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Star Wars: A New Dawn (TheCorsair, Xanaphia)

Mara turned from the alien, wishing he would stop talking for just a moment so she could focus on the force and finding Valis Tifar. But, despite his age, he was quick, staying in her line of sight no matter how she tried to avoid him. She hadn’t even considered utilizing BT-1’s kill command, but perhaps non-lethal subdual was called for her. Concerns that grew as the strange alien spoke of the palace. Shit, did he recognize her?

Twitchy fingers hovered over her father’s saber. No, she’d come too far to be returned to the emperor now. Not after learning the truth of her parentage, after having been stolen from the man who would have loved her, so another man could raise her to be a weapon. Cautious eyes studied the alien, some amphibious variant she’d couldn’t identify. Aliens weren’t usually on good terms with the empire, but it wasn’t uncommon for a spineless creature to sell out for a pat on the head.

“What are you offering?”

“I can hook you up,” the alien insisted. “Show you all the shadows.”

Shadow… That was what her father had been, when he’d been a Jedi. What her mother had been, when they’d been married and worked alongside one another. Did it mean something, or was it just a coincidence? Trusting in the force, Mara glanced around, and leaned in closer.

“I’m looking for a Valis Tifar.”

~*~

Sparks flew as Leia welded in a new part, one of a dozen power couplings that needed to be replaced because it wasn’t clear just which one had been polarized. The piece was in, but wouldn’t be connected until the hatch was latched shut. And of course in this rusted bucket of bolts, half the hatches didn’t close right, leaving her to struggle with a stuck lever.
Heat and an achingly familiar scent approached from behind, pressed into her as Han pulled on the lever she had been having trouble with. Reflexively, she pushed him away, pushing away the filthy thoughts whirling in her mind, of taking her frustration out on the sexy captain. But he’d like that too much, and use it as evidence she cared about him or some such nonsense.

“Sorry, Your Worship, I was only trying to help.”

“Would you please stop calling me that,” she snapped, turning to focus on the hatch, and not his fragrance.

“Sure Leia.” Fuck, the way he said her name… Dammit, she wanted him screaming it out, begging her for release. Wanted it whispered over skin, as he tasted every inch of her, and served her pleasure. And the way he hovered near wasn’t helping.

“You make it so difficult sometimes.”

“I do. I really do.” Great, now he wants to agree with me? “You could be a little nicer though.” That smirk, that infuriatingly delicious smirk graced his lips. “Come on admit it. You think I’m alright sometimes.”

Oh, it wasn’t enough for Kalin to prod her for her real feeling, now Han had to get in on it too? The hatch was stuck tight, no matter how hard she pushed it closed. And now, with hands slick with sweat, her grip slipped, and scrapped against the jagged metal. Fuck! “Occasionally, maybe.” Leia shrugged, nursing the injured hand close to her body. “When you aren’t acting like a scoundrel.”

Han grabbed her hand, calloused fingers surprisingly gentle on her skin. Disturbingly gentle. Nice, almost. “Scoundrel?” He loomed closer, and her back was against the ship’s hull. Still massaging her hand, his touch easing the pain away.

“Stop that.”

Stop what?”

“Stop that, my hands are dirty.”

“My hands are dirty too. What are you so afraid of?”

“Afraid?” she repeated, intending on incredulous. Intending and failing, the word uneasy on her lips. Old feelings, feelings she had to hold in and suppress rose to the surface. Dangerous feelings, feelings she couldn’t act on, she just couldn’t.

“You’re trembling…” She was, she knew. It wasn’t allowed, wasn’t right. She couldn’t give in, couldn’t let him in couldn’t… Han was so close now, his breath tickled her face.

“I’m not…” But the words were lost as Han closed the distance between them. Her mind was full of him, his heat and the scent of engine grease and his lips pressed against hers. Her mouth opened, drawing him in, closer, deeper.
 
Han leaned into the kiss, tasting Leia as she pulled him close. His hands cupped her face, allowing him to deepen the kiss, smearing streaks of grease on her cheeks as he did. “Not what?” he whispered as they broke for air. “Not in need of a scoundrel?”

His hands skimmed down her throat, catching the zip tab of her insulated jacket. “Not trembling?” he teased, slowly drawing it down over the curve of her breasts and lower. “Maybe I want to see you tremble,” he breathed as he kissed her again. Calluses fingers drew up her shirt, playing around ver the taut planes of her stomach.

He nipped at her lip, nails lightly scraping a circle around her belly button. “Seems like you could use a few more scoundrels in your life, Leia.”

-*-

“I’m looking for a Valis Tifar.”

The alien’s black eyes darted around as he raised webbed white fingers to his white lipless slash of a mouth. “Ssshhh,” he hissed. “That’s a bad name, a dangerous name to bandy about.” Straightening up, he raised his voice slightly. “Valis Tifar is dead, has been for decades. Everyone knows that!” Nictating membranes flickered in an odd approximation of a wink as he looked back up at Mara. “All the Jedi are dead!”

