The Birth Of Acceptance

 

 Chapter 9

By Sienn (2002)

 

Rating (for chapter):  PG-13

Protagonists: Luke/Mara

Category: Action/Angst/Drama

 

Series: Part III of "Soul's Trial" Trilogy

 

Time Frame: 26 A.Y. (immediately after "Soul's Trial II: Healing")

 

Spoilers:

See Chapter 1

 

Disclaimer:

See Chapter 1

 

Coruscant, Skywalker Apartment, The Next Day, Early Morning

Waking up was strange. Somehow different. Luke Skywalker blinked lazily, having difficulties to come fully awake. Stifling a yawn, he rubbed his eyes, hoping to shoo the tiredness away that still enveloped him like a thick blanket. It had been a while since he had felt like this. Since he had slept like a stone, without dreaming, without even being able to remember having laid down, then waking up and having the distinct feeling that it would be better to stay in bed and sleep a little bit more.

Slowly, very slowly, the fog around his brain lifted and he realized that an arm was protectively wrapped around his shoulders. Grinning, he gazed back, looking straight at the sleeping, beautiful face of his wife. Normally, she would be awake with him, giving him a good morning kiss before he would head off for his practice.

They had kept this little rite from Chandrila, seeing no reason to let go of it. For a moment, though, Luke seriously contemplated to stay in bed, snuggle into his wife's embrace and go back to sleep.

For him, this thought was irrational and unusual. Ever since he could remember, he had been no one to doze in bed. When he woke up, he had to get up, do something. His aunt had always said that he was a bundle of pure energy and not to be stood if he was forced to sit or lay still for too long a time.

But for a couple of days, he hadn't been like always. Something had changed. While he carefully wiggled out from under Mara's arm, he tried to get to the bottom of WHAT was different. He was tired, more than he should be. Sleep beckoned him - he knew it was not just from work, not just because he had barely been awake for more than two minutes. In the middle of the day, when he was in some meeting with his staff, with Tsavong Lah or whomever, he wished nothing more than to lay down somewhere and take a nap.

This tiredness was bugging him, unnerving him, but he wasn't really worried by it. He had had much relaxation on Chandrila and when he and Mara had arrived back on Coruscant, he had been much better than when they had left. But still, the strain of his mental illness and all the consequences it had brought with it hadn't yet been completely gone.

Plunging directly into a lot of work, plus managing to get a whole horde of thud bugs' main course, hadn't helped that either. All in all, so his reason argued with him, he was probably just overworked. Simply overworked.

The problem was that his heart, his instinct, told him that something else was wrong. The feeling of being watched had not returned, but this voice.... It could speak up whenever it wanted to. It gave no warning, eluded every barrier, every control. Luke had no way to stop it, no way to overplay it... no way to ignore it.

It made him plain afraid. Mezhan Kwaad was talking to him and he still hadn't figured out how that was possible. She was dead. She HAD TO BE dead. He had seen the ship explode. For all he knew, she had been with Elan when the both of them had died. But then, had he seen her?

No. No, he hadn't. Luke suppressed a sigh and buried his head in his hands. He had seen Elan, but not Mezhan Kwaad. His mind had automatically drawn the conclusion that Kwaad was with the Priestess. After all, she had been the Priestess's servant, she had worked for her.

But what if he had been wrong? This was what was nagging at him for quite a time now. While he rose and walked over to his drawer, selecting his training robe, he wondered whether it was possible that Mezhan Kwaad hadn't been the servant, but the master. Could that be?

He hadn't witnessed much interaction between Elan and Kwaad. The conscious memories he had were mostly of the Priestess. One or two belonged to the Master Shaper, but never was there any evidence of her being the driving power behind the whole scheme.

Luke halted amidst buttoning his trousers up. What scheme? Elan hadn't had a scheme. All she had had was a desire - a desire for a pretty plaything to show off with, a desire to share her life with someone whom she could control completely. This was no scheme. Yet, the word had come to him naturally, the way it would have come if he had known this scheme he was talking about.

