Title: Walking the Sky
Author: JediMara77
Characters: Mara Jade Skywalker, Luke Skywalker, Soontir Fel, Chaf'orm'bintrano (Aristocra Formbi), Prard'ras'kleoni (General Drask), Daric LaRone, Dean Jinzler, Rida Hano (OC), Callista Masana
Timeframe: 14 ABY, in the I, Mara Jade timeline, in which Mara became a Jedi Knight in 11 ABY and married Luke one year later. It is not necessary to read that fic to understand this one, although I would love it if you did.
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Action
Summary: Luke and Mara Jade Skywalker accompany representatives from the mysterious Chiss Ascendancy and Empire of the Hand to investigate the remains of the long-lost Outbound Flight project. Will investigating the past give the Skywalkers the knowledge to save their future?
Disclaimer: Don't own anything, although I wish I owned Jedi Master!Luke (even though Mara would probably kill me).
Acknowledgements: Thank you to ginchy for brainstorming, betaing, being my pregnancy advisor, and enthusiastically supporting this project before it was even conceived.
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Cover by Iverna:

IMG DOT PHOTOBUCKET DOT COM /albums/v109/JediMara77/Fanfiction%20Images/JediMara77-wts DOT JPG

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A/N: I needed a break from working on my other fic, so here it is. I have so much fic ADD.

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CHAPTER 1

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Strong winds whip around me as I bring my lightsaber up to guard. The magenta blade is bright in the darkness of night. I jump over bright tendrils of light that come from my combatant's weapon. She is taller than me, covered in black armor and wearing a triangular black headdress. I know her from my time in the Emperor's service. I do not like her.

And she does not like me. That is certain as she flicks her lightwhip again in my direction. I am familiar with the odd weapon, but have never fought against one before. I manage to hold my own, and in a moment of vanity, consider myself a much better fighter than this cyborg.

She wants to take me back to the Empire, but I do not want to go. I have other, more important things to accomplish. My master is dead and there is no place left for me in the new Empire, run by Ysanne Isard. I'd rather work for swoop gangs for the rest of my existence, a thought that brings an unexpected pang to my heart. I miss the Empire, and want it back, but I learned long ago that you can't always get what you want.

I wonder how she has found me. I will need to move on after this duel is over, create a new identity and find another way to make money. I've never had to worry about such things before, but now my life feels so incredibly unstable. I don't like having an unknown future.

It becomes clear that the duel will continue for a long time. The cyborg—her name is Lumiya—does not seem to tire, and neither will I. I will not give her that satisfaction.

But I am not familiar enough with her lightwhip and she soon gets the better of me. I am disarmed, but I still can protect myself. I reach down to my belt to remove my blaster…but it is not there. I force myself not to panic and reach for my vibroblade. That isn't there, either. I dive to the ground, evading another attack from Lumiya's lightwhip.

But then she is upon me, and there is nothing I can do. My connection to the Force, once strong and potent, has grown weak since the death of my master. I try to call my lightsaber back to my hand, but it will not come. Instead if makes a satisfying thwat as it slaps against Lumiya's palm. Her expression is triumphant as she looks down at me, completely defenseless against her attack. For a moment, I think she might render me unconscious, and take me back to Isard. Back to the Empire that is falling into pieces.

But she does not. She is ruthless—a Sith—and draws back my own lightsaber. My eyes widen in fear as she stabs the violet blade into my swollen abdomen.

My last thought is that not only did I fail myself, but I also failed my unborn child. I failed in my most important task in life—being a mother.

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I woke suddenly, blinking my eyes rapidly against the sunlight streaming in through the window. On instinct, my hand reached below the covers to touch my stomach. I sighed with relief as I felt the small but pronounced bump, safe and sound.

My pulse raced, so I went through the breathing exercises Cilghal had taught me. Stress was not good for the baby, of course, and my nightmares weren't doing much good for my health. But no matter how many hours I meditated, no matter how much stress I removed from my life, that nightmare continued to plague me. It had started four months ago, when I'd become pregnant. It was always the same dream—that duel on Caprioril, only different. I'd lost my lightsaber in the duel against Lumiya, but had escaped with my life. In the dream, I was not so lucky.

The bed was empty, so I got up and went to the 'fresher, my normal morning routine. Thankfully, I hadn't yet gotten to the point when I had to pee every minute of the day, and I'd also just gotten over my regular bouts of morning sickness, which weren't that bad to begin with. All my friends who were mothers—Leia, Mirax, and Tyria, to name a few—cursed me for my relatively easy pregnancy. Of course, they didn't know about the dreams. Nobody did, but Luke.