Turning, he limped at speed towards an alley. “Come along,” he called, gesturing for her to follow, “no Jedi to see. They’re all dead. But I can show you secrets of Coruscant, I can. Shadow places nobody has seen. Nobody but me, that is.” Pausing, he jabbed a webbed finger at Mara. “Scarlet, shadowy halls, yes? Perfect for young women on their own.”

He kept a running monologue as he led her through the alleys and downward through access shafts and broken slabs of pavement, narrating the wreckage of the Coruscant undercity like a tour guide. Eventually he led her to a steel door with a flickering trim of garish crimson lumens. “Drink, first,” he said as he pushed it open.

Inside, a few humans and near humans hunched over greasy mugs. Some stared into their drinks, others listlessly watched a thin woman lifelessly grind around an aluminum pole to a scratchy synthesized beat. “Thirsty work, tracking down a dead Jedi,” her guide snickered, heading towards a booth in a darkened corner. “Hungry, too. We’ll need to eat, first.”
 
Leia was beyond trembling now, quivering in Han’s arms as he slowly explored her skin. Taunting her, damn near, and it was working. She was on the verge of begging, already, wanting so much more than the light touch on her stomach and the brush of his lips against hers.

“Shut up,” she hissed. Lips spoke louder pressed against his than apart, her ravenous kiss declaring her desire in no uncertain terms. Rough fingers trailed electricity on her skin, stirring mad need in her blood. Mad need for a man she wasn’t related to, a man as far removed from Luke and dangerous lust he inspired.

Memories returned, of stolen trysts on the rebel base, anywhere they could find a moment of privacy. Memories returned, and without intention, Leia shared them with Han. The sensations of his hands on her breasts and his cock inside her flowed from her mind to his, growing more vivid as their kiss deepened, and she refused to let him go.

He wanted her, wanted her to want him? He’d learn what that meant, for her to want him. Learn what it meant for her to possess him, to take him and take everything he could give.

“Captain.” Bail’s voice cut through the fog of lust, bringing Leia back into the present moment, where they were hiding from Imperial Dreadnaughts (and her father) in a crevice of an asteroid. Not exactly a safe or smart place to be. Whether was happening between them, building between them, could wait. But it wouldn’t if Han turned back towards her. So, while Bail explained that the hyperdrive had been fixed, she slipped out of the hallway, putting distance between herself and the consuming heat burning between her thighs.

~*~

“Scarlet, shadowy halls, yes? Perfect for young women on their own.”

The strange little alien spoke in code, recalling more names from the past. This time, recalling her mother, the name she’d taken up to serve the Emperor. Or name she’d been forced to take up, to protect her after the emperor had stolen her. Again, her father’s word, her real father, came back.

Your mother needs you.

But what could a dead woman need? And why hadn’t she ever felt that presence in the force, the way she’d felt her fathers? The questions whirled in Mara head as she followed this alien, this last connection to the parents she hardly knew, this last request from the father who had inverted her entire way of thinking.

“Right” Mara agreed, as she shared a booth in the pallid creature. Taking this moment to study him, under the harsh bar lights. It was impossible to tell how old he was, or even what might be considered old for his race. But he was clearly old, with sagging skin around his jowls. Aged imprints of gills remained, but they were clearly no longer functional, webbed over now and inflating just a bit with each breath. A tired waitress brought over what smelled like starship fuel, leaving Mara in the ineviable position of missing Han’s Jet Juice.

“So, who are you?” Mara asked, breathing deep before daring the alcohol. It burned her throat on the way down, and the sting lingered through several coughs. “What are you? I’ve never seen your kind before.”
 
“Captain Solo?”

He didn’t register Bail’s words, not at first. Not with Leia’s breasts in his hand and her thigh wrapped around his hip. Not with her younger slipping between his lips in aching anticipation of his cock filling her. He didn’t want to hear the old man. He wanted Leia, moaning his name as he filled her.

“Captain Solo, Triple-Zero has - oh my.” Bail had turned his back and was carefull examining the bulkhead by the time Han kept back from Leia.

“What,” Han snapped. “Is? It?”

“Triple-Zero,” Bail said, still not looking, “has isolated the reverse power flux coupling.”

“Thank you,” Han growled, acutely aware of Leia hastily reassembling her clothes as she slipped away. “Thank you very much.”

Fuck if he wasn’t hard as a Rick and frustrated as hell now. “Right,” he said, marching stiffly and trying to ignore his erection. “Let’s go tell Chewie.”

-*-

“So, who are you?” Mara asked, coughing as she downed her drink. “What are you? I’ve never seen your kind before.”

The elderly alien swigged down his own drink, belching loudly as he scrubbed raw alcohol from his lipless mouth. “Heh. Wrong question, girl.” He made a curious gesture with his arms, approximating a shrug. “I’m just a relic, trying to make a living in the shadows cast by our glorious Empire.” He knocked back another gulp. “Just a dead man.”

