Lingering Issues

by Sarah Bracke

rated PG

Characters are property of George Lucas and Tim Zahn.

Mara and Luke took up their usual positions on the bed. Mara propped herself against the headboard with a pillow, her legs sprawled out in front of her.Luke curled up next to her with his head and hand delicately laid upon Mara's rounded belly. As she ran her fingers through Luke's feathery hair, he reached out with the force and probed his son's force presence.

Luke stretched out and touched the pulsing beacon that he recognized as his son's force signature. He was amazed when his son sent out a force tendril to investigate the intrusion. Luke sent a tender caress to calm him and soon after, the small child's presence settled. After waiting a few moments, Luke carefully scanned the small form for abnormalities.

There was no way to tell whether Mara was completely healed of the devastating disease the Yuuzhan Vong Nom Anor had infected her with. Consequently, it was vital that the child be scanned for signs of infection. The sooner problems were discovered, the sooner they could be dealt with. Mara scanned herself constantly, but insisted that Luke double check.

"Anything?"

"Nope," Luke replied. He propped himself on an elbow and stared up at his wife.

Mara let out a sigh and let her head fall against the headboard. She clenched her eyes shut and grabbed her belly protectively. Luke placed a hand on top of hers and sent a feeling of reassurance in her direction.

No matter how much Luke reassured her, however, she was deathly afraid that the disease would return and infect their child. Mara didn't want to have to face whatever would come out of her if the disease did put in an appearance.

"Mara, it's been almost a year now. I'm still not getting any bad vibes from this. We only have another month before he's here."

"That doesn't mean anything, Skywalker," she snapped, looking down at the bed spread. "You don't know how hard it is to deal with this. To know you that you could be responsible for this child being a freak for the rest of his life."

"It's not..."

Mara pushed herself up and glared at Luke."Yes it is, dammit! I'm the one responsible for keeping the disease at bay. Sith, Skywalker, I'm the one who decided to go to Monor II in the first place. What if something does happen to him and a few years down the line he hates us...hates me for allowing this to happen to him?!" She looked away from him.

"Mara!" Luke said, putting his hands on either side of her face and forcing her to look at him. "You know that whatever happens to this child, he will be loved. He has parents that love him, and an aunt and uncle, cousins, Talon, Corran, Lando, Wedge...He will have no reason to resent you, unless you live out the rest of your life feeling guilty about something that's not your fault."

The baby kicked, sensing his mother's agitation. She looked down at her belly. Mara was suddenly thrust out of her reverie. She suddenly realized that this child, her son, was almost complete. He was almost fully human. She realized her worst fears would not come true. Her son would not turn out as a thing. She realized that perhaps she should just shut up and listen to Luke for a once.

Mara reached up and stroked Luke's cheek. "You're right Luke," she said with a soft sigh. "I need to stop focusing on what could be and start concentrating on what is. We've come this far...."

This wasn't to say that she would stop the hourly inspections of her son's condition. She would just focus more of her energy on loving him instead of worrying about him. Something that she had denied herself for so long.

Luke picked up her hand and placed a kiss on her knuckles. "I love you Mara, no matter what happens."

Mara had spent far too much time hating this man and denying her feelings for him. For years, she had wanted to kill Luke. And for more years still, she hid the fact that she loved him. After they were together, it became all too painfully clear how much she had loved him all along. It infuriated her to realize how much time had been wasted, all of the children they could have had without fear of death and deformity.

Luke smiled, happy that a major obstacle had been overcome. It had been the first triumph for them since Mara had willingly withdrawn herself from the front lines of battle. She'd convinced Karrde to give her some small projects to take her mind off worrying about the little Skycrawler.

" I just can't seem to let go."

"I know, I know..." he murmured.

Luke rearranged himself behind Mara and wrapped his arms around her expanded stomach. They sat like that for a long moment, reveling in each other's presence.

"So, we haven't thought of a name yet," Luke said, breaking the long silence.

"No, but you have," she looked back at him."Ben is fine with me, Luke," she reassured. "I know how important he was to you, as important as your son."

"Thank you, Mara," Luke replied, relieved to hear her approval. Luke had waited so long for the opportunity to name a child. To be able to name his son Ben was beyond words.

Luke leaned down and kissed Mara's rosy lips. The love they shared across their bond had only gotten stronger in their seven and a half years of marriage. Now a child only seemed to fill some previously unperceived gap in their lives.

After a few more minutes of cuddling, it was time for bed. Luke crawled out from behind Mara. He lifted up the bottom of her shirt over her stomach and pressed a kiss to the bulge he found there.

"Goodnight, Ben."

The child's force presence flared up towards his father.

Mara smirked. "He likes you."

"I certainly hope so," Luke replied with a smile. He pressed a kiss to Mara's lips and pulled the sheets up over them. The light went out.

Fin