DISCLAIMER: Star Wars and all publicly recognisable characters, names and references, etc are the sole property of George Lucas, Lucasfilm Ltd, Lucasarts Inc, 20th Century Fox, Timothy Zahn, Barbara Hambly, YKW and the other writers of the expanded Star Wars Universe. This fan fiction was created solely for entertainment and no money was made from it. Also, no copyright or trademark infringement was intended. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author. Any other characters, the storyline and the actual story are the property of the author.
The next morning, everything and everyone was strangely silent. It hung in the air, even stilling the breezed that usually played with the high-hung leaves of the forest canopy. It even muffled the sharp sizzling sound of Luke frying the bluish-purple tinted eggs of the local treika--a short, wingless bird that hid in the brushy floor of the forest. Mara had expressed an interest in trying them during the trip, and he was anxious to please.
Anything to get the feeling of foreboding to leave her. His conversation with Leia last night wouldn't leave his memory alone. She had asked him about Callista coming back---but why? Had Mara said something to her that she hadn't been able to ask him? Why would she do that? Didn't she know she could say anything to him? She was his wife, for Alderaan's sake!
He swirled the fork through the thick batter, mixing in the cream and the local white cheese the resort was thoughtful enough to provide. He'd considered attempting an omlette, knowing Mara had a fondness for things mixed into her eggs, but didn't trust himself to not break it. They were coming out nicely, really. Maybe he'd add some of that cured wild-boar meat he saw in the hydro-cooler---
And then he heard the sound of a ship land.
Mara stirred in the bedroom, and Luke, in a sudden fit of farmboy nerves, shoved the eggs off the burner and turned the heat off. He felt Mara appear in the doorway, and didn't even have to turn around to know she was staring at him anxiously.
"Someone's landed," she said.
"So? Could be anyone. People come here all the time."
"Then why did you stop everything you were doing?" There was just a hint of warmth in her tone, as if she wanted him to know something. But his stomach started to do backflips. He had a terrible feeling.
"Well...you want to go check it out?" he asked, finally turning. To his utter astonishment, she was actually giving him a slight smile.
"No...but you do. I'll finish up. You never could make an omlette right, anyway."
He gave her a puzzled frown, and then realized she was right. Strangely enough, her feelings had pulled back from his, as if she were letting him go in more ways than one. "Are you sure you don't want to come?"
She touched his cheek. "I love you, Luke. Now go." She made a shoo-ing motiong with her hand. "Hurry back."
With a sigh, he turned and left the room.
The ship was unfamiliar. It looked like one of the old Imperial shuttles, but it had either been heavily modified or was an actual distant relative of the design. By the time he reached the platform, the ramp was already down and the person inside had made her way to the smooth stone ground. The breeze suddenly picked up, and for the first time that day Luke heard the leaves rattle. The breeze also made the figure's malt-brown hair flutter behind her like the tail of a comet, and the large grey eyes--still so somber, even moreso after all these years--met his evenly.
"Hello, Luke," she said, her voice soft.
"Hello, Callista," he said, feeling guarded. So he hadn't been as sure of his feelings as he'd told Leia, he thought. Seeing her again, remembering how beautiful she was and how much she had meant to him, made his heart beat a little faster.
And just as fast, it ended. He found himself reaching for Mara's familiar presence, and knew he had nothing to fear. From Callista, or himself.
"It's been a long time," he continued, his voice suddenly normal.
"Yes." She nodded. He could see a glimmer of hurt in her grey eyes, but she didn't say anything. "I guess you're wondering why now."
"It occured to me. But I'm also considering that this is just a huge coincidence." He cocked his head to one side, and realized that even though she was still not Force-sensitive, he could pick up a slight disturbance from her. "You're not even here to see me, are you?"
She smiled. She would always be beautiful, he thought. It felt good to appreciate her beauty without all the guilt coming with it---guilt, he realized, he had ultimately expected to feel. "No," she said. "Although I wanted to. I've wanted to for a long time." He could feel her sudden longing, and her just-as-sudden dismissal of it. "Actually, I've come here to see your.....your wife."
Luke's eyes widened a bit. "You heard."
She nodded. "I've always watched out for news of you. To tell you the truth," and she gave a little, self-depreciating laugh, "I'm really not surprised. I guess I always knew she was special to you. It explained a few things."