Slamming his drink down, he leaned forward. “What about you, girl? You’ve got a droid, and weapons. Money. Clean clothes. What brings a spoiled little Imperial down here, looking for a Jedi?” His lipless mouth twisted into a grin. “They’re all dead. What do you want from the dead, Mara?”
 
Mara frowned at the alien’s assessment of her. Mostly because it rang true. She had no love for the emperor, that bastard, but she couldn’t deny that his interest in her afforded her privilege.

“My father sent me here. He… he wanted me to learn the ways of the Jedi.” She stared into her glass, looking past the liquid. “This is my way of reclaiming the years that were taken from us. Reclaiming what could have been. This is my chance to honor his memory. To him make proud of me. Him…and my mother.”

Would she feel her then, if she became a Jedi? Would she find the love and acceptance she’d sought all her life? Would this fill that void within her?

“Because Sidious the usurper took me away from my family, and reviving the Jedi is my best bet for repaying his treachery.”

~*~

The Asteroid field was too large to pin point the Rebel ship. Leia was out there, Vader could tell that much, but not where. And Mara wasn’t with her. Willful women, the both of them. Stubborn.

With all the damage we’ve sustained, there is no way they’ve survived this long.

“No Captain, they’re alive.” Leia wasn’t far, where ever she hid. “I want every ship to sweep the asteroid field until they are found.”

The new admiral approached. “Lord Vader, the emperor commands that you make contact with him.”

“Leave the asteroid field, so we can send a clear transmission.”

“Yes, my lord.”

Stepping into the hologram chamber, Vader kneeled before the massive floating blue head. “What is thy bidding, my master.”

“There is a great disturbance in the force.”

Vader’s mirrored black mask hid the sith lord’s expression “I have felt it.”

“Once obedient daughters have become new enemies. They must be reined in, before they can destroy everything we’ve worked for.”

“The old hermit can no longer twist them away from our influence.”

“The force is strong in them, and they are valuable assets. They must not become Jedi.”

“They will return to us, master. I will make sure of it.”

~*~

Leia sat alone in cockpit of the Falcon, brooding. Brooding on Han’s words, and the truth they carried. Brooding on her own confused feelings, and comparing Han to Luke. No way in hell that cocky bastard could live up to her brother. No way any man could live up to Luke, and what they shared. It would never be that way with Han. Not that there could be a future with the smuggler. He was out for himself, and she had to be out for herself as well. She couldn’t waste time lost in his eyes in his arms. She had a mission to complete, to prove herself. To father, to Luke, to the damn Emperor himself. Han can’t get in the way of that. He shouldn’t… he…

Thudding against the hull pull Leia from her brooding, squinting her eyes to seek the source in the darkness. Was something out there…?

With a sucking thud, some alien suctioned itself onto the blastshield window. Despite herself, Leia flinched back, before pushing it away with the force. She couldn’t see where it went, but it’s death wail satisfied her. But if there were one, there were probably more.

She ran for the engine room, where Han bickered with Triple 0. “There’s something out there.”

Han pulled off his welding goggles, “Where?”

“Outside, in the cave.” More banging sounds reverberate through the hull.

“I’m going out there.”

“Are you crazy?”

I just got this bucket back together, I’m not going to let something tear it apart.” He grabbed a breathing mask on his way out.

Leia grabbed one as well, “I’m going with you then.”

“I think it would be better if I accompanied you. It’s been too long since I could kill something organic,” Triple 0 insisted. Chewie hooted, and returned to work on the ship.
 
“Your father and your mother?” The alien scoffed, before swilling down more rotgut. “And why should I take Mara Jade Palpatine to see a dead Jedi Master, hey?”

“Because Sidious the usurper took me away from my family,” she shot back, “and reviving the Jedi is my best bet for repaying his treachery.”

“Repaying his treachery?” The alien’s throat pulsed with brittle, bitter laughter, and his gaze focused just a little to her right. “Revenge? You were a fool. Revenge was never the Jedi way.” Sighing, he put his beaker down. “She dwells on Her losses. She craves acceptance. She hungers for revenge. She is not ready. I think she will never be ready.”

“They said that about me,” a voice responded. “Remember? Incorrigible. A trouble-maker. Defiant. Too curious about where he came from.“. The spectral figure of Quentin Hall slowly materialized, seemingly no older than the daughter seated beside him. Humor glinted in his blue eyes as he spoke. “And look how I turned out.“

“They were right about you,” the old alien snapped back. “Stubborn, incorrigible, a trouble-maker who played fast and loose with the Code.”

“Perhaps. But who did I learn that from?“

The alien stared back at him, then shook his head. “No. The risk is too great. I will not train Mara Jade Palpatine. I will not train the daughter of Darth Sidious and the Black Sun assassin Scarlett.” He rose from his seat. “Do not try to follow me, Mara Jade Palpatine,” he snapped, storming off. “Only my apprentice is allowed to.”

-*-

“What are we looking for?” Triple-0 asked, synthetic voice oddly chipper.