Frowning unwillingly, he clipped his lightsaber at his belt, crossing the distance to the door out into the living room soundlessly. There had been no scheme. He had been too long in the presence of politicians - THEIR whole lives were one big scheme.

He would go for a nice, long run, and would do some sabre practice. That would clear his mind, as it always did. His hand already lay on the field that would open the door when another thought protruded his mind.

Luke's eyes found the second door in the room, the one that led to his private sanctuary. Suddenly, without any special reason, the amphistaff had come back to his mind. The strange, yet so fascinating Yuuzhan Vong weapon that lay there, under the couch, waiting for someone to use it.

The Jedi Master's hand was still hovering in mid-air over the sensor field, but his gaze was nailed on the other door. Before he had finished the thought, Luke found himself crossing the room once again, slipping into the chamber he had hidden his secret in.

As if in a trance, he kneeled down and took the yorik coral box out of its secure storage place under the couch. Nimbly, his fingers traced some protruding lines and the box opened swiftly. Waking the animal, feeding it, letting it curl around his biceps - it felt all so natural to him. He barely registered it.

Carefully hiding the staff under his robes - no one must see it, it was his alone - Luke made his way out of the apartment for good, entering an elevator only a minute later and pushing the button for the training floor. When he fastened his belt and checked whether his lightsaber was secured on it so that he wouldn't lose it, the amphistaff had fled his thoughts again, its warmth and texture not being registered as strange by his skin.

Smiling delightedly when he stepped out from the elevator and into the cool morning breeze - he had chosen one of the many gardens of the Imperial Palace to do his morning run this time - he headed into the small wood.

It would be much more pleasant to work surrounded by nature instead of cold, grey transparisteel.

**~

Mara Jade laid on her back, propped up on her pillow, staring at the ceiling of her bedroom. She had awakened the moment Luke had stirred in her arms. He was never rude or made loud noise when he left the apartment to go for his practice. All the signs Mara was given were a slight twitch in his body, which meant he was drifting awake. It was something so uniquely Luke, something that she loved like everything else on him.

This morning, though, everything had been different.

Mara had by no means forgot her dream and the memories of it had stormed back to her the moment she had left the realm of peaceful, deep sleep. For the first second, she had thought that Luke had woken her, as he did every morning, when his muscles contracted unconsciously, announcing that he would open his eyes any second now.

It had taken her a couple of moments to realise that it hadn't been that what had woken her up - it had been the lack of it that had woken her.

Acting on pure instinct, she hadn't opened her eyes, feigning to be asleep. She hadn't known why she had done it; her inner voice - the assassin, the ex-Emperor's Hand - had told her that it would be the right thing to do.

She had felt like spying on her own husband and her conscience had been screaming at her to stop. She would merely have had to open her eyes, smile at him, and greet him. He would have smiled back, would have kissed her, she would have turned and slept on until he would have come back from his morning practice.

But Mara hadn't done that. Instead, she had carefully shielded herself, tuned her Force senses on the room, on her love, and had watched. Now she knew that it had been right and she knew that she wouldn't have had to shield herself. Luke had been that absorbed into his own thoughts that he hadn't even noticed the enhanced Force use that was distinctly unusual for a supposedly sleeping person.

She hadn't known what to expect, but what she had seen was enough to increase her worries. She had seen how Luke had practically forced himself awake. Had seen how he had shaken his head, hidden his face in his hands. Contemplating something that he didn't share with her.

Why didn't he share it with her? It was troubling him, so much was obvious. He had a problem and didn't find the solution to it.

Doing her best to not press her lips together to a thin line, Mara had sworn to herself that she would get Luke to tell her what was troubling him if he didn't find a way out of it himself soon. She couldn't bear to see him like this for much longer. It reminded her too much of his state when they had left Coruscant to spend some time on Chandrila.

Of course her husband was nowhere near as irritated or lost as he had been back then, but he was withdrawn from her, from his friends, guarding a secret that did not need to be guarded. There was nothing he couldn't tell her, of that Mara was sure. Luke, her love, her everything, couldn't possibly come up with something she wouldn't want to know and help him with.

