Jedi Dawn – Chapter 16
By Sienn (2001)
Rating (for chapter): PG-13
Protagonists: Luke/Mara
Category: Drama/Action/Angst
Time Frame: 26 A.Y.
Spoilers:
See Chapter 1
Disclaimer:
See Chapter 1
Millennium Falcon, Hyperspace, Three Days Later
Mara Jade Skywalker sighed deeply, wondering why she had once again tried to contact her husband through the Force. During the last couple of days in hyperspace, she had regularly entered a trance and done everything she could think of to establish a connection to Luke's mind.
But he was closed to her - she could, just barely, feel his presence. There were no feelings from which she could even guess how he was. The only thing that she could be sure of was that he hadn't been moved significantly and that they were still on the correct course. Though, as things lay, Mara would have preferred to make another bunch of calculations and be able to exchange some words, or even just a few feelings, with Luke over the situation she was in now.
Pressing her lips together, she slowly opened her eyes and blinked into the artificial lights of the Millennium Falcon's mess. The guilt she had been feeling since the very moment Leia had told her what had happened to Luke above Ithor did never leave her heart and she wondered whether he could ever forgive her.
Leia had been right - it was only because of her that he was in the hands of this Priestess and had to undergo who knew what. If she hadn't decided to stay another few days on Dathomir, if she hadn't left him in the first place, if she had just been brave enough to stay and face her illness TOGETHER with Luke - he might have been safe in her arms by now, not a lab animal for some curious researchers of another race.
Mara had witnessed the cruelty of the Yuuzhan Vong several times since they had shown up in the galaxy and the thought of Luke undergoing these or even worse things made her sick. The worst part, though, was the awareness that Luke had done it for her - of course he hadn't intentionally placed himself into this misery, but Mara didn't doubt that he WOULD have done it if the need should have arisen.
After all she had done to him, said to him, he had been willing to put everything else aside, his health included, to find a cure for her. And now she didn't even have the possibility to tell him that she was healed - life could have been so wonderful. Mara had pictured it in her mind, how she would soothe Luke, the words she wanted to say to him, the surprise that she was healed - the will to found a family of their own and the renewed possibility to grow old together.
As things lay, Luke wasn't even aware that she still cared for him. "Luke.." she whispered, resting her head tiredly against the edge of the bunk.
"Mara?" the low voice belonged to Han. She turned and saw him standing there, eyeing her attentively, with just a trace of worry in his eyes. But that little flicker was enough to give Mara a little bit of hope - they hadn't pushed her away from them entirely. Perhaps it would take her many years to regain the trust of Leia and Han, but she could regain it, of that she was sure.
What worried her far more was the question whether Luke would ever be able to trust her again. But first, she chided herself determinedly, she had to make sure that he would live to try at least.
"Mara, are you ok?" Han repeated, the worry in his voice increasing a bit. The ex-trader breathed deeply, then nodded: "I guess, considering the circumstances, I'm ok."
The Corellian frowned: "It didn't sound that way. What were you thinking about?"
"I thought about Luke - that it's my fault that this Elan person has him in her clutches." The moment these words came out of her mouth, Mara was utterly surprised that she had told them to Han Solo, of all persons. That was just not like her to be so open to anyone. Not even to her brother-in-law.
Han frowned even more: "You know, Mara, that's not true." Her head jerked upwards and she stared at him with eyes opened wide. "What?" she gasped.
He sighed: "Mara, let's be realistic, ok? You mustn't listen too much to Leia at the moment. It is true that you've been the reason for Luke's nervous breakdown. You can't deny it and you don't..."
She nodded, the now well-known sadness settling into her heart.
"But it's not your fault that he has been hijacked and certainly not your fault that they torture him now. No one, and I really mean no one, could have foreseen that and even if you had stayed at Ithor and had been with him when the negotiations began, Luke would have probably done just the same thing - taking on the offer of the Priestess to try and find you a cure."
Mara snorted, a gentle smile playing at her lips: "Yes.... it's just Luke's nature..." she murmured.
"Exactly," Han confirmed, sounding genuinely contented. "You know, over the years," he let himself sink onto the bench beside her, " I have come to see that it is really IMPOSSIBLE to protect Luke from this sort of mess. It's his willingness to help, his ability to feel so strongly and his passion that gets him into these situations and to prevent him from doing that would mean to tear his heart out. And the thing I like most about him, Mara, is his big heart."