Luke felt relief suddenly flood over him. "Then why...."
"It's kind of....personal." She fidgeted and looked around them on the open platform. "Do you think she would see me? I mean, even after you and I....well....." Callista let out a sigh. "I've heard things about Mara Jade, to tell you the truth. I just don't want to get on her bad side if I'm not there already."
"You're not." Luke smiled at her and guestured for her to follow. "Come on. I'll clear a path for you," he joked. "You're just in time for breakfast."
Mara wasn't in the kitchen when Luke and Callista came back. She wasn't in the bedroom or the lounge, either. Luke felt a ripple of worry run through him and told Callista to sit on the couch. "I'll be right back," he said sharply. "And don't go anywhere."
"Ok," Callista said, her voice sounding slightly small. Luke knocked on Leia's door as he made his way down the hall. No sense in giving his sister a heartattack if she came out and saw Callista sitting there.
"What is it, Luke?" Leia asked, seeing the look on Luke's face.
"Callista is in the living room. I've got to go outside for a minute. I'll explain it all later," he added, taking in the saucer's Leia's brown eyes suddenly became. She nodded duitfully, and Luke took off outside.
He stood on the grounds at the edge of the resort and sent out a tendril through the force. The last time he'd had to do this with Mara, she'd gone and destroyed her beloved ship, the Jade's Fire.
He felt her answer, and realized she was on their ship, the Jaded Sky.
*Don't blow it up until I get there,* he sent to her with a caustic humor. He swore he felt her laugh.
When he got there, he found her in their bedroom, holding her old lightsaber, Anakin Skywalker's lightsaber. She was standing by the window and her eyes were red-rimmed.
"Mara, why in the sith did you scare me like that?" he demanded.
"Scare you?" she asked. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."
He felt completely and utterly confused. "What are you doing there, anyway? Have you been crying?" He felt his heart wrench as he fully took in her eyes, so bright from unshed tears.
"I'm fine, Luke," she reassured him, smiling. "I'm just...really relieved, I guess. Deep down, I've been dreading this day. Now it's over."
"What do you mean?"
She gave a little chuckle. "I don't know. Even though I knew you loved me and I trusted you completely...it isn't easy for a new wife to deal with an old lover, no matter who she is and how secure she feels. Don't hate me for saying this, but...deep down, I've always been a little bit afraid that you had just settled for me just because you couldn't have Callista."
"You mean you thought...you thought that I.....?" He was completely flabbergasted. "Then why did you let me go to the landing platform by myself?" he asked softly.
"Just in case I was wrong. Luke," she started, putting the saber down and sliding closer to him, "you and I have communicated so much through the Force that we've forgotten how reassuring words sound. I want you to know," she said, taking a deep breath, "that no matter what responsibility you have to me, or think you have, I'm not going to make you do anything you want to do. I'm a big girl, and I can take care of myself."
"I know that," he said with a teasing grin.
"But I mean it," she said, her tone firm, but tears lay just beneath it. Tears of pure emotion. "If you ever wanted to...leave me...I know you're over Callista, but if you hadn't been...if you find out that you really aren't...well, I would let you go. I wouldn't keep you against your will."
"And so you let me go to the platform alone." *Just in case I saw Callista and realized I loved her, I wouldn't be distracted by a pregnant wife.* "Mara..." but there were no words to finish the sentence. He put his arms around her and pulled her closer, wanting to pull her so close they would become one being. He had always known Mara loved him, but until this moment the scope of that love had never seemed so big. "I love you, and only you. I would never want to leave you, I don't care who came back."
"Even if you found out Leia really wasn't your sister?" she asked, but he could hear the teasing tone.
"Even if," he said, dead serious. "And as for that other remark," he added, a touch of anger in his voice, but just a touch, "if anything, I would have been settling for Callista because I couldn't have you. And don't you ever refer to our marriage as me 'settling' for anything ever again."
She smiled at him, remembering how she had once used the same tone with him, long time ago: "And by the way, just for future reference, don't you ever not care for someone just because you're afraid they might get hurt in the process. Especially not me. You got that?"
He knew her thoughts, and his face cracked into his typical farmboy grin. "Do we have a deal?"
"Absolutely."