“Anything weird,” Han replied. “Feel free to murder anything that isn’t one of us.”

“Oh, thank you sir!” The immobile grey mask couldn’t smile, but it seemed like the droid was managing it anyway. “Perhaps you could arrange my purchase from Master Bail? You seem so much more reasonable...”. He paused. “This asteroid has a most peculiar surface.”

“Yes,” Kalin agreed, stomping experimentally. “It’s... spongy.”

Chewbacca hooted. “Yeah, me too buddy,” Han agreed. “I’ve got a bad feeling about this.” He stared at the glistening cave floor, brightly illuminated for a short distance by the Falcon’s lights, and shook his head. “A really bad...”

Something flashed out of the shadows, a leathery flapping blur that dodged Han and Chewie’s rapid shots and Kalin’s slower one. The ground heaved and the cavern shook, and Triple-0 made a sound of disgust as razors flickered in his fingers. “Mynok!” he cried in disgust. “You filthy, disgusting thing!”

“Yeah, mynoks,” Han agreed. “Thought it might be. That’s why I brought you, as bait.”

“Captain Solo!” Triple-0 exclaimed, letting the leathery corpse fall from blood-slick fingers. “I am utterly offended, but I must congratulate you. So much more pragmatic than Master Bail.”

“Yeah, right. Chewie? Check the hull, would you? I don’t want to find more of the little bastards clinging to the-“. The ground shook again. “-hull.”

“Aftershocks?” Kalin asked?

In response, Han fired his blaster into the ground at his feet. The cavern heaved and convulsed, sending them all staggering. “Fuck! Forget the inspection, Chewie.” He found his balance and sprinted towards the ramp. “Everyone back on board! Now!”
 
“Revenge? You were a fool. Revenge was never the Jedi way.”

“Not revenge,” Mara insisted, feeling this last link to her father slip through her fingers. “Justice. Righting the wrong that is Sidious’ rule.” Then her father appeared again. The younger version of him, the one she recognized from the hologram with her mother. The very picture of a happy couple. He bickered with the alien, and she realized almost stupidly that she had indeed met this Valis Tifar.

“No. The risk is too great. I will not train Mara Jade Palpatine. I will not train the daughter of Darth Sidious and the Black Sun assassin Scarlett.”

“Not Palatine. Mara Jade Voss-Hall. Not the daughter of the emperor and an assassin, but the daughter of two Jedi Shadows. Two Jedi you yourself trained,” Mara reminded him, remembering details from her mother’s journal that her father had kept. “You and my father brought my mother back to the path of the Jedi. Why not let me follow in her footsteps, and return to the light?”

“Do not try to follow me, Mara Jade Palpatine,” he snapped, storming off. “Only my apprentice is allowed to.”

Mara stood up after him, “Didn’t you know I inherited my father’s stubbornness?”

~*~

Han pushed past Leia to get on board, and she followed him into the ship, “We gotta get out of here!”

“We can’t leave, the empire is waiting for us out there.” Her father’s presence was close, she knew. Felt his probing in the force. Luke was close too, and try as she might, she couldn’t completely hide her presence form him.

Han closed panels and flicked switches on his way to the cockpit. “No time to talk this over in committee.”

“I’m not a committee!” Leia argued, not even entirely sure what her point was anymore. She followed into the cockpit, leaning against walls when she needed the support in the midst of the quaking ground. “You can’t make the jump to light speed in an asteroid field.”

“Sit down sweetheart, we’re taking off.”

The ship lurched forward, screaming toward the opening, but not getting any closer. No, there were getting closer, but the opening was shrinking. “The cave is collapsing!”

“That’s no cave.” Han argued, squeezing between a stalactite and a stalagmite before they closed. And it was then, with the primal sensation of frustration drifting on the force, that Leia realized what they had fled, and worse, that Han had been right.

But, out of the space worm’s mouth, into the imperial’s crosshairs. They still had to make it out of the asteroid field before they could make the jump. And with the way ship shuddered when each shot landed, they might not make it that far.

“Okay, ready for light speed in…1…2…3…”

Leia braced, waiting for the stretching of light that never came. Shit. The thought of facing her father again, after everything she’d done for the rebellion, churned her gut. What could she even say? “No light speed?”

“It’s not my fault!” The ship shuddered again, and Han got an inspired look on his face. “Turn her around. I’m going to put all the power into the front shields.”

“You’re going to attack them?”

Han didn’t answer, instead settled back into the pilot seat. Despite everything, Leia resigned herself to trust him. Just this once.
 
“Are you deaf, girl?” Valis snapped as he stepped out into the alley. “My apprentice can follow me. Nobody else.” He turned, staring at her with black eyes that glittered with neon reflections. “Go home!” he ordered. “Mara Jade Palpatine is not welcome here! Go back to your satin sheets and the embrace of your Sith lover!”

He spun on his heel and stalked away, glossy white skin traced with crimson and cerulean highlights until he disappeared into the darkness. “Apprentice,” he spat, sneering the word before wheeling on heronce more. “ choose my apprentices! Did I choose you?”