While all this had only intensified Mara's resolve, the conclusions she had drawn from the nightmare, the VISION, what had happened then had done something entirely else. It had scared her.

Out of half-closed eyes, unmoving, Mara had watched her husband dress in his training clothes and go over to the door into the living room. But in mid-movement he had stopped. Simply stopped.

His head had turned, his gaze glued to the door into his private chamber. To the amphistaff. Not a single second had Mara forgotten about this thing's presence in their apartment. Not a single second had she forgotten that he hadn't told her about it.

The expression in his eyes had frightened her. There had been a desire so intense it seemed to burn all through his body. More than once, she had seen Luke Skywalker's eyes twinkling with desire --- desire for her. They shone and sparkled then, their blue like the one of a summer day's sky, intense and pure.

At this moment, though, they had been dark like the sea during a storm - dark and strange. The picture of Liin Kwaad had come back to her, the both of them staring at each other. There was no hate in Luke's eyes, no lust to kill, nothing like that. But there was this strange craving for a weapon that didn't belong to what he was. A weapon that didn't belong into this galaxy. And this craving couldn't be healthy.

Turning onto her side, Mara breathed deeply, inhaling the scent of her husband that had permeated his pillow and his blanket. She was afraid for him.

Mara was aware that anyone she would have talked to about all this would have called her overprotective and perhaps even paranoid. There was not much prove she could present that Luke was in danger. The amphistaff - it was a present of a grateful Yuuzhan Vong and the Jedi Master kept it as souvenir.

She wished it could be that simple. No one who didn't love Luke like she did, who was not married to him and so attuned to his emotions and his thoughts would understand what Mara was feeling. All the small clues that were presenting themselves to her. Luke's tiredness, his repeated absent-mindedness, and all the little unusual things in his behaviour.... For anyone else, even for Leia, they would be invisible. But for Mara, they were like shining beacons in the middle of deep space. Something was going on - AROUND Luke and IN Luke. And as long as she didn't know what it was, she would find no calm.

What, in essence, just meant she HAD TO find out what was going on. And she would. She would continue watching and take the necessary steps.

Nodding determinedly, she rolled around, extending her arm and switching on the portable communicator on her nightstand. Keying in a certain number, she waited impatiently, not caring for the early hour.

After several seconds, a groggy voice answered her.

"Horn."

"Corran, it's me. Mara."

There was a slight pause, and Mara heard the soft noises of a blanket being drawn back, then an unwillingly murmuring female voice. Smirking, she waited for Corran to speak up again and after another couple of moments, she was rewarded.

"You always up that late in the night?" the ex-CorSec officer queried.

"It's 6 AM, Horn."

"As I say, late in the night." He huffed.

"You have grown old, Corran. "

"If you're just calling to insult me, Mara, then I beg you to excuse me for signing off and going back to sleep."

She grinned broadly: "Calm down, CorSec. I want you to meet me today."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. It's important."

"It is? You know, everyone is telling me that. Most of all your husband. Did you know how annoying he can be if he's your boss?"

"Yes. And he is exactly what I want to talk to you about. When can you meet me?"

There was silence for a while and Mara frowned. Was it her imagination or was Corran really uncomfortably surprised to hear that she wanted to talk to him about Luke?

It was a small eternity until Corran's voice - now a lot calmer and less cheerful - answered her.

"I'll be having a meeting with him this morning. There's still a lot left to coordinate. But I have the afternoon off, provided he doesn't find me something to do."

"Splendid. I'll be on the Criarto all day, so get up to me whenever you can make yourself free. And bring Anakin along."

"Why..."

"Just do it, CorSec." And with that, Mara signed off, falling back onto the mattress again.

Something was bound to happen and she had the feeling she had to be faster than someone. It would be hard to lay here and play the unknowing for Luke, but it was necessary. Unfortunately.

