life's not fair," Annaïse stated matter-of-factly. "You used to know this. You used to know that life requires sacrifices. Sometimes in matters of finance, other times in matters family or of the heart, sometimes even with the sacrifice of a life. You knew this better than anyone. Our lives are about sacrifice, Callista. You chose to sacrifice yourself for the greater good, for the good of the galaxy."

Luke and Mara stared dumbfounded at Annaïse. Mara had a gut feeling that when Annaïse said "our lives" she wasn't speaking philosophically. But to whom she was referring, Mara had no clue.

"If I had known what it would've cost me, I never would have agreed," Callista replied, tears beginning to well up in her eyes.

"Perhaps not," Annaïse agreed. "But the girl I knew then would have gladly given her life to save a billion others. And you accomplished that. You prevented anyone from using the Eye of Palpatine, an action that would have cost the galaxy billions of innocent lives."

"And what thanks did I receive for that service? I was just expected to disappear. I was a ghost and given up for gone. I deserved to live. I deserved a chance at a life."

"You are a guardian, Callista. A Guardian of Light. I know you still understand what that means on some level, for you still wear the talisman." Annaïse pointed to the pendant dangling from a chain around Callista's neck. Annaïse pulled a chain from under her cloak to reveal a matching pendant. The symbols matched the one on the artifact that had started the entire adventure.

"The Force brought you back to the beginning," Luke said, his voice only a bare whisper.

"Yes," Annaïse replied, the she turned again to Callista. "You thought you were orchestrating it all, but the Force has brought you back to the beginning, back to this planet, back to us. It was here that you left us to guard the ship so many years ago, and it is here that I release you from your charge. You have been living on borrowed time, Callista, and it is now time to move on. Don't undo all the good you have done with this act of cruel selfishness. Our mission is to protect all that is good in this universe."

The tears were now running freely down Callista's cheek. Her grip on Mara relaxed, and she disengaged her lightsabre. Mara moved cautiously away, anticipating another attack. Callista looked deflated and aged. But the spark had not completely gone from her eyes. She looked at Annaïse and half pleaded with her. "I'm not ready to leave. I barely had the chance to live."

"Just because you must die, doesn't mean you won't live," Annaïse replied cryptically. "There are many wonders outside of this life. But I will not force you to leave. You must do this of your own free will."

"I hate to interrupt this reunion," Mara said, "but we only have about a minute before this whole place becomes one big fire ball."

"You're right," Annaïse said. "Come let's get out of here." Luke put an arm around Mara, who grudgingly accepted the support and they followed Callista and Annaïse on a hasty retreat to the front door. But they had not even made it out of the reception chamber when suddenly Mara halted and asked, "Where's my lightsabre?" Then she caught a movement out of the corner of her eye. Guru, with a ysalamiri strapped to his back, leaped from behind a column with Mara's lightsabre ignited and aimed straight at Callista. Quick as lightning, Luke ignited his lightsabre, locked it into the "on" position and hurled it through the air at Guru. The blade sliced through Guru's neck, effectively lopping off his head, and planted itself into the ysalamiri killing it as well. Unfortunately, the momentum of Guru's body and lightsabre continued toward Callista. Mara launched herself at Callista to knock her out of the way, but tripped on a broken piece of statue. She managed to shove Callista out of the way, but could not escape the bite of her own lightsabre as it pierced through her middle.

Luke felt Mara's surprise before he felt the pain. She stood a few meters in front of him, her lightsabre pierced through her chest. "Mara! NO!" He was at her side in a split second to catch her body as she sank limply to the ground. There was no blood. The lightsabre had cauterized the wound as it entered her. But he could feel her life force fading fast.

"Luke," Mara began weakly, but the effort made her cough. Blood began to trickle slowly down the side of her mouth. He cradled her in his arms and wiped the blood away.

"Don't try to talk," he whispered, his voice wavering in the effort to remain calm. He reached out through the Force to try to put her into a healing trance until they could get to a medical facility, but she kept slipping away from him.

"Don't shush me when I'm dying," she replied lightly, but the tears streaming down her cheeks belied the agony she felt. She reached up to clasp his hand. "I need to tell you -" she began coughing again.

"You're not going to die. Please, Mara, just hold on," he begged, his own tears falling lightly on her face.

She ignored him. "I love you." Her voice faltered again, but this time with emotion. With every ounce left of her strength, he could feel her open her mind as wide as possible, letting him see every secret, every feeling. He could feel her love for him wrap around him like a warm blanket. He was her best friend, her confidant, and she had fallen completely in love with him. He could feel her seeking for something else too, forgiveness. "I'm so sorry, Luke."

He was truly surprised. "You have nothing to be sorry for," he soothed. He brushed her hair away from her face.

