Title: Late Night Musings

Summary: Just what did Leia think about Mara marrying Luke?

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters, duh.

A/N: Many thanks to LadyPadme for the betajob.

A/N2: I love reviews.

***

I have to admit, I simply did not trust Mara Jade.

She saved the lives of my children and she saved my brother's life, but that didn't mean I trusted her – not with my brother's heart. His life, maybe, but not his heart. Mara Jade had been raised by a sociopath. She was trained to be a cold-blooded killer, and she had been taught to be obedient and merciless in the extreme. Somehow, that training had gone wrong – the obedience had been present, but merciless Mara was not.

I wouldn't exactly define her as being normal, however. She's hard, sarcastic, and at times unfeeling. Mara Jade did not have personal feelings – or relationships. Or rather, she attempted not to, and usually succeeded, with a few rare exceptions of which I was aware.

So, I was understandably concerned when my brother came home after he disappeared in the middle of an intergalactic crisis to rescue Mara, and tells me that he's going to marry a woman he's never even dated.

Mara.

I know relationships and marriages can be very different from person to person. I love Han dearly, and we are the not the same personality wise. We complement each other in numerous ways, and in other ways our minds work along the same paths, so much so that we can virtually finish each other's sentences. Not to say that one of us doesn't irritate the other person sometimes, but there is an understanding between us, along with the attraction that always existed.

Perhaps that is why I couldn't see what it was between the two of them – Luke and Mara. They were such complete opposites, appearing to have little common ground, even few issues on which they could be civil on. I never could understand how they interacted. It was like a game in which only they could see the rules, leaving me befuddled. It was not a pleasant feeling; I enjoy knowing my little brother as well as I do.

It was not long after Luke and Mara had returned from their adventures dealing with the Hand of Thrawn – I didn't know anything else about what happened there, but I trusted Luke's judgment, and I did not question his silence on the matter. Luke and Mara seemed to take the time to spend more time together – they least they could do at this point, being engaged, I thought – and I respected that.

It was quite by accident that I happened upon Luke lying on the lounge sofa. We were on a well-appointed diplomatic ship, and there were few people on board besides us, especially considering the size of the ship. I woke up in the middle of the night, not sure what had woken me. Sighing, I decided it didn't matter. Han remained asleep, snoring softly in the darkness. I smiled, oddly thinking of my children, perhaps because they always got that same exact look on their face as Han's when they slept. I knew the crew wouldn't be around, and the other passengers were all asleep, so basically, I had the ship to myself. I got up, flipped my long braid over my shoulder, put on a robe and wandered about the ship, feeling restless and knowing that walking it off would be the only way I could get back to sleep. That was how I found Luke asleep on a couch in the lounge, apparently having dozed off.

The lights were dim, and I paused outside one of the doors to the lounge, taking in the scene. Luke was fully stretched out on the white couch, and his typical black tunic and pants were a spot of darkness in the clean, bright-colored lounge area. He was lying on his back, his head lolling to one side. A datapad was sat on the low table next to the couch, probably something he had been working on. I couldn't help but smile at the sight of him so blithely unaware to the world. It made him look younger. He was my little brother. No matter how he denied it.

I almost stepped in when I heard a rustle, some faint noise that alerted me to the presence of someone else in the room. I stood very still, using the training that Luke had taught me to make myself invisible both to sight and the Force.

Mara walked through the opposite doorway. It was behind the couch where Luke was lying, and she strode in with long steps, which slowed and stopped as she came to stand before Luke. Her red hair was drawn back, and one side it was mussed, as if she had been lying on it. She wore loose, beige sleep-clothes that were unflattering at best. Her eyes were dark with sleep. This was definitely not the reserved, put-together woman I normally saw.

Moving slowly and carefully, and taking a quick glance around, she stepped closer to Luke. I kept still, curious to see what she would do. One more quick glance around, and then silently, she knelt by Luke, her hand brushing back his hair with an uncharacteristic gentleness. Plainly, she wasn't aware of my presence.

She paused again, and then smiled. She rose slowly, and then put her knee on the couch. As I watched, she put her hands beside Luke's face and lifted herself onto the couch, then lay gently and quietly on top of Luke, one leg on top of him and the other beside him. She curled up her upper body against him, getting comfortable, lying her head just under his on his shoulder. Her hands found his, and they became gently entwined.

Luke murmured sleepily, something I couldn't hear and smiled with his eyes still shut. He put one arm around her, the other cradling her head. She said something as well, and he laughed quietly. Then they both stilled.

I laughed silently to myself. Of all the things I could have expected from my late-night stroll, this wasn't one of them. Without even trying, Mara had begun to win me over, and she didn't even know it. I don't know what it was – I suspect, though, it was how she sought comfort from Luke . . . and how easily and lovingly he gave it. Perhaps I didn't understand their relationship, didn't understand how they could know they were meant to be a couple after such a short period, how they could know that after not even considering such a thing. I would have known, surely, if Luke had. Perhaps I would never understand what made their relationship work. But I realized I didn't need to. They weren't Han and me – and we weren't them. How can you make a comparison between two unique relationships?

Smiling, and feeling a great deal less restless than I had felt before, I turned away, casting one last glance at Luke and Mara. And then Luke opened his eyes, and winked at me. Surprised, I opened my mouth to say something – and then shut it and shook my head. Mara remained still, apparently having fallen asleep.

I mouthed, "Little brother."

And he mouthed back at me: "Little sister."


The End