**~

He was kneeling on cold, damp earth... forest earth. His fingers were clenched into it, sweat pouring down his face.

This practice had been harder than usual. The training remotes he had taken with him had been very carefully programmed and had presented him with a challenge that had required him to go to his limits.

He liked to go to his limits. Only if one went to one's limits in training, one could be sure not to fail miserably in real fight.

Though he had been hard pressed, not a single doubt had invaded his thoughts. Even a dozen training remotes weren't able to get through his defences and best him. He was better than those computers, a natural with a lightsaber.

Even now, decades later, Ben's praise sounded in his ears and brought a blush of pride onto his cheeks. The old Jedi Master had complimented him on his skills and predicted that he would be an exceptional fighter with the lightsaber one day. And he had been right.

A smile playing once again around his lips, Luke lifted his head, inhaling the rich, clear air deeply. He had been that deep in a trance that he hadn't even realised how deep into the woods he had gone.

The manifested way was nowhere to be seen; around him where just trees and bushes and flowers. It was beautiful here, and though it was an unusual place for him to do his practice, Luke didn't waste a thought at how he had come here.

He was used to losing himself in the Force like this, trusted its guidance. It guided his movements, guided his weapon, it...

Luke's thoughts halted suddenly, inevitably, as his blue eyes widened when they settled on a silvery cylinder lying at the side of the small clearing he had obviously practiced in. His lightsaber. His lightsaber was lying there.

Then what did he have in his right hand?

Hesitantly, almost afraid, he lowered his gaze, jumped to his feet and stared in disbelief at his hand when he recognised the object.

The amphistaff. He was holding the amphistaff.

As if a shroud had lifted from his mind, Luke looked around himself. The training remotes lay destroyed - smashed completely. Not by the clean, surgical cuts of a lightsaber, not with as less movement as possible to reach perfect efficiency.

No. They were completely disassembled, not repairable. If one were lucky, perhaps one could salvage a few spare parts.

With trembling hands, Luke touched the remains of the droids, feeling repulsed and sorry at the same time.

What had he done? What, by the Force, had he done?

It was only then, when he tried to remember what had happened, that he became aware of the fact that the last hour was a blank in his mind. There was nothing there. The last thing he remembered was stopping his jogging and deciding to work on his defence against multiple attackers.

From then on, he could recall nothing. Next he knew, he was kneeling on the floor, panting, exhilarated, hilariously satisfied after a good fight. He knew it had been a good fight, though he couldn't remember the fight itself.

He couldn't remember casting his lightsaber away and taking the amphistaff instead.

Luke swallowed hard - he couldn't remember taking the amphistaff out of its box in the first place. Had he gone back again, to fetch the unknown weapon? And was it really unknown?

It lay in his hand as if it had been grown to fit especially in there. In his hand. In Luke Skywalker's hand.

- No, my dear. In Liin Kwaad's hand. It is Liin Kwaad's weapon. -

Luke spun around, knowing full well that he would see no one. But irritation and rage made him jumpy. He didn't like being watched. He didn't like being predictable. And least of all did he like not to have control over a situation.

- Go away. -

He shouted mentally, as loud as he could, all his frustration being channelled into this one cry, towards an unknown destination. Luke didn't know where Kwaad was, but he knew it reached her.

- Of course it reaches me, but I'm afraid I can't do that. You're mine. -

"I'm not!" This time, Luke was shouting aloud, not only mentally, his gaze flicking from one side to the other. One clue. He just needed ONE clue as to where she was. One clue and he would go there and get rid of this voice. It was driving him crazy, accompanying him wherever he went.

- You are. You proved it, my precious. -

Calm. The Jedi Master forced himself to take a deep breath, to still the quivering of his muscles, to quench the urge to smash something. None of the living plants and animals in this garden was guilty of what he was going through right now. It wouldn't be fair to take it out on them. Yet it was incredibly difficult and he caught a part of himself thinking that he didn't care about those things.

"I did nothing of this sort." He finally uttered, being proud of himself for having his voice under control. He straightened, pushing soaked strands out of his face, and went over to his bag.