It would have been futile not to tell him about the dreams. He knew immediately that something was wrong, the first time I woke up in a sweat. I'd feigned ignorance then, and claimed that I couldn't remember what I dreamed about. He let it go, but after the third time of bolting upright in the dark, he insisted that I tell him what was wrong. So I did.

He reacted as I expected, with concern over the welfare of our unborn child. He was ecstatic to become a father and would take every precaution to make sure our baby was healthy. Hearing that I dreamed about being stabbed in the stomach with my own lightsaber—by his ex-girlfriend, no less—did not bode well for his stress levels, either.

But impending fatherhood had made Luke more protective, more assertive, so he sat with me in the dark and discussed why I was having these dreams. He even led me in meditation, holding my hands just as we did when I was still an apprentice at the Academy and he forced me to participate in private meditation sessions. It had been beneficial even then, but once our bond in the Force solidified, meditating together was Luke's normal reaction whenever a problem arose. I still wasn't the biggest fan of meditation, but in this case, I acquiesced.

And I found that Luke's psychoanalysis was correct. The loss of my old lightsaber on Caprioril represented an inability to protect not only myself, but also my unborn child. Of course I always carried other weapons, but since becoming a Jedi, the lightsaber was my main symbol of protection. I prided myself on my fighting ability, even considering it my best asset as a Jedi. While it was still very odd to consider the fact that I was going to be a mother, and I felt less of an innate connection with the baby than Luke did, that "mother bantha" instinct was there from the beginning. If I couldn't defend myself, and my child, then I had failed.

Not only that, but the duel with Lumiya and the loss of my old lightsaber represented a clean break from my old life in the Empire. Lumiya was sent to bring me back, and I refused. I'd never been a big believer in symbolism, but even I had to admit that losing the lightsaber that the Emperor had given me represented the start of a new life.

After taking a shower and dressing myself in a loose tunic and pants (my jumpsuits were starting to get snug around the middle, much to my chagrin), I went into the common area. Luke was busy preparing breakfast. He was always a doting husband, and there were still some moments when I believed that I did not deserve him. We'd been married for two years and our relationship was better than ever, but sometimes, especially after having that nightmare, I wondered how in the galaxy I'd gotten to my place in life. And, not to mention, what my life would have been like if I hadn't met him.

I shook those thoughts from my mind as Luke glanced up at me and smiled. He was happy to see me, but also concerned. He always knew when I had a nightmare. They didn't happen every night, but they were frequent enough. He'd once suggested talking to Cilghal about it, but I refused. I didn't want to tell anyone about my dreams, and my fear of being a bad mother.

"You look nice," he said as he pulled away from my kiss. He placed a hand on my belly, his way of saying hello to our baby. Then his brow furrowed. "You okay?" He'd learned long ago that I didn't care to needlessly drone on about my dreams, but he always asked how I was anyway.

I nodded. I placed my hands on top of his, and gave a reassuring squeeze. "I'm fine. Don't worry." Luke had a tendency to take the weight of the galaxy on his shoulders, something that bothered me from the day I arrived at the Jedi Academy. He'd gotten much better about sharing his burdens, but he worried a lot about my well-being.

Luke squeezed back and changed the subject. He'd learned long ago the importance of abiding by the whims of a pregnant wife. "Are you ready to go?" Luke had an appointment to speak with the Senate appropriations committee, so we were leaving for Coruscant that morning. I was looking forward to the trip, although I hoped that Leia would lay off the baby talk. But, knowing Leia, those thoughts were most likely in vain.

"I just need to file a few reports with Tionne, and then I'll be ready." I crossed to the main computer terminal to do my work while Luke finished breakfast.

He clucked his tongue. "Waiting until the last minute to finish your work, Jedi Skywalker? I should punish you for that."

I flashed him a rude gesture over my shoulder. "That's what got me into this precarious situation, Farmboy." I rubbed my belly subconsciously.

He laughed and went back to making breakfast, leaving me to work. The reports were basically finished, and it didn't take long until Luke and I were sitting at the table together, sharing our meal. "You look nice, too," I told him, returning his earlier compliment. He also wore a casual tunic and pants, but I always appreciated seeing him wear something besides Jedi attire. I knew he'd packed his Jedi robes for his sessions in front of the Senate, as did I, but it was nice to pretend to be normal from time to time. Or, at the very least, it was nice to wear normal clothes.

He flashed me another smile. "Thanks."