"I'm sorry I wasted so much time, and I'm sorry to break my promise," she continued weakly. "I love you."

He bent down to kiss her lightly on her lips. Her grip on his hand loosened and finally fell to the ground. "No, Mara!" he choked. "You can't leave me, too." He reached out again to hold on to her life force, but it was like trying to stop the receding ocean. Her light, once bright and full of life, faded, grew dull, then eventually disappeared all together. Luke shook his head, refusing to let go. He shook her shoulders slightly. "Mara, come back! I need you. You have to wake up. I love you." The last words came out as more of a sob, but she remained unresponsive.

The first of the explosives began to rumble through the secret passages and hallways in the mansion, but Luke paid no attention to them. He pulled Mara close to him and cried into her hair. She had sacrificed herself to save someone she didn't even like. Once again, whatever curse had been placed over his head had claimed yet another that he loved. Well, she would be the last. He sat with her on the floor while the explosions grew nearer. He could feel the tremors in the ground and pieces of plaster and transparisteel were beginning to fall from the ceiling and walls. He didn't care. He would stay with Mara through the end.

A small hand rested wearily on his shoulder. Through the light touch he felt a wave of sadness, regret and remorse. "I'm so sorry, Luke," Callista whispered, her voice cracking with emotion. "This is all my fault, my doing. And after everything I put you both through, she still saved my life."

Luke shrugged off her hand. He couldn't stand to look at his former lover. Anger and the Force warred within him as he absorbed Mara's death. He tried to fight down the anger boiling up from the pit of his stomach. He wanted to blame Callista, tell her she was right and to go to hell. But he also knew that to do that would be to start down the path to the dark side.

"She didn't become one with the Force," a child-like voice whispered close to his ear, jerking him out of his inner turmoil.

His head jolted up, and he looked into Annaïse's compassionate eyes. It was yet another blow. Mara had been so close to becoming a Jedi. As her body was still there, it was obvious she had not succeeded. She should have disappeared by now, become one with the Force.

"I should've known that nothing less than death could get her to finally let down her barriers," Annaïse quipped.

Luke glared at her. "Just leave us."

She smiled and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Every Jedi has to make a sacrifice. Mara made the greatest one of all."

Out of the corner of his eye, Luke saw Callista look away in shame.

"If she's a Jedi, then why is her body still here?" he demanded.

"The Force brought you and Mara together to fulfill a destiny. That destiny is not yet fulfilled. Your love for each other is what will save us all." With that cryptic prophesy spoken, turned to her former pupil.

Callista finally found the courage to look her teacher in the eye. Taking a deep breath, she nodded to Annaïse and said, "It's time."

Annaïse smiled her approval and encouragement. Luke missed the exchange; once again he was focused completely on Mara's still body. Callista knelt down to the couple and touched Luke's hand. This time he did not shrug her off, but met her sorrowful gray gaze with his own blue one.

"I'm sorry," she said with as much feeling as she could muster. "And, I did love you, Luke. But I wish you and Mara all the best."

Luke opened his mouth to throw a stinging retort in her face, but was silenced, when Callista closed her eyes, bent down and placed a hand over Mara's cauterized wound. The area around her hand began to glow white. Then the glow spread up Callista's arm and across Mara's body. Luke could feel the Force enveloping them in its power. It blocked out everything, the fortress, the explosions. He could feel the Force enter Mara's body and her life force sparked. It began as a small speck of light, then it continued to grow stronger.

Callista pulled her hand away and stood. She no longer looked like Cray Mingla, but the ghost of the woman Luke had met on the Eye of Palpatine. Her body glowed white with the power of the Force. She began to fade. Before she completely dissolved, she smiled down at Luke. "Love each other well, and may the Force be with you." Then she was gone.

Luke stared after her not quite believing what he had just witnessed. He turned to Annaïse for answers, but discovered the little creature had vanished as well. Suddenly, he felt Mara twitch and all thoughts of Annaïse and Callista flew out of his head. His only concern was for the woman lying in his arms. "Mara?" he cried, trying not to shake her. He was shaking himself. She groaned slightly. "Mara, you're alive!" He wrapped his arms around her in a fierce hug. Then he planted kissed on every square centimeter of her face, ending with a lingering kiss on her lips.

"You've got some sick turn-ons, Skywalker," she retorted hoarsely when he pulled away enough for her to breathe easier. "What is it with you and dead women?"

Luke could only laugh half-hysterically. Tears streaming down his cheeks but this time in happiness. "Oh, Mara, I thought I'd lost you - again. Please don't ever do that to me again. I love you."

Mara smiled and returned the embrace. "I love you, too, farmboy." A loud explosion brought them back to the real world. "What's say we postpone this little reunion until we get clear of the blast? I've already died once today, and that was enough."

