29 ABY

Jade Anniversary

Luke and Mara celebrate their tenth wedding anniversary.

Mara looked around with some disgust. "I think I preferred our cave on Zonama Sekot." She glanced over to her husband, whose brow was furled in apparent discomfort at their surroundings.

Luke finally sighed and shook his head. "At least it's better than Bonadan."

The end of the Yuuzhan Vong War weeks earlier had been hailed as a return to normalcy for the galaxy, but the Skywalkers' lives were anything but normal. Their home on Coruscant was buried under the Vongforming on that planet, and the temples of Yavin IV had been similarly destroyed.

Thus, as with untold trillions of others, the galaxy's most famous Jedi couple was homeless. Both Luke and Mara had lived in enough different places over the course of their lives that Mara's ship, the Jade Shadow, was as close to home as anything else could be, but both longed for something more permanent.

Ostensibly, they were on vacation. Unfortunately, they were on vacation with the Solos. Luke and Mara were extremely close with Han and Leia, Luke's sister, but right now both regretted agreeing to this trip. Their tenth anniversary had snuck up on them to a certain extent, given the devastation of the Yuuzhan Vong War, but neither wanted to mark this occasion surrounded by the smog and factories of Ession. Unfortunately, their wedding anniversary was tomorrow, and it was now too late to avoid such an outcome.

Mara looked out the window for a moment before sadly shaking her head and sitting down. The couch on which she sat, hard and lumpy with a low back, was a standard representation of what passed for furniture in luxury hotels on the forsaken industrial world of Ession. She was not impressed.

Luke was not usually one to repeat himself, but in this instance he was helpless to resist. His voice now was quiet, and almost sad. "At least it's better than Bonadan."
Mara sighed. "Did your brother-in-law really have to choose the Corporate Sector as his dream vacation spot?"

Luke shrugged. "I don't really know what he was thinking. He has been here before…"

The Skywalkers and Solos had spent their first post-war week on Bonadan. That planet had been even worse than Ession. Extensively mined, Bonadan was polluted and foul-smelling to the extreme, an industrial wasteland to make pre-war Duro look like a paradise. Ession was slightly better. Here it took only an extensive search to find an example of native flora, rather than an exhaustive one.

And yet, Han and Leia seemed to be having a great time. Granted, Luke thought wryly, all Han needs is a place to work on the Falcon to have a great time. The average Corporate Sector world was no problem in that regard, and Luke's sister seemed to be enjoying just spending time with her husband.

Mara, on the other hand, was less-than-happy, and she had no compunction about showing it, at least in front of Luke. "I can't believe your sister has been married to Solo for more than twenty years. I would have killed him long ago. Sometimes it seems like I've been with you far too long, and they were ten years and three kids in when you and I got together."

Many a man might have been upset or offended by such a statement from his wife. Luke simply laughed. His bond in the Force with Mara was as strong as ever, and her words carried intense undercurrents of love and affection, despite her obvious displeasure with their current situation.

Thank the Force that Leia was willing to watch Ben for a few hours. Luke knew Mara's pattern in these instances extremely well. A bit of witty banter and teasing between husband and wife, at the right tender moment, almost always got Mara going. Luke had been in enough relationships to know that this was somewhat unusual in a woman, although for him it worked exceedingly well.

It was also possible, sometimes, to short-circuit the process. Given the lack of viable alternatives for activities on the industrial wasteland that was Ession, Luke decided to gamble. Thus, instead of directly responding to Mara's comment, Luke pulled her to her feet and kissed her deeply.

Mara practically melted into his arms, and they held their embrace for a long moment. Finally, Luke felt his wife pull away, and he opened his eyes to see a devious smile on Mara's face.

"Nice sentiment, Skywalker, but keep it zipped."

Luke's own smile faded slightly as he raised his eyebrows in semi-amusement. This was not exactly how he had expected the moment to develop.

Mara chuckled a bit at his obvious confusion. "You're dreaming, farmboy, if you think I'm ever going anywhere near that bed over there in something less than a full vac suit, let alone naked."

Luke pretended for a moment to be disappointed, but found he couldn't keep up the act. Breaking the façade, he laughed. "Why should that stop us? I'm sure Han has one of Chewie's old suits lying around on the Falcon. I'll bet we could both fit into that…"

It had been nearly five years since Chewbacca's death, and although the pain of the Wookiee's passing was still present for both Luke and Mara, they were far enough removed from the event itself to be able to lightly joke about such things. Chewie had been nearly as devoted and loyal to Luke as he had been to Han, and Luke suspected that Chewbacca would have no problem with his plan for repurposing an old vac suit.

Mara, however, wrinkled her nose at this suggestion. "Ugh. Can you imagine how bad that suit would end up smelling?"

Luke simply narrowed his eyes at her, but his tone was playful. "Nevertheless, I've come up with a sensible alternative to counter your objection. Do you have another concern, or shall I go and borrow a vac suit from Han?"

Mara waved him towards the room's door with a "be my guest" gesture. As Luke turned to walk towards the door, though, Mara grabbed him from behind by the waist. Spinning her husband around, she shoved him roughly into the wall.

"Forget the bed. I have a better idea."

Luke awoke in a good mood the next morning. Mara's objections to the bed had, fortunately, faded away rather quickly the previous evening. Leia had returned their son Ben to them just after dinnertime, thus Luke and Mara had gotten a blissful four hours alone together. The evening's activities had left both exhausted, and blessedly, Ben had slept soundly through the night, allowing the Skywalkers a much-needed nine standard hours of sleep.

Luke did not move for a long moment. Mara's right arm was draped across his chest, and their right legs were hopelessly intertwined. Luke was still considering how to extricate himself from Mara without waking her when he felt his wife begin to stir.