He paused for a moment, searching Mara's eyes. The sad expression in these jade-green emeralds almost let the last reproaches he had for her melt away. This woman loved Luke - she really loved him. Han just hoped that Luke could open his heart to her again - he didn't dare tell Mara about the talk he had had with Luke. The kid was absolutely sure that Mara Jade did not love him anymore, perhaps never had done so. It would be difficult for the still beautiful trader to change Luke's mind about that.
The surprising thing with Luke was, Han mused silently, that, although he was the mightiest Jedi in the universe and a hero that was revered all over the galaxy, his self-esteem was ridiculously low. His latest marriage crisis surely hadn't helped it to grow any.
"No matter what state we will find him in, Mara, it's not your fault."
Mara pressed her lips together: "It's not what Leia will think."
Han smiled: "You have to understand her. She and Luke have a very special bond. He is her very precious - I think she loves him in a way much more intense than she loves me - of course on another level, but she would not be able to live without him."
"She wouldn't be able to live without you, either," Mara gently admonished, putting a hand on Han's shoulder.
He grinned: "Of course she wouldn't." Mara chuckled, then Han cleared his throat: "What I wanted to say is, that whatever she says to you now and has said in the last few days, is overshadowed by her fear to loose him and by her sadness to have seen him disappointed by a woman again. Once Luke is safe..." Han paused, needing a moment to continue in a firm, confident voice, "...she will be able to rebuild her trust in you. Step by step, but she will be able to." He grasped the Jedi Master's delicate hands into his own ones and squeezed them gently.
"Such wounds need time to heal, that's all," he murmured. Mara stared for a time on his hands holding hers, then she smirked amused.
"What?" Han asked, befuddled.
"You know, it's just that I never expected to hear such a speech out of YOUR mouth, Solo."
Han gave her his famous, lop-sided grin: "You know, there's more to me than meets the eye - although no one believes that because they think what they see is so perfect, it can't get any better."
Mara grimaced: "And now my suddenly much higher respect for you has fallen to its previous level again."
"Now, now, Mistress Jade Skywalker. And that after I have taken you out of your depression so nicely." Han chuckled, releasing her hands and leaning back onto the bench.
Mara just smiled, then silence engulfed the small room. After some minutes, Mara turned again to Han, her eyes serious. "Do you think Luke will be able to forgive me?" (When he survives, she added silently.)
Han's content smile vanished immediately: "What do YOU think?"
The beautiful woman sighed and embraced her knees: "I don't know. After all I've heard from Leia, I don't think he will. I have hurt him so much..." Her voice roughened and she hid her face between her arms.
"Mara...."
"He took it downright serious, that I don't want a child with him, didn't he?" she interrupted him.
Han nodded darkly: "It wasn't only a couple of days after his breakdown that he told me why he des...." His eyes widening, the Corellian stopped himself from finishing the sentence, already trying to find a new subject, but Mara hadn't missed his slip and narrowed her eyes.
"Why he what, Han?" she demanded to know.
"It's nothing, really, it's..."
"Listen, Solo!" Mara grumbled. "This is about Luke, my husband. EVERYTHING that concerns him does concern me, too. EVERYTHING is important if it comes to him. So finish this sentence, as you originally wanted to. Now."
Han sighed: "I'm sorry, Mara, but that's something between you and Luke. You will have to talk to HIM about it."
"But, Han, you can't just..."
"Han, Mara! Get up here immediately!" Leia's voice sounded through the internal communication system. "We are going to drop back to real space in ten minutes."
Mara was already on her feet, nervously ensuring that her lightsaber was clipped to her belt. Her heart contracted painfully when she regarded it. Luke had given it to her all those years ago - on that day, she had first felt that something special was between them. She wondered what would have been if they had admitted their feelings back then and had tried to develop them. Would it have worked out between them? Or would it have been too early?
(They will by now be erasing his memories...) Lah's voice reverberated in her head.
She hoped with all her heart that Luke still remembered that day - that he still remembered her.
Drawing a deep breath, she followed Han to the Falcon's bridge.
Deep Space, Same Time
A shrill shriek made Priestess Elan sit straight up in her bed. Irritated, she looked around, seeing nothing but her well-ordered little cabin in Mezhan Kwaad's laboratory ship.