- No?? I think you did. Let me show you. -

And along with these simple words, memory flooded back into his head. Memories of a frenzy of a sort he had never experienced before. One of the remotes had hit him. The sting had not really injured him, but it had hurt. It had hurt more than he had expected.

And instead of controlling his pain with the Force and coming ignoring it, his fury had been peeked. Without preamble, other thoughts had invaded his brain - these abominations had dared hurt him. Droids ---- abominations.

He had thrown away his lightsaber, suddenly filled with disgust, and had flexed his biceps in a way he hadn't know he knew. Something had slithered into his hand, had stiffened and for a moment, he had been surprised. But then he hadn't bothered to think about how and why.

He had hit the droids, again and again, had smashed them, and shredded them to pieces. One of them, which he hadn't seen before, was lying in a bush, pressed together into a tiny ball of crushed circuits. That he had done with his mind.

Luke stumbled back, away from the droids, feeling the blood leave his face. He had done this. He had done this without reason.

- But you HAD a reason! They are abominations. You are Yuuzhan Vong. What else would you do with abominations? -

"I'm not Yuuzhan Vong!" he shouted, flinging the amphistaff away, into the woods. He could stand touching it any longer.

- Then tell me why you did it? -

The evil voice demanded to know.

Luke didn't know. He couldn't answer this question. It throbbed in his head, made him feel like exploding, but he couldn't by the life of him figure out an answer.

- Why? Why? -

Kwaad's voice continued, she continued on and on.

And Luke ran. He turned and ran. He didn't bother to pick up his lightsaber, didn't bother to slip on his robe. He ran without looking back, without stopping for a single second until he was in his apartment, stumbling into the bathroom, shedding his trousers, his boots, his socks.

Luke turned the hot water on, letting it thunder down on him. Trembling, he leaned heavily against the wall of the cabin, closing his eyes, calling the Force to himself and trying to calm down.

She had hit him unexpected. That was all. She was trying to play with him and because he hadn't known how strong she was, he hadn't been able to shield himself. Yes. Yes, that was all there was. Nothing else. Absolutely nothing else.

"Luke?"

His eyes flew open, meeting immediately the concerned, green ones of his wife. Mara was standing right in front of him, gloriously naked, but for once he had no eye for that. Luke just tried not to let her see his fear, his irritation.

"Are you okay?" her soft hand pushed hair out of his forehead and cupped his cheek tenderly. Her body drew closer, inviting him into a close embrace. And he accepted, overplaying his anxiousness by pushing her to the wall, kissing her ferociously.

Mara stared at him in surprise and he gave her a cocky grin: "I just decided to do a death run to end my practice. To impress my wife, you know."

For a moment, she perched an eyebrow at him, looking dubious, but when he drew her close to him again, pressing her nude body against his hot skin, the gorgeous redhead smirked and kissed his chin.

"Well, you haven't completely succeeded. You should try something else."

Both lost themselves in the embrace of the other, yet one of them was well aware that something was wrong.

While her husband clung to her, ravaging every centimetre of her skin, she was aware of the way his spirit searched to be embraced by hers. He was afraid.

The big question was why? And how could she help him, aside from keeping him into her arms, making love to him and showing him that she would be with him always?

 

Yuuzhan Vong Ship Criarto, Coruscant Orbit, Same Afternoon

Mara was impatiently tapping her foot onto the yorik coral floor, trying to pat it in the melody of one of her currently favourite songs, but didn't really succeed.

Miiram had asked her to be there for an appointment two hours ago. Since then, she had been waiting here, in the Yuuzhan Vong woman's private quarters, sipping at a glass of tasteless water - the only Yuuzhan Vong drink she found to be half-way digestible - and tried not to get angry.

Never had her alien friend strained her patience like this. And if she went on with that for much longer, she would never do it again.

Mara was miffed enough as it was. She didn't know what was going on, but was sure that there WAS something going on. This sort of combination of things was NOT to the ex-Emperor's Hand's liking and that usually had bad consequences for her mood.