Muttering and grumbling, he slipped into the shadows between the buildings once more. It was easy to follow his path, though - his ongoing complaints trailed behind him, echoing from the ferrocrete and fusion-formed stone about them. He clambered over broken walls and squeezed through gaps in fences. “Hot-headed and emotional when she should seek peace,” he grumbled. “Ignorant of the basics, ignoring training in favor of seeking glory. Ruled by her passions, never taking s moment to reflect. Unstable, never sure of her path, out of harmony with herself and the universe.”

He squeezed through a half-open security door, one which granted access to an old warehouse. By the time Mara followed, he was nowhere to be seen.

“Nice,” said a voice from the shadows.

“Real nice,” agreed a second voice.

A dozen figures emerged from the interior darkness, humans and aliens in torn, scavenged clothing. Some carried blasters, others home-made projectile weapon’s. All carried knives and pieces of rebar. All stared at her hungrily. “Looking to play, Red?” one laughed.

A scaled humanoid kicked his lips with a forked tongue. “Looking for a good time?”

“Oh, we’ll show you a good time,” snickered another, a greasy mass of muscle with a face covered with scars. “Real good,” he added, grabbing his crotch. Everyone laughed.

There was a subtle movement in a far corner, a glint of light caused by Valis raising his hand. In his grip was Mara’s blaster and Wuentin’s lightsaber. What now? the old Hedi whispered. What will you choose? Death? Or life?

-*-

Luke stared into the holographic display tank of the Star Destroyer, a faint sense of unease touching him. A sensation not unlike happening to catch your own name in a lull and n conversation in a crowded room. After a moment he brushed it off, deciding it was concern for his sister.

“The pilot of that ship is s madman,” Admiral Piett breathed

“Or a genius,” Luke remarked. “A pity he’s a traitor; I’d offer him a position in Rigue Squadron.”

The icon that marked the battered, deceptive freighter weaved and darted, flying nearly in shield-to-shield contact with the capital ships. “He’s going to get himself killed, Lord Vader!”

“I don’t think so.” Luke studied the tank. “He’s too good a...”

“He’s coming right at us!” Piett interrupted, staring out the main viewports of the control tower.

Luke whipped his head up, staring and then. - nviluntarily and foolishly - flinching. But there was nowhere to go, and the freighter was blasting straight towards them. “Ramming?” Luke gasped. The pilot hadn’t seemed to be the type to make a suicidal gesture of defiance.

And then, at the last instant, the ship veered off,

“Where did it go?” Luke demanded. Where is my sister?

“There... there’s no sign of it?” gasped a sensor tech.

“What?” Piett demanded.

“It’s too small for a cloaks by device,” Luke mused aloud.

“Calculate all possible hyperspace destinations along their last known vector!” Piett ordered. “I want to know where they are to be found! Yesterday!”
 
Mara suppressed her flinch as Valis mocked her about Luke. He would know, wouldn’t he? She didn’t answer his taunt,

She should go to Luke. He wouldn’t turn her away, wouldn’t dismiss her outright. Luke, he… well, it was hard to know how he felt about her. She’d fallen for him, she knew. Fallen for him, despite what a monster his father was. And she’d thought he felt the same way. Thought she felt him reciprocate her feelings, even if he wouldn’t admit them.

But chasing Luke wouldn’t help her fulfill her Jedi destiny, or honor her father, so she chased after the stout alien instead. And, as if his complaints were insincere, or some kind of test, he didn’t lose her in the alleys and hidden paths’ of Coruscant. Perhaps he was leading her somewhere specific?

The not quite abandoned warehouse was unexpected, but that might have been naïve on her part. A test, to see how she would handle herself, perhaps? Casting a cool glance at the group, Mara tried to formulate a plan. A plan that didn’t include the blaster or saber Valis had swiped from her.

Life or death, huh? Even weaponless, it was possible to murder every last man here. All Mara needed was to call upon her darkness, let her hate and shame feed her, and her would be assailants wouldn’t stand a chance. But darkness and death weren’t the way of a Jedi, now were they?

“You don’t want to hurt me,” she insisted, asserting her will on the nearest thug. “And I don’t want to hurt any of you.”

“No one’s gotta get hurt, Red,” a voice called from behind her, “If you’re friendly with us, we’ll be real friendly with you.” More laughter erupted at his joke.

“We just wanna party. Bet you love to party, don’chu?”

One man grabbed her arm, thick finger digging into her muscles, and pulled her closer. She used his momentum against him, spinning away and pushing him into one of his buddies. All hell broke loose then, and from every angle, they rushed her. Mara dodged, deflecting their wild swings and evading their attempts to grab her. Even when they came at her with violent intentions, she merely countered them, seeking only to incapacitate, not kill.

A spinning kick sent one foe down, followed up with a quick forearm block as another tried to capitalize. She captured his weapon, and knocked him back with the butt of his knife. Two more fell as they jumped her from opposite sides, just to run into each other after a well-timed sidestep.