Gruffly murmuring, she pushed her covers away, stood up and sought in the dark for the annoying Nia-bird that Kwaad used as siren-equivalent. The modest feathered, grey bird, no bigger than her hand, sat in a small carving next to the cabin's opening. Wondering how a being this small could make such loud a noise, Elan pushed the animal rather rudely, causing it to shriek in protest and outrage. But at least it shut up, retreating deeper into its nesting spot, his dark eyes resting reproachfully on the Yuuzhan Vong woman. The small tendril, its origin in the ship's wall, which was connected to the bird's body, revealed to Elan that Kwaad had probably witnessed Elan's rude behaviour towards some of her goods.
Well she should. The Shaper had better have a GOOD reason to get her out of bed. Elan hadn't slept more than the Shaper in the last few days, for she had been determined to be present during the whole shaping of her new familiar.
The thought of that brought a smile on her face. Some levels below her, in the laboratory, her new familiar lay, waiting for her command to awake again. By then, he would be able to understand and speak her native tongue and Elan wouldn't need to talk in the strange, disgusting sounding Basic thing anymore.
Her fellow priestesses in the guild would envy her for having such a familiar. And once he had been trained properly, he would not only make for a good bodyguard, but also would ensure her more power in the hierarchy. A thing that hadn't been taken from him by Mezhan Kwaad was the knowledge of how to use his Force abilities. He was a Jedi Master and, as she had learned, thus an incredibly powerful being. And this power was in HER hands now. She would probe how far he could be used directly against Tsavong Lah and then she would see which place other than her servant and bodyguard he would have in her plans.
She would finally have some company again - someone who would endure all her moods, who would serve her and would listen to her. Someone, shortly speaking, who BELONGED to her.
Her mood significantly better, she entered the bridge of the laboratory ship, focussing her attention on the form of the Shaper standing in the middle of it, her headdress a mass of swirling tendrils. Elan didn't know how to interpret it, but then she didn't really care about it either.
"Why did you wake me, Kwaad?" she asked, crossing her arms before her chest, stifling a yawn.
"We have a problem," the Shaper simply growled, gesturing towards the transparent membrane serving as viewport. Elan turned nonchalantly, but when she saw what Kwaad had meant, her mouth fell open. "What IS that?" she asked, horrified.
Mezhan already studied the files in the brain of the ship, searching for an explanation.
"The ship has no knowledge about this particular sort of vessel, but I think it's obvious that it belongs to the infidels. Skywalker's people," the Shaper said, sounding rather harsh and angry.
Elan's eyes narrowed: "There is no Luke Skywalker anymore. There is only Liin Kwaad. And those infidels have no right to claim him. He belongs to me. That's the law."
"Oh, please," Mezhan hissed, causing Elan to retreat some steps. "Are you really this dumb or do you think you can amuse me with it?"
"I don't understand..." Elan began, only to be cut off by Kwaad rather shortly.
"That is rather obvious." The Shaper laughed sharply, then turned around, stroking a part of her control board, revealing an abominated communication device. Fumbling a little bit, she finally established a connection to the ship outside, cleared her throat, softened her features and finally spoke.
"Unknown ship, the Moota and her captain greet you. Can we help you in any way?"
"Kwaad, what are you doing, we..."
"We must first be sure what they want. Skywalker's people...."
"There is no..."
"Yes, you said so already." Kwaad waved her words away.
"The infidels can't know where we are. And if that's just a trader or something, then we don't want to betray ourselves. Now be quiet."
Elan nodded dumbfounded.
Mezhan smiled contentedly, then turned again as a head appeared on the little screen of the abominable device.
"Moota, this is the Hapes Jewel - we demand that you give your captive, Jedi Master Luke Skywalker, immediately over to us. If you comply, we won't destroy you."
The Shaper's eyes narrowed, then she looked at Elan: "Go take your pet - we have to go." Elan nodded, her eyes wide with fear.
When she had vanished from the bridge, Kwaad shut down the abomination device and pushed a few hard sections of the control board - just a few moments later, two warriors came onto the bridge, eyeing her darkly. "Yes, Master Shaper?"
"You -" she gestured to the left one, "will stay here and take care of the ship's weapons. You - " now she looked at the other one, "take your fellows and mount the coralskippers. The Priestess, her familiar and I are going to retreat with my personal escape craft and you will cover our exit vector."
They nodded, and she left the bridge, following the Priestess to the laboratory.
*~~
When Elan entered the laboratory, Skywalker lay still, inert and deeply sleeping on the living table, not even twitching in any form. The Priestess frowned - Kwaad had explained to her that he would need at least one week or even two to recover totally from the shaping - considering his age perhaps even more. It would not be the best course of action to wake him just yet, but she had no choice. The infidels wouldn't take her new familiar from her - not after everything she had done to geet him.
