Title: Bearing the Chosen
Rating: T (no explicit sex, language or violence, but very mature themes)
Timeframe: Not long after the Jedi Academy Trilogy
Characters: Mara, Luke, and a little of everyone else.
Genre: AU, Drama, Angst, Romance

Summary: What if there was a second Chosen One after Anakin… and Mara was the one to carry him? How would Mara react to such a violation of her body? How will Luke help Mara make it through this with her sanity intact? What would Luke do to make sure the child doesn't suffer the same fate as Anakin?

NOTE: This story was originally written in October 2005 through April 2006 on the Jedi Council Forums by my alter-ego RedGold. The prologue was originally a one-shot which was a response to a Mara Challenge on the forums. This was the challenge: "Surprise Blessing - In a universe with no Vong, where Mara doesn't have that stupid disease (!), write Mara letting Luke know that she's pregnant. Except she can't tell him straight out...it has to be done in some way that Luke realizes it for himself. Can be funny or sweet (even sappy!). Must include the words: momentous, fertile, stimulating, abundant, the phrase swollen like a Hutt (bonus points if Luke says it and Mara doesn't kill him!)"

I think pretty much everyone went the fluff route, and ultimately I failed the challenge, but, well, you'll see…

Prologue

Spending several hours in hyperspace usually leaves a pilot slightly more than tired. For a Jedi Master pilot, it left him just plain tired.

Luke had spent the last two hours lying fully clothed on his bed in his Coruscant apartment, sleeping. He didn't want to use the Force to refresh himself unless he really needed to. Getting some sleep worked well enough, who was he to knock it?

There was a pounding on the door that he hoped was a dream but turned out to be exactly what it was. With a stretch of his limbs he stood and made his way across his apartment. Very few people knew he was on planet at the moment, and the woman he felt on the other side of the door wasn't supposed to be one of them.

"Mara?" Luke said after the door slid open. Before him stood the red-head, slightly disheveled, not exactly looking like herself.

"We need to talk," and with that she brushed past him into his living area.

"You okay?" he shut the door and followed after her, trying to get a read on her emotions and only finding slightly ordered chaos.

"No," she turned on him, furry blazing in her eyes, "I am not okay!"

"Woah," he held up his hands in defense, then gestured to the sofa, "why don't you sit down and tell me what's wrong."

"Everything, apparently," she gritted out and then uncharacteristically flopped down on the sofa, her head falling into her hands.

Luke slowly approached the woman, sitting across from her in a lightly padded chair. He hadn't seen the former Imperial for almost five months now since she left the Academy to work with the Smuggler's Alliance. While he hadn't been keeping track of her every movement, surely he would have heard if something horrible had happened.

"Mara," he said quietly, trying to peak under her hands to meet her eyes, "why don't you tell me what's wrong."

She let out a sardonic laugh, "You mean other than the fact that I'm going to be as swollen as a hutt in a month or two."

"As swollen as a hutt?" Luke tried to wrap that image around his brain.

Mara's head snapped up and she glared at him, but just as quickly started to chew her lip. "Luke…"

After a long moment of silence, "Mara, you want to tell me something, that is abundantly clear, so why don't you just tell me?"

"I'm pregnant," she blurted and her eyes went wide.

Luke blinked… then blinked again. Mara was pregnant? "You're pregnant?"

"Yes," she said, flustered.

"Pregnant?" his mind was still registering the word.

Mara made a squeak of annoyance. "My fertile field has been ploughed and seeded, how much more obvious do I have to make it!"

"Sorry," Luke shook his head, "I was just shocked, I guess."

"How do you think I felt when the med droid told me?" she snapped.

Briefly Luke wondered if the med droid was still functioning. "Of course, this is a rather momentous time for you."

"No kidding," she rolled her eyes.

"It will change your life," he almost said automatically, too many thoughts racing through his mind. Who was the father? Would it be Force sensitive? How would that change Mara's outlook on the Jedi?

"You know you make for such stimulating conversation," she said dryly.

"Sorry," he apologized again. "It's a surprise. I thought you weren't one for children."

She had a sudden intake of breath and Luke kicked himself. He hadn't heard of Mara dating any man, well, ever, and she didn't seem like one for casual affairs. Fears started to creep in as to how this child was conceived.

"I'm not," she pointed at her belly which still looked flat and firm, but she was wearing bagger clothing than usual, "and this shouldn't have happened."

"Well," Luke swallowed, wondering how to approach this. Was Mara seeking him out as some sort of spiritual advisor? "Repress meds have been known to fail, especially when taken in conjunction with other medicines."

"No," she shook her head sending her mass of red hair into a wild fire impression, "you don't understand. There is no possible way this could have happened."

Luke took a minute to comprehend the statement, "What do you mean, no possible way?"

"As far as I know," she said quietly, her resolving cracking just noticeably, "I haven't been intimate with a man in… well… years."

Letting out a long breath, Luke's fears started to manifest themselves. Mara worked in a dangerous business full of all types. He knew she could take care of herself but he always dreaded the one day she wouldn't be able to.

He was trying to come up with a response that would let her know he was there for her to help her, whatever she wanted to do, and to support her as both a friend and as a Jedi Master, when she looked at him strangely.

Was there accusation there?

"Mara?"

"I had Ghent break into the government's health files," her demeanor turned cold, "it has all the DNA profiles for its military members."

"Yes," he said slowly, "it does."

"Your DNA included..." she trailed off.

Luke met her eyes, surely she wasn't about to suggest?

"So tell me, Luke," she said his name sharply, a blaster appearing from nowhere and aimed right at him, "how did you come to be the father of my child?"

All Luke could do was stare down the barrel of the blaster in shock. He had no answer for her.

Yeah, so, after that bantha fodder hit the fan I was requested to continue the story and explain what the heck just happened…