"And you got a haircut." I'd mentioned that yesterday, but brought it up again to make him feel guilty. I fingered his blond hair, and briefly wondered if it would start turning gray after the baby arrived. Would my red-gold hair turn gray as well, or just go straight to white? "How come you'll get your hair cut for Borsk Fey'lya, and not for me?"

"How do you know it's for Fey'lya and not you?"

"I just know."

Luke had the decency to look sheepish. "But look at the nice breakfast I made you…"

"Yeah, yeah." I waved my hand over the table. "You're lucky you're a good cook, or I'd think twice about keeping you."

He raised his eyebrows at me. "I'm also cute."

I leaned over the table to give him another kiss. "That, too."

His eyes twinkled, and he leaned over to rub my belly again. "Not to mention a purveyor of good genes." He wiggled his eyebrows. He was so proud of knocking me up.

I shook my head and took a bite of toast. "Whatever, Son of Vader."

He made a face at me and continued to eat. Those types of comments never bothered him, and we often joked about our less than wholesome pasts. But even though he grew up without a father, he still had an aunt and uncle to look up to. Uncle Owen taught Luke everything he needed to know about being a father, and Luke never once doubted his ability to raise a child. He would do everything in his power to be the father he never had.

I, on the other hand, did not have any parenting role models. I grew up in the Imperial Palace, raised by nannies and governesses and even nanny droids. As soon as I was old enough, I spent most of my time in school or in various training classes, and those instructors became my caretakers. Since becoming ensconced in the New Republic, I'd been around mothers often enough to know the basics—feeding, diaper changing, rocking the baby to sleep. I'd read all the popular parenting books, and I knew that I would succeed as a mother. It was part of my personality, part of the old Emperor's Hand who would never fully go away—that I never failed in any mission. (Except for that one time on Tatooine, of course.) But that was okay with me. I'd forgiven myself for being the Emperor's Hand, and also learned that using my old training to my advantage wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

But succeeding as a mother and beinga good mother were two totally different things. I didn't want to just go through the motions, and be a caretaker and protector. I wanted my children to have what I never did—someone to love them. Someone to comfort them when they fell. Someone to lean on.

I desperately wanted to be that person, but my dreams weren't helping very much in the confidence department. So I did what I did best. I ignored them as much as possible.

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We ate the rest of the meal in silence, and were soon ready to leave. Luke grabbed our bags and we made our way to the Jade's Fire, our personal starship. Technically, it was my starship, as my old boss Talon Karrde had given it to me when I still worked for his organization. But after getting married, it became our ship. We even had it reconfigured to make a larger stateroom. Lately, Luke kept mentioning the idea of buying another ship, something bigger. I sarcastically asked him how many children he intended to have, even though he did make a good point. Eventually our child wasn't going to want to stay in the same stateroom as mommy and daddy, and we'd want privacy as well. But I was attached to the Fire, and not just because of my independence. Luke and I had once reconciled on that ship, and later got engaged there. I never thought I'd be so sentimental, and yet the thought of getting rid of the Fire left me with a strange hitch in my throat.

Kam and Tionne Solusar were waiting for us in the hangar. Luke and I had said good-bye to our other friends the night before. The Solusars and I had been part of Luke's first class of apprentices at the Academy, and they had been at the Academy ever since. Kam had recently been promoted to Jedi Master, and Tionne practically ran the entire Academy, even when Luke was present.

"Hello Kam, Tionne," Luke said as we approached. I gave them a warm smile.

"Good morning, Master Skywalker," Tionne said. "Good luck on your trip."

Luke grimaced. "I'd say something like there's no such thing as luck for a Jedi, but I might need it with Fey'lya in charge of the appropriations committee."

Kam nodded in agreement. "Why they gave him that much power, I will never understand."

"You know the Bothans," I said. "They make your skin crawl, but they're political geniuses."

Tionne smiled at me. "How're you feeling, Mara?"

I patted my small bump, which wasn't noticeable under my loose clothing unless you looked hard enough. "Great, actually. It'll be nice to get away for a while."

"Ah, I see. You'll be relaxing on Coruscant while Luke deals with Fey'lya and the Senate?"

I laughed. "Of course. I'm not stupid. Listening to Fey'lya drone on can't be good for the baby, after all."

Luke rolled his eyes and wrapped his arm around me. He gave me an affectionate squeeze. "You have everything you need, Tionne?"

She nodded. "All your classes are covered."

"Great." Luke glanced at me. "Ready?"

"Always." We exchanged a round of good-byes, and a few minutes later Luke and I were on our way to Coruscant.