Shaking him slightly, she murmured: "Liin! Liin, wake up!"
It took him some moments, but finally he had pried his eyes open and stared up at her tiredly: "Mistress?" he asked. Elan's heart jumped when she noted that he spoke Yuuzhan Vong, not his native tongue. The first lesson of the tizowyrm must have been language. That was perfect.
"Rise. We have to go." She helped him to sit up, worriedly eyeing his tired face. Slowly, he stood on his feet, looking around drowsily.
"I'm tired, Mistress," Liin murmured, swaying slightly to the side.
Impatiently, Elan dragged him towards the door: "I know. You will be allowed to sleep later. Now follow me."
"As you wish, Mistress." he replied, though his voice sounded as if he'd just barely suppressed a yawn.
At the door, they met up with Mezhan Kwaad, who eyed the human up and down. "He's weak. We will be lucky if he is going to my escape craft on his own feet," she stated.
"Then we should hurry. I'm sure your people can't fend them off for long. The infidel ship is much bigger than ours," Elan hastily put in. The Shaper nodded and led the way.
"What's an infidel, Mistress?" a defiant voice sounded in her ear. While she was running to keep up with Kwaad, Elan shot a glance at her back - Liin was keeping up just fine, although his colour was becoming worse and worse. His eyes, though, were clear now, eyeing her attentively, listening for orders or wishes or whatever.
The subject of the question got her mind reeling. Was he ready to learn about them? Would it trigger his memory? Or was the membrane established deeply enough to control that part of his brain?
She already had decided not to take the risk and just order him to shut up when another idea came to her. Stopping, causing her familiar to almost bump into her, she turned, laid her hands onto his cheeks and gazed up into the unknowing blue orbs, windows to a soul and a mind that waited to be filled with new perspectives of life and the universe - HER perspectives.
"They want to take you away from me. They want to separate us," she said intently, confident that the basic bonds between familiar and Mistress had already been established by the membrane and the teaching of the tizowyrm.
When his eyes widened in fear and his skin became just a shade paler, Elan smiled inwardly. Just what she had counted on. The basic feeling of a familiar, on which built up everything else, was that he or she and her or his mistress belonged together. The membrane had established the firm conviction in his head that he never was to be separated from her because without her, he was not worth living.
"You won't let them, Mistress, will you?" he whispered frightened, shivering slightly when the cold air in the ship stung to his free arms and feet.
Elan smiled, now grasping his wrist firmly. "Of course not. Come on now, we have to hurry." Liin nodded, following her willingly and some moments later, they boarded Mezhan Kwaad's escape craft, speeding away from the small space battle going on between the two larger ships at full throttle.
*~~
Deep down in Liin's soul, Luke Skywalker cried out desperately as he had to retreat further to prevent the membrane from cracking his already weakened Force walls.
Millennium Falcon
When the Falcon fell out of hyperspace, Han Solo couldn't believe his eyes.
"What, Minions of Xendor....?" he swore, sending the ship into a downward corkscrew to avoid a collision with a larger ship - a ship that definitely WASN'T Yuuzhan Vong.
The villip set on his control board took on the form of Commander Buune Lah, a relative of the Warmaster. "What does this mean, President?" he barked aggressively.
"If I knew I'd tell you!" Han shouted back, trying to bring his ship back under control, momentarily ignoring the fact that he hadn't been the one asked the question.
"Han! That is a Hapan Battle Dragon!" Leia cried out, stumbling beside him and staring at the beautiful, deadly ship in awe.
"Teneniel.... why doesn't this surprise me?" Han muttered, frantically pushing buttons and levers. Judging by the multiple sirens, the violent manoeuvring hadn't done the Falcon any good.
"Teneniel?" Mara asked from behind him, frowning. The name didn't trigger anything in her.
"The Queenmother of the Hapes Cluster. I asked for her help with the negotiations," Leia explained, her widened eyes still displaying her surprise.
"Why is she here? And how did she know where HERE is?" Mara hissed, gripping the back of Han's seat more thoroughly as the freighter bucked a little bit.
"Must have tracked the Falcon," Leia said, working, after a gesture from Han, to get the shields up and running.
"But WHY?" Mara repeated, feeling absolutely useless at the moment.
"Well, because it's Luke, of course," Han smirked and the two women stared at him as if he'd gone insane.
"Aw, c'mon, Leia. You must have noticed it," the Corellian shook his head in disbelief, having a hard time to suppress chuckles.