"Not funny," he responded, but he couldn't keep the smile from his face. He pulled himself to his feet, then scooped Mara up into his arms and began to run toward the exit. He ignored her small cry of protest. Then her eyes widened when she realized Annaïse and Callista were not with them. She opened her mouth to ask Luke, but he cut her off.

"It's a long story, but they already made it out," he informed her.

They made it outside the house and down the trail to the bridge before half the fortress burst into flames. The impact of the blast wave nearly sent both them sprawling, but Luke was determined to get them both off the mountain alive.

"I can run on my own, Skywalker," Mara insisted. "Yeah, but are you strong enough to swim?"

Mara groaned. "I'm beginning to really hate water." She had no time for further complaints as Luke unceremoniously dumped her over the side. She hit the water only seconds before he did. Remembering that he couldn't swim, she slipped an arm across his chest and began paddling as hard as she could for the opposite bank. She had no desire to visit the waterfall again.

Several birds rose in unison from the perches in the surrounding trees turning the sky into a swirling mass of black specks. But in just as many seconds, the flocks soared away from the mountain, their survival instincts telling them to get clear. Then, in a deafening blast, half of the mountain disintegrated showering everything in a ten kilometer radius with rock and ash. Mara and Luke had to duck several times to avoid flying debris, but managed to remain unscathed.

"Hey!" someone shouted from several meters down the bank. Mara made out one of the former slaves waving wildly for them to swim his way. Next to him, two small wooden boats were tied to a rock. "I thought you guys could use some transportation," he indicated the boats when they were within hearing range.

Mara and Luke dragged themselves out of the river and gave the man a grateful smile. "Thanks, that would be great," Mara replied. She glanced back at the mountain that was spewing red hot lava down its slopes.

"There's a ladder used by fish to swim upstream on the left side of the falls," the slave explained. "You should be able to navigate safely down the falls that way. There is a village about a day's float down the river. We thought we'd stay there until transport arrives to take us off planet. You can meet us there if you like, and we will gladly pay your passage. It's the least we can do to repay you for our freedom."

"No payment is necessary," Luke replied, wrapping his arm around Mara's waist. "We'll meet you at the village, but we'd better hurry if we want to outrun the lava wave and make it to Mt. Uzbira to stop any of those crates from getting off planet."

As if on cue, another sound joined that of the rumbling mountain. The trio looked up to the sky. The low thrumming of a freighter engine grew steadily louder until a familiar form shot over them. The Millennium Falcon was a sight for sore eyes, and both Luke and Mara breathed a sigh of relief. Luke pulled out a small, short distance comm unit from his pocket. He typed in Han's standard frequency.

"Han, ol' buddy, do you read me?" he said into the static.

There was a momentary pause, then, "Hey, kid, this is some vacation spot you picked! You okay?"

"We're fine. But you have to keep the Imperials from getting off planet with their cargo."

"No problem. Rogue Squadron's giving that star destroyer a run for its credits. So you guys want some rescuing or what?"

Luke and Mara exchanged playful looks. "That's alright, Han," Luke replied. "We're fine. Go ahead and take care of the Imperials. You can come rescue us at these coordinates in a few days."

"A few days?" Han repeated incredulously. "We'll have it in the bag in a few hours."

Mara chose that moment to snatch the comm from Luke. "You'll want to be very thorough with the clean up, Solo," she said forcefully.

Han's chuckle floated over the comm channel. "Yep, it will probably take a few days. May the Force be with you."

Luke pocketed the comm unit, and the slave, who had overheard everything, glanced slyly at the two of them. "I'll go on ahead, you two take your time." With a broad smile, he pushed his boat into the water and quickly disappeared around a bend in the river.

"Do you think that was a hint?" Mara asked.

"Hey, I'll take what I can get," he replied, wrapping his other arm around her and kissing her passionately.

"Hon, the mountain's spitting fire, and I don't think standing in its targeting range is a smart idea," Mara pulled away and chided him playfully.

"Okay, escape fiery death first," Luke agreed.

They pushed their boat into the water, picked up the wooden paddles and began to steer toward the ladder. It was a bumpy ride down several stages of cascading water, but it was much better than plummeting head first over the main channel. Once at the bottom, they sat back and let the current take them toward their destination. Neither noticed the passing scenery as they were lost in each other. They wrapped their arms around each other vowing to never let go again, and indulged in a deep kiss. Suddenly a thought struck Luke and he pulled away.

"What is it?" Mara asked worriedly.

He paused for a second before answering. "Your not my long lost cousin or anything are you?"

Mara laughed. "Well, Vader and my aunt were really close for awhile, and the blood tests never came back -"

Luke cut her off with a kiss, and she soon forgot her teasing.

The End

Author's Note: Thank you all for staying with me through this very long process. And thank you for the wonderful feedback. I hope you all enjoyed the story.