A makeshift knife swiped at her, just missing by more luck than skill. She stepped into her foe’s space, and struck his chin with the heel of her palm. She’d pulled back from following up, resisting the urge to kill men who would show her no mercy. But sinking to their level was not the way to win, or to prove to Valis that she deserved to be his apprentice.

One last man remained standing. More a boy, really, on the edge of adulthood. Mara held his gaze, noting the fear in his wide eyes. “Don’t be stupid, boy. Run, and no one has to get hurt.” He swallowed hard, but didn’t answer. Calculating his odds, no doubt. “Run!” Mara barked out, and this time, he spun on his heels, and fled the warehouse in dull thud of old boots on ferrocrete.

Turning her attention to the shadows that held Valis, she crossed her arms, “How’s that?”

~*~

Leia held her breath, as if she herself needed to hide from the Empire on the back of their own ship. She was focusing all her attention on shielding herself from Luke, so close and separated by a mere few feet of ship hull and blast shield. Somehow, Han’s crazy plan to hide from the Empire on the backside of the dreadnaught was actually working, but Leia feared speaking would break the spell.

“You’re lucky this ship blends in with the rest of the garbage the ship discharge before going into light speed. But that’s still not a plan.”

“Then we just got to find a space port somewhere around here.” Han half turned to look at her, “Any ideas?”

Leia leaned over him, not resisting to brush her breasts against his shoulder, and studied the navigation screen. “Where are we, the Anoat system?” She sighed and shook her head, “There’s not much out here.”

“No,” he agreed, cycling through astronavigational charts, “Wait, this is interesting. Lando.”

“Lando? What’s in the Lando System?”

“Lando’s not a system, he’s a man. Lando Calrissian. Card player, gambler, scoundrel.” Han turned another gaze her way. “You’d like him.” She could only laugh, and Han continued, “Bespin, It’s petty far, but we should just be able to make it.”

Leia leaned in closer, to read the details of the navigation chart. And to breath in Han’s scent. “A mining colony?”

“Tibanna gas mine. Lando conned someone out of it. We go back a long way, Lando and me.”

Leia sensed the conflict on Han’s mind, “Can you trust him?”

“No, but he’s got no love for the empire, I can tell you that.” The ship began to move, dreadnaughts filling off into the ends of the galaxy, and Han sprung into action. “Alright Chewie” he called over the intercom, “Detach.”,

Leia allowed herself to relax fractionally as the ship with Luke on it floated away from them, before jumping to lightspeed. “You do have your moments, “Leia found herself admitting, brushing lips against his cheek. “Not many of them, but you do have them.”
 
Valis walked slowly amongst the unconscious figures, inspecting them silently. “It was crude,” he finally said. “A Jedi would never have allowed such a fight to begin. But then, you are no Jedi.” He looked at her, his glossy black eyes reflecting her features. “Not even a Padawan.”

His gaze remained on her as he watched her expression. “You would need a Master to be a Padawsn.” His lipless mouth twisted in an approximation of a smile. “And I am a Master who lacks an apprentice. So kneel, Mara Jade Voss-Hall.” His hands, cool and damp, rested on her shoulders. "The bond between Master and student is an eternal one, a chain linking us back through the ages, Jedi after Jedi and beyond, back to the first living thing to sense the Force and teach her skills to another."

As he spoke a presence joined them, and a second pair of hands could be felt on her shoulders. "Your father, Madter Quentin Hall, learned this from me and would have taught it to you had he been able. But now you will learn them from me, as he learned them from me. As he would have taught them to you, had the Force been willing."

He stood for a moment longer, looking deep into her eyes and soul, then stepped back a pace. "Rise, my apprentice. A Jedi does not demand obeisance. Rise, and follow me." A weight pressed into her hand, the hilt if her father’s lightsaber. “You have much to learn, and more to unlearn. And I fear we have little time.”

-*-

“No,” Han repeated for what felt like the hundredth time. “I don’t have landing clearance. I’m trying to get in touch with Lando Calrissian.” In response blaster fire bracketed the freighter, making Han grit his teeth and fight the urge to reply with the quad-guns. But that would make things harder.

“Rename n on your current vector,” one of the twin-pod pilots replied. “Follow air traffic control directions and do not deviate, it you will be shot down.”

“I thought this Lando Calrissian was a friend of yours,” Bail said dryly.

“We are!” Han protested. “We go way back.” Chewie hooted at that, and the smuggler winced. “That was a long time ago,” he muttered. “I’m sure he’s forgotten about that.” Then, ignoring other comments, he concentrated on following the navigational beacon. It steered him through pumpkin and magenta clouds towards a gleaming white city that hung suspended in the sky, and then into a landing platform in the upper levels of the city.

Lando waited there, a gold cloak whipping in the wind. Behind him stood a dozen grey-uniformed security guards. Chewie uttered a mournful growl. “Yeah, yeah,” Han agreed, checking the charge in his blaster. “Maybe it’s just an honor guard.”