"Must have noticed WHAT?" Mara's voice had risen, sparing Leia the need to reply and causing Han to twitch in surprise. As if he suddenly realised to WHOM he was talking, Han made a face: "Well... well... that she wants something from him again.."
Just a fraction of a second later, Mara's eyes bore into Han's, seemingly wanting to see straight into his brain. Her voice was deadly low when she asked: "Could you repeat that again?"
Han swallowed: "Well, she has been fussing around him a lot and she has looked at him this way... you know... you know it's funny, just the way you're always looking at him when he..." Mara's eyes had gone cold as ice and Han grinned feebly: "Ok, ok, I'm going to shut up now."
Before Mara could reply to that, the head of a beautiful woman in Leia's and Mara's age appeared on the little screen, smiling grimly: "Hi, Leia. I wondered when you'd show up."
"Uh, hi, Teneniel,..."
"You! How dare you..." Mara began, only to be pushed back rather rudely by Han who sent her a pleading stare. Obviously fuming, the ex-trader settled back, heaving.
"Teneniel..." Leia began again, hoping to distract the Queenmother from the furious and jealous redhead behind her, "what, by all dark moons, are you DOING here?"
"What do you think? I try to save your brother," the Queenmother replied, shooting a glance somewhere behind her.
"And exactly how are you trying that?" Leia asked befuddled, seeing only the aft of the ship, nothing else.
"Well, by disabling the ship he is on, of course." Teneniel frowned, then, after one of her officers had mumbled something into her ear, smiled: "Just fly around us and you'll see. I'm confident to have him safe and sound on my ship soon."
"On HER ship? Luke is surely NOT going to...."
"Mara!" Leia hissed. Her sister-in-law stopped, then nodded, not looking very happy.
Another officer appeared at Teneniel's side and his words got her paling: "Leia, behind you - a...."
"By the Force, I forgot Commander Lah!" Leia gasped, stroking the villip rather violently and sighing relieved when the commander's head appeared. "Now, President?" he asked.
"The ship is allied with us. It's even now trying to disable the ship of the Shaper."
Buune Lah smiled mockingly: "That certainly surely saves us work, but I don't think she will achieve anything with that."
"What? Why?"
"Uh-oh," Han said. "Leia... Leia, look at that and tell me it's not what I think it is."
Leia turned her seat, staring at the small screen, showing a Yuuzhan Vong dot fleeing at full speed and gaining on the whole scene rather fast. Mara swore beside her ear: "Sith, they have an..."
"Escape craft," Buune Lah finished. "Of course they have. And your allied.... ship..." he seemed to have problems to refer to it in this way, "is doing a good job blocking Ideen from it."
"Perhaps Ideen, but not the Falcon." Han hissed, turning the freighter around and leading it at its own full speed towards the fleeing Vong ship.
"Does this craft have any weapons?" he asked the Commander. Buune Lah shook his head: "No, but it's fast. And take breathing masks with you if you board it. One never knows what surprises a Shaper's ship has in store."
"Thanks. Keep us covered, will you?" Han nodded appreciatively towards the Commander. The Yuuzhan Vong smiled grimly: "That's my job, isn't it?" With this, the villip sagged back onto the console.
"Han?" Mara's voice sounded raspy and suddenly Han noted that Leia had gone rigid beside him. "What?" he asked, apprehensively.
"Hurry," the ex-trader just whispered.
Dimmed and belated by the Yuuzhan Vong ship and the membrane, although Mara didn't know this of course, Luke's desperate cry had filled her soul.
*~~
"Dodge it!" Elan cried in obvious panic, staring at the bolts of hot, searing energy that chased their small escape craft and had their origin in one of the infidels abominable, mechanic ships. A ship that had gained on them incredibly fast and was trying to hit their dovin-basals, to disable their vessel.
"I'm trying," Kwaad spat out through gritted teeth. She was no pilot, had never been. The pilot of the infidel ship, on the contrary, seemed to be an expert and outmanoeuvred her continuously.
Elan turned, just to make sure Liin was still there. Her familiar sat behind her in a seat, his fingers unconsciously twitching. His eyes wandered repeatedly towards the controls of the ship. Yes, Luke Skywalker had been a great pilot, the best, as Elan had heard, but Liin Kwaad had nothing more left than the desire to fly. How it actually worked was hidden deeply in the depths of the membrane.
Kwaad had thought that it would be far too dangerous for them to let him access those memories because too much joy and happiness were linked to them. It would only trigger emotions that should never surface in him again.
