Prologue
The warm sun shone brightly in the soft blue sky. The day was hot but it didn't seem to faze her at all. A young woman lay in the grass by a pool of crystal clear water that traveled up into beautiful falls. Her eyes were studying the sky as if searching for answers she knew were hidden there. She hummed a light tune but all noise ceased as she leaned up on her elbows gazed intently at the top of the hill.
She pushed her breeze blown tangled red hair away from her face and continued to wait. What she was waiting for was not clear, not even to herself but it all seemed to come together when he appeared at the top of the green hill.
The young woman gave a soft smile but then bit her bottom lip as if to hide her happiness. She stood up and started to slowly make her way towards him.
Stopping a few meters away she glanced him over. Her dark green eyes took in every part of him and unbeknownst to her, he did the same. She looked into his bright blue eyes, so much like the sky she was just admiring, and he gazed into hers with the same intensity.
" Luke," she breathed out hoarsely and he gave a huge grin in return while taking more steps towards her. Now they only stood an arm apart. Her confused eyes gazed questioningly into his as his mood changed. Gone was the Jedi calm, now replaced with nervousness.
" Mara, I..." he trailed off but never got to finish as the ground began to shake violently underneath them. He fell through a huge hole that just appeared and Mara tried to reach out to him but wasn't fast enough.
" Luke," she cried out, her voice thick with emotion. The ground shook again and Mara fell to her knees. Rain clouds rushed overhead and lightning light up the dark sky. She looked into the hole but saw nothing. Nothing! Reaching out with the force she felt his signature slightly.
She jumped to her feet and ran as fast as she could go through the fields. The rain began to fall slightly then but she continued on not even stopping to cross the jagged mountain of rock. She only stopped when she reached a battle arena and saw Luke lying in the center of it.
When she got to his side she dropped to her knees and cradled his head gently. His body was so different from what it had looked like before. It was now bruised and had to log slashes, one across his chest and the other went from his chin to his brow. She swallowed visibly and for the first time in years she felt a stinging in her eyes. She hadn't cried since she was a little girl. She had injured her elbow and made the mistake of crying about it to the emperor. Never again had she cried, until now.
She felt her grief take over and rested her forehead against his. Her tears were silent as they fell and mixed with the rain. She felt so weak. So weak, because she knew she can't do anything and Luke Skywalker, her naive farm boy, was dying...
Mara awoke with a start and cursed silently at her dream, nightmare, or even vision of the man whom she's grown way to attached to, in her opinion, dying. With her luck it was probably the latter and she'd have to go and save his sorry butt once again. But this time she was bringing in reinforcements.
She swung out of bed and went to her Com terminal dialing the number by heart. As she waited for someone to answer she stretched out with the force to see what trouble that stupid Jedi was in now.
Han Solo's face came up drowsily to the screen. " What!" he snapped irritable that someone would dare and call in the middle of the night, disturbing his beauty sleep.
Mara snapped out of her searching and gave him a smirk only saying, " I'm sorry to interrupt your family's vacation Solo but it seems that Skywalker's gotten himself into some trouble...again!" He let out as many curses as he could think of and Mara's grin brightened.
" What's wrong?" Leia asked from off screen.
Han finally calmed himself then called out answering Leia's question. " Luke."
She groaned, " Not again!" Han chuckled nodding
The warm sun shone brightly in the soft blue sky. The day was hot but it didn't seem to faze her at all. A young woman lay in the grass by a pool of crystal clear water that traveled up into beautiful falls. Her eyes were studying the sky as if searching for answers she knew were hidden there. She hummed a light tune but all noise ceased as she leaned up on her elbows gazed intently at the top of the hill.
She pushed her breeze blown tangled red hair away from her face and continued to wait. What she was waiting for was not clear, not even to herself but it all seemed to come together when he appeared at the top of the green hill.
The young woman gave a soft smile but then bit her bottom lip as if to hide her happiness. She stood up and started to slowly make her way towards him.
Stopping a few meters away she glanced him over. Her dark green eyes took in every part of him and unbeknownst to her, he did the same. She looked into his bright blue eyes, so much like the sky she was just admiring, and he gazed into hers with the same intensity.
" Luke," she breathed out hoarsely and he gave a huge grin in return while taking more steps towards her. Now they only stood an arm apart. Her confused eyes gazed questioningly into his as his mood changed. Gone was the Jedi calm, now replaced with nervousness.
" Mara, I..." he trailed off but never got to finish as the ground began to shake violently underneath them. He fell through a huge hole that just appeared and Mara tried to reach out to him but wasn't fast enough.
" Luke," she cried out, her voice thick with emotion. The ground shook again and Mara fell to her knees. Rain clouds rushed overhead and lightning light up the dark sky. She looked into the hole but saw nothing. Nothing! Reaching out with the force she felt his signature slightly.
She jumped to her feet and ran as fast as she could go through the fields. The rain began to fall slightly then but she continued on not even stopping to cross the jagged mountain of rock. She only stopped when she reached a battle arena and saw Luke lying in the center of it.
When she got to his side she dropped to her knees and cradled his head gently. His body was so different from what it had looked like before. It was now bruised and had to log slashes, one across his chest and the other went from his chin to his brow. She swallowed visibly and for the first time in years she felt a stinging in her eyes. She hadn't cried since she was a little girl. She had injured her elbow and made the mistake of crying about it to the emperor. Never again had she cried, until now.
She felt her grief take over and rested her forehead against his. Her tears were silent as they fell and mixed with the rain. She felt so weak. So weak, because she knew she can't do anything and Luke Skywalker, her naive farm boy, was dying...
Mara awoke with a start and cursed silently at her dream, nightmare, or even vision of the man whom she's grown way to attached to, in her opinion, dying. With her luck it was probably the latter and she'd have to go and save his sorry butt once again. But this time she was bringing in reinforcements.
She swung out of bed and went to her Com terminal dialing the number by heart. As she waited for someone to answer she stretched out with the force to see what trouble that stupid Jedi was in now.
Han Solo's face came up drowsily to the screen. " What!" he snapped irritable that someone would dare and call in the middle of the night, disturbing his beauty sleep.
Mara snapped out of her searching and gave him a smirk only saying, " I'm sorry to interrupt your family's vacation Solo but it seems that Skywalker's gotten himself into some trouble...again!" He let out as many curses as he could think of and Mara's grin brightened.
" What's wrong?" Leia asked from off screen.
Han finally calmed himself then called out answering Leia's question. " Luke."
She groaned, " Not again!" Han chuckled nodding