“Really?” Bail sounded skeptical.

“Maybe,” Han muttered. “But he ready. Just in case.” He held up a finger. “But try not to look like you’re ready.”
 
Mara wore a stoic expression as Valis cut her down, complaining the a Jedi or even a padawan would have done a far better job than her. Was this it?

No. Regardless, whether this alien would train her or not, she’d be a Jedi. What was it, the Holochron had told her? All the knowledge existed already, within her. She could honor her parent’s memories.

“And I am a Master who lacks an apprentice. So kneel, Mara Jade Voss-Hall.”

Mara mirrored his smile, dropping to her knees to receive his acceptance. “Thank you, Master Valis.” Her feelings of pride and contentment were buoyed when her father’s presence joined them, his warmth ad his love.

Still not her mother, though. It’d been so long since she died, perhaps there was nothing distinct of her left. Nothing but the force, her but another presence within it, indistinguishable from the whole.

No matter, now was not the moment to dwell. As Valis said, there was work to do, and precious little time to do it in.

~*~

“Shall I introduce myself first?” Triple 0 asked, particularly perky at the prospect of murder.

“Not first,” Leia murmured, descending behind Han, “But if they open fire, unleash your worst.”

“Why you no good, slimy, double-crossing swindler.” Lando snarled, as he came upon Han. “You have some nerve coming have after that mess you pulled.” Leia readied herself to strike, and behind her, Triple-0 buzzed with his sadistic toys. Han said nothing, standing straighter and stiffer, readying to defend himself if need be. Lando brought up a hand, and Han flinched, before Lando pulled him into a hug.

“How you doin’, you old pirate?? So good to see you!” Lando laughed, and everyone else laughed as well.

“Well, He’s friendly. What a pity,” Triple-0 lamented.

“Yes, very friendly,” Leia noted, watching the banter between Han and Lando. There was still something deceptive in his words, but Leia couldn’t place it. She’d just have to remain vigilant.

“We need some repairs, and I was hoping you could help me out with that.”

“Repairs? What did you do to my ship?”

“Your ship?” Han cocked his head, “Remember, you lost her to me, fair and square.”

Lando didn’t answer, just looked past him to Chewbacca, “How you doin’?” Chewbacca answered with a short growl, and approached. Leia, Bail and Kalin followed. “Still hanging out with this loser?” Chewbacca growled longer that time, in an approximation of a laugh. By the time she made eye contact with Lando, his gaze turned into a leer. “Hello, what do we have here?”

Taking a step towards her, despite her cool expression, he offered a hand, “I’m Lando Calrissian, the Administrator of this facility. And who might you be?”

It didn’t take force sensitivity to read his thoughts towards her. But it made Han jealous, and she found she liked that, more than a little bit. So she offered a warm smile and her hand, “Leia.”

“Welcome, Leia,” he acknowledged, kissing her hand.

Han pushed himself between then, taking the hand Lando just kissed, “Alright, alright. You old smoothie.”

Lando Turned his attention to the rest of the group, Kalin in particular, “And you are?”

Kalin smirked, and took his hand to kiss. “Kalin Golb.”

“Golb, huh?” Lando returned his leer, “Does your mother know the quality of the company you keep these days?” Both men laughed, and Lando motioned them along, “What’s wrong with the Falcon?”

“Hyperdrive,” Han called back, still holding her hand as he led them all inside.

“I’ll get my people to work on her.” Lando pulled ahead of the group, “That ship saved my life a dozen times. She’s the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy.”
 
Luke peered around the curve of a monolithic pillar, then jerked his and back. “Twenty Stirmtroopers,” he whispered. “Doesn’t surprise me, really. There’s a whole company assigned here.”

It had been nearly a month since the freighter had escaped the blockade around Hoth. Shortly thereafter, his father had left with the Executor on some mission he didn’t care to disclose. And then Darth Skalho had contacted him, calling for him to join him on Coruscant. So he’d made his excuses and slipped away, approaching the throne world of the Empire discretely.

A wise choice, it seemed. Because now he and his Master were crouched in the shadows of the ancient Jedi Temple. “Why are we here?”

“For information,” the grizzled Sith Lord replied, voice low. Out of his armor, wearing ordinary street clothes, he appeared to be little more than a harmless old man. As long as you didn’t look too close. “To pursue our mutual goals.”

“In this ruin?” Luke glanced up and up, staring at the towering, deserted shell. “What are we going to learn here? And, more to the point, how are we going to get past them without killing them all and bringing the entire company down on us?”

Skalho smiled. “By applying a simple technique I am about to teach you, my young apprentice.” He grinned wider. “And then by making use of an entrance that, from what I can see - remains unfound.”

“Oh?” Curiousity was obvious on Luke’s face. “How do you know about it?”

“I used it more than once,” Skalho explained. “Sneaking out as a Palawan. Now, close your eyes and listen...”