With a deep thud and a shiver that went through the whole ship, they became slower and finally lay dead in space.
"What?" Elan asked shocked.
"They have destroyed our dovin basals," Kwaad explained, trembling with rage. The Priestess's eyes were wide with fear, her hand grabbing the wrist of her familiar as if she was about to drown.
"I won't give him to them," she stated.
Kwaad snorted: "There is another craft, but it is slower. It will do if we act fast. We may only start if the humans are aboard. Otherwise they would catch up with us soon."
Elan nodded, already on her feet, dragging the human with her. "Come on, let's go, Liin."
"Yes, Mistress."
*~~
"Who would have thought this thing would come in handy?" Han grinned feebly, patting the strange Yuuzhan Vong animal that had cut - no, had EATEN - a hole into the other ship, giving them a vacuum-proof way to access it.
"I hope we don't have to search for him long. The air supplies of these things are not that extensive," Mara murmured, her hand already at her lightsaber, while she checked her blaster with the other one and adjusted her breathing mask.
When they finally could see into one of the corridors of the other ship, Han's eyes narrowed: "We won't have to."
On the wall, they could see three shadows hurrying towards them. The persons belonging to them would be there in a few moments.
"It's Show Time," Leia grinned humourlessly.
*~~
And really, as Leia had said, in the next moment, three figures burst into the corridor, slithering to a halt and staring at them wide-eyed.
Han pushed another button inside the Falcon and one of the position lights popped on, spreading its glow in the corridor.
The two Yuuzhan Vong women, one petite and one tall, wearing a curious, withering headdress, retreated to the wall.
A soft cry from behind the small one let Mara freeze - that was Luke's voice. The petite woman, obviously Elan, pushed the crouching form behind herself, into the shadows, and to the floor. Accidentally, he hit the wall with his forehead, and with an even higher-pitched cry of pain, stumbled back into the light.
"Luke!" Mara exclaimed in relief, taking a few steps in his direction while Leia and Han aimed their blasters at the two Yuuzhan Vong women. Both were glaring at them, but they were obviously unarmed and they knew that they didn't stand a chance.
Joy poured through Mara - he could move of is own accord, so it couldn't be that bad. But every joy she felt became horror the moment he finally pushed himself up on his knees, turning and staring at her, Leia and Han.
"What..?" Han gasped, while Leia just inhaled sharply.
Mara couldn't do anything. The sight before her was just about too much. Out of the gaunt, pale face, two big eyes stared at her, blankly. Her heart contracted painfully when she saw no recognition in them, just fear. His hair was everything but clean and he was clad in shirt and trousers of a curious, light material, his arms and feet free and covered with several nasty looking puncture marks.
But what shocked her the most was something else entirely. In the middle of his forehead, seemingly staring at her, was what seemed to be a tattoo of some sort. It was delicately carved and resembled flames that extended at either site from a dark centre. It glittered and gleamed like black satin.
Tattoos were of course nothing unusual in the galaxy, rather the opposite, but this one, on Luke, together with his whole appearance, seemed horribly out of place and rather like a sign of suppression than anything else.
"Luke?" Mara repeated, her voice trembling when she kneeled down in front of him.
He didn't answer her, just stared at her and when she extended a hand to touch him, he shied away with a squeal.
"Luke, please answer me," she whispered, not daring to speak louder, fearing her voice would break then.
A mocking laugh escaped the lips of the Priestess and earned her the complete attention of the trio. "He can't." she explained, her grin laced with contempt and satisfaction.
"What do you mean, he can't?" Han asked, his voice rough and his finger itching to press the trigger and blast this ugly grimace of self-certainty out of the woman's face.
"He isn't Luke Skywalker anymore. And he doesn't understand your language."
That left the three humans dumbfounded and horrified. Elan grinned more broadly. "Come here," she barked in Vong. Luke's stare broke hesitantly away from Mara, as if something in him wanted to look at her longer, then he crawled over to the Priestess.
Leia behind Mara gasped again, then mumbled: "The vision. Oh, Mara, my vision."
Mara felt as if she were about to faint the next moment. No! This couldn't be true!
"May I introduce..." Elan purred, knelt down and laid an arm around Luke's shoulders. Then she cupped his face with her other hand. "This is Liin Kwaad, my familiar." She added some words in her native tongue and understanding dawned in Luke's blank eyes. He nodded eagerly, turning his gaze to Mara.
"Liin Kwaad," he said and patted his chest to underline the words.
| To Be Continued | - Next Chapter NC-17