Luke had been passionate in the shower, after he had come back from his morning practice. Not that his wife hadn't welcomed the intermezzo before starting with her daily work, but as much as she had enjoyed it, she hadn't missed the fact that Luke had tried to cover something up with it.

His emotions had been honest, as well as his craving for her touches and her embraces. But there was something else. She had felt as if he had held on to her for dear life, like a drowning man. And that was not like Luke. Something had happened during his morning practice and she had to know what. Mara just wished Luke would confide into her. More and more she saw the strain it put on him to try to handle everything by himself. He couldn't stand that much longer.

Yet, the thought of forcing him into admitting whatever it was, into pressuring him to tell her what bothered him, appalled her.

Before she could further contemplate the problem, Miiram finally arrived, looking rather grim. Grimmer than usual. Mara meanwhile knew enough about Yuuzhan Vong to be able to distinguish their facial expressions more or less.

The female Jedi Master wanted to question her friend what was worrying her, when another coral door opened and admitted Corran and Anakin into the room.

Miiram shot her a surprised glance and Mara hurried to explain.

"You wanted to talk to me about Luke. I wanted to talk to Corran and Anakin about the same thing. I thought it would be practical to have them here, too."

The Yuuzhan Vong royalty nodded, then seated herself.

"The situation has indeed become more serious than I originally expected. I have every reason to believe that Nen Yim, the Shaper who sent your mate, Luke Skywalker, the amphistaff, is responsible for what happened to Direen - at least partly responsible."

Anakin and Corran drew Mara surprised glances, hearing for the first time about the amphistaff.

"Did you arrest her?" Mara queried.

Miiram sighed: "We don't know where she is at the moment, but Warriors all over the galaxy have orders to arrest her the moment they see her. However, back to the amphistaff.... Mara, there is something I haven't told you yesterday."

The red-haired woman stiffened, her green eyes narrowing: "That would be what?"

"When I watched your husband open the present, I could see how he became acquainted with the weapon."

"What does that mean?"

Miiram leaned back, focusing her dark eyes on the coloured ones of the human. "It means that the weapon has accepted his scent and his handling it. It has tolerated that the Jeedai Master touched it."

"But I thought only Yuuzhan Vong can handle amphistaffs." Corran chimed in, leaning forward, trying to comprehend it all. Anakin was sitting next to him, staring at Miiram with wide, intrigued eyes. He hadn't yet seen a Yuuzhan Vong woman from close-up.

The Supreme Overlord's daughter was silent for a few seconds, then she stared again at Mara, though she answered to Corran's words.

"This is true, Jeedai."

Mara felt a hard knot settle in her stomach. No further explanations. Just the statement that it was true that only Yuuzhan Vong could handle amphistaffs.

Miiram's expression suddenly became softer. She leaned forward, extending a hand to Mara and hesitantly laying it onto her forearm.

"Mara, did you notice anything strange about Luke in the past, let's say, three weeks?"

"I..."

Before the ex-Emperor's Hand could answer, Anakin blurted out: "I did."

The Yuuzhan Vong woman's head flicked around, pinning the human boy down on his seat.

"You are Anakin Solo, a Jeedai Apprentice."

The young Solo nodded, seeking Corran's eyes shortly, then meeting the cold, questioning one of his aunt.

"What did you notice?"

Anakin swallowed, feeling guilt well up in himself upon seeing the pale skin of his aunt. He hadn't realised that something was really wrong with Uncle Luke. He had been worried, but since they were back on Coruscant, his uncle had seemed perfectly fine. There had been no reason to talk to Mara about it all.

"He... I believe Uncle Luke heard voices."

"What!?? What are you talking about?!" Mara bellowed, jumping to her feet.

The big, blue eyes of her nephew stared helplessly at her, so heart-wrenchingly like Luke's.

"I'm sorry, Aunt Mara, but I didn't think it was important. I thought after he was back on Coruscant and everything was all right again, that perhaps it had been a momentary thing. Because we were on this Vong Ship and they're influencing the Force strangely and..."