Mara was not a morning person. This fact was belied by her eyes, which were always impossibly clear even immediately upon awakening, lacking the unfocused haze inherent to most humans post-slumber. Today was no exception, and twin emeralds sparkled at Luke as Mara gave him a small and almost impish smile.

"Good morning, farmboy." Her greeting was delivered in a quiet whisper, so as not to wake their nearly 3-year-old son Ben, still sleeping soundly on a small cot a few feet from the Skywalkers' bed.

Luke rolled onto his side to kiss his wife, morning breath and all. "Happy anniversary, Mara."

Mara smirked. "Oh yeah, I guess that is today, isn't it."

Luke was not convinced for a femtosecond that she had forgotten, but played along by glaring accusingly at her for a moment. Finally he broke the look with a smile. "Can you believe it's been ten years?"

Mara's amused laugh was a bit too loud, and she looked over at Ben with some guilt before responding. Fortunately, the boy did not stir.

"I can't believe it's been ten years and I've managed to keep from killing you." Her voice softened considerably. "I guess that means we're destined to be together forever."

Luke chuckled lightly. "I could have told you that ten years ago." After kissing his wife one more time, he rolled out of bed and headed to the refresher to prepare for the day, leaving Mara the duty of waking Ben.

There were only a few things a tourist could do on Ession. Shopping was one of those things. The Corporate Sector had been mostly untouched by the war, and a number of new clothing boutiques had opened in the past year to cater to wealthy refugees from Core planets.

The war, and the life of a Jedi Master in general, had both left Mara with little use for fancy clothes. Most of her wardrobe had been lost on Coruscant, and what was left consisted mostly of work outfits – jumpsuits, fatigues, and Jedi robes. Thus, given the chance to acquire the beginnings of a new wardrobe on Ession, Mara seized the opportunity.

She found a kindred spirit in Leia. The two women left Ben in the care of Han and Luke and wandered through the shops for several hours, trading commentary on various dresses and, both men agreed, no doubt also trading sarcastic comments on their beloved husbands.

Luke and Han took Ben on a quick trip through a toy store, where Luke found and purchased a small bronzium model of the Millennium Falcon for Ben. This entertained Luke's son for hours, although Luke quickly grew tired of Han's criticisms of the egregious errors in the toy's form and decoration. The men soon found a quiet cantina, where they settled in to wait for their wives, passing the hours in friendly conversation as they watched Ben play with his new toy.

Hours later, the Solos and Skywalkers separated for the night, having had a decent meal together for what seemed like the first time in years. Returning to their quarters, Ben rushed through to the adjoining sitting room to watch his favorite holoprogram, an animated Ewok adventure that was one of the few programs still being regularly-broadcast after the war. Remaining in the bedroom, Luke drew Mara in for a long kiss.

As they broke off, Luke sensed through the Force an odd dissonance in Mara. He looked at her with some concern and asked, "What's wrong?"

Mara smiled at him gently. "Nothing's wrong. I've just gotten used to your grand romantic gestures, and I half-expected to come back here tonight to… well, something besides an empty room." Despite this, Luke got no sense of actual disappointment from her, only light amusement.

Luke sighed and shook his head as he looked away for a moment, then chuckled lightly. "I tried. I really did. There's not a single candle to be found on this rotten planet, let alone velanie flowers, scented oils, or anything else I tried to get. Ask Han. I was on the comm for hours yesterday trying to find something."

Mara smiled coyly at her husband. "You can make it up to me someday. I'll let you off the hook this time, on account of our circumstances." She narrowed her eyes threateningly. "But I expect to be seriously impressed when you do make it up to me."

Luke laughed. "Deal." Leaning forward, he kissed her on the nose.

Mara smiled at him again, a brilliant look that lit up her face and made her green eyes sparkle. "By the way, I got you a little something. You'll have to wait a few days, though. It's waiting for you on Ossus."

Luke appraised his wife carefully, trying to get a hint of the surprise, but her neither her features nor the Force gave away anything but her amusement. Finally he shrugged.

"Ok." Producing a small box, he handed it to Mara. "I got you something, too. Happy anniversary."

Opening the box, she gasped.

Inside was a small pendant, suspended by a simple chain. Made of agrinium, it was shaped in a two-dimensional representation of the galaxy. Embedded in the pendant were dozens of tiny emeralds, each inscribed with a different rune. In the center was a larger emerald, also inscribed. Mara was still staring at the necklace when Luke spoke again.

"I went with emeralds to match your eyes. The glyphs on them are Dathomiri. Teneniel Djo helped me with that part at first, then Tenel Ka helped with the last few after her mother died."

Mara still hadn't looked up, so Luke continued. "Each of the gems is set in its place to represent a specific planet or system, and the glyphs are meant to represent a step in our relationship. The stone for Wayland has a symbol meaning 'friend'. The stone for Nirauan means 'lover'. The Coruscant stone represents 'wife'. The stone marking the Colu system represents 'mother'."

There were a number of others, and Luke explained them all. Yavin 4 – learner. Myrkr – warrior. Dantooine – aunt. Almania – savior. Borleias – protector. Selonia – negotiator. Ossus – teacher. On he went, until only the center stone was left.

Luke paused before continuing. "The glyph on the center stone doesn't really translate well into Basic. The stone is set in the center of the galaxy, and the symbol loosely means both 'angel' and 'everything'."

He blushed a bit, although Mara, still looking at the pendant, missed it. "After all, you are the center of my galaxy, my angel, and my everything."

It took a moment for Mara to respond, but finally she did, quietly. "Skywalker, that is without a doubt the most nauseatingly sweet thing anyone has ever said to me."

But when she finally looked up, Luke saw the tears in her eyes.