"Anakin." Corran's voice was calm, controlled. He was trained in investigations and not as easily spooked. "Calm down. We'll explain from the beginning."

"You, too?" The Jedi Master's voice was trembling with fury now. "You knew that something was wrong with Luke and you didn't tell me?"

The former CorSec officer rose, meeting her eyes openly. "I didn't KNOW something was wrong with Luke. I SUSPECTED that something was not as it should be. But I had nothing but my instinct and some clues. And I didn't want to disappoint Luke's trust."

"Tell me everything." Mara said coldly, folding her arms in front of her chest.

"When we were on the way to the Direen, Luke asked something strange of me. He wanted to know whether there was a Yuuzhan Vong by the name of Liin Kwaad on the ship."

The moment the words left his mouth, Corran noticed how Mara stiffened. Irritated, he mustered her. "What's the matter, Mara?"

"This name. It is Luke's Yuuzhan Vong name."

"It is WHAT?" Corran repeated.

"This is a story too long to explain now." Miiram cut in. "Please continue. What else did you notice?"

"When we were boarding our own ship, I thought to see signs of Luke being in shock. A while after that, Anakin shared with me that Luke was behaving strangely. He was talking in the Force to someone. Not to Anakin. And not to me, for I was at this point not on the Yuuzhan Vong ship."

The silence after that one was heavy, until Anakin softly added: "He said 'Shut up!' I was very surprised. I thought he was talking to me, but he wasn't. Then the bugs were all after him."

Miiram nodded gravely. "I see."

"But I don't!" Mara jumped to her feet now, beginning to pace and glaring respectively at Corran and Anakin. "I can't believe you didn't tell me about that. My husband is hearing voices and you think I should not know about this!! If we weren't friend or family, I would..."

"Mara, I need to ask you something." Miiram interrupted her.

The redhead stared at her with furious eyes: "What? Just tell me what you know!"

"I won't know for sure until I have an answer to another question. So, please, would you answer me this question?"

Mara stared at her for a long moment, then nodded, expectantly.

"Did your mate speak in his sleep in the last few weeks."

"Miiram, I don't understand why..."

"Mara, did he DO it?"

The beautiful Jedi pressed her lips together and nodded.

The Yuuzhan Vong royalty sighed sadly for a moment, and then straightened.

"Mara, I'm afraid your mate is in grave danger. If I'm right, we all are."

"What are you talking about?" Anakin asked, his eyes even wider than usual. He felt fear settle in his heart. The way this woman spoke, one could think Luke was going to.

"Mezhan Kwaad is alive. Alive and preparing a scheme that could cost us all our lives. Your mate," she turned to Mara, "is sadly one of the centre pieces of her play. Whether out of revenge or whether she needs him for something, I can't say. But he is in the middle of things and deep."

When no one answered her, Miiram decided to continue.

"I have done the research I have promised you, Mara. Mezhan Kwaad has recently accessed a very secret file. She wants to use a very ancient protocol on your mate. It is called 'Slayer's Mind' - roughly translated into your tongue - and if she succeeds, we will have BIG problems."

Now Mara spoke up again, her delicate skin pale, but her eyes clear and determined. "Tell me what this means."

Her alien friend met her stare with the same determination: "Soon. But first we should take care that your mate is safe - with us. Where is he? Where is Luke Skywalker?"

The redhead turned to Corran: "I assume he is at home, waiting for me. He had a meeting with Corran before."

The Corellian Jedi looked at Mara, his green eyes holding an expression that let her blood freeze.

"He isn't?" she breathed.

"The Warmaster's son sent Luke a message, asking him to meet him on the growing worldship at the edges of the system, to prepare some things for the Supreme Overlord's arrival. His father had entrusted him with the task of taking care of everything, he said."

"I did no such thing." A new voice sounded.

Every head turned, and four pairs of unbelieving eyes focused on the figure of Khalee Lah.

 

| To Be Continued |

 

 

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