-*-

“This is the life,” Han declared, leaning back in a suspension chair and kicking his booted feet up. “Maybe I should get Lando into another Sabbac game?”

Chewbacca guffawed, then guzzled down a liter of foaming ale. His hooting reply echoed off the penthouse done ad drew a laugh from his partner in crime. “Yeah, yeah,” Han agreed. “I’d be bored in a month. Two, max. But you have to admit, the view is amazing.”

Cloud City stretched out around the tower Lando had quartered them in, one with a view of the Falcon as a team of technicians and engineers worked it over. Beyond that, the world was a sphere of cloud-streaked cerulean. No land meant no visible horizon, after all. “Beats mud any day.”

Chewbacca belched long and loud, then roared in agreement. “Don’t you have any manners, old man?” Han laughed. Then he laughed again at Chewbacca’s jocular obscene gesture.

The hissing of the lift door made him spin his chair. “And speaking of amazing views,” he said, smiling, “how are you this fine day, Leia?”
 
Leia paced the room, restless, “There’s something wrong here. Something this Lando is hiding.”

Kaalin raised an eyebrow, “He’s not so different from Han.

“Yeah, that’s precisely why I don’t trust him.” Leia crossed her arms over her chest.

“Is it Han you don’t trust, or yourself?” Back to Kaalin, he couldn’t see the look on her face, but she couldn’t hide the way she stiffened. “I know it doesn’t come easily to you. Not after you spent so long denying yourself, and your feelings. But you don’t have hold back your feelings anymore, Leia. Be true to yourself, and be open with Han.”

“There’s… There’s nothing with Han. He’s going to leave and… I don’t care.” She crossed her arms over her chest, “I just want to get back to the rebellion”

Kaalin stared at her for a time, and she knew he could see through her. Knew it and hated it. Maybe that’s why it was easier to be with Han, easier to be with someone who couldn’t literally read her mind. “Why don’t you tell him that, then? Tell him you’re ready to leave Bespin.”

Leia half turned to face him, trying to figure out what game he was getting at now. “Fine, maybe I will.” If it got him out of her mind. Han’s room was just down the hall.

“How are you this fine day, Leia?”

She ignored the question, and tried to ignore the way he face lit up upon seeing her. “Any news on the Falcon?”

“It’ll be a couple days yet. Might as well try to enjoy yourself.” He still wore that infuriating, sexy smirk. She choose to ignore him, or try to at least, by gazing out the window.

“The sooner we get off world, then better. Something is wrong here, and the longer we stay, the more sure I am we are going to end tangled up in it.”

Han grabbed her by the shoulders, and placed a kiss on her forehead. A small gesture, but it eased her mind. Drawing her back from the healthy sort of paranoia she been clinging to since arriving. “You worry too much. Lando has his best men working on it.”

“I don’t trust him,” she argued, for the sake of arguing, perhaps. Reaching for that paranoia once more. For that off-putting sensation, underlying Lando’s gracious behavior. Lando was up to something, if only she could get Han to see it.

“I don’t trust him either,” Han assured her, but it didn’t make her feel any better, “But he’s my friend. Besides, we’ll soon be gone.”

Then you’re good as gone, aren’t you?”

Han didn’t say anything, but he didn’t need to. The guilt in his eyes spoke loud enough. Don’t go. The words died on her tongue, in the depths of her mind. Stay with me. But asking was a weakness, and she wouldn’t be weak.

“Have you seen Triple 0 around? I am not sure what kind of damage he can do without permission, but I’d rather not find out.”

~*~​

“You cannot control the force, you can only call upon it. It’s not something you can master, no matter how you let the darkness into you. Strength is not the goal, but balance. To live in harmony with the force, that is the highest pinnacle you can reach.” Master Valis words surrounded her, in her mind as much as they were in her ears. So far, most of her Jedi training consisted of meditating, to realign herself to their teachings, and away from the sith teachings she’d grown up with.

It had been terrifying to open herself like this, here on Coruscant. So close to the Emperor, to the usurp who stole her away from her parents, who even now would take her away from her destiny, who would force her to follow in her mother footsteps. But Master Valis insisted that was necessary, and that learning to hide in plan sight was a technique she needed to learn.

So much was consumed by the darkness of the Emperor, his presence a choking pressure. Beyond him, however, there was something else out there. Someone else. Someone cloaked in darkness, but concealing an inner light that could not be extinguished. Someone warm, and familiar, filling an emptiness inside her

Luke! Luke was here, on Coruscant. So close, she could nearly touch him, in the Force at least. Luke… Damn, it’s been six months since Zeltros. Six long, lonely months, and now, here he was so close. So very close.

Still, as much as she wanted to reach for him, to go to him, she resisted. He still needed to answer for Hoth. But, well, she could open a dialogue, couldn’t she? Sinking into the Force, she reached for him, caressing his mind with her own.

Luke? What are you doing here on Coruscant?
 
The Stormtrooper struggled a moment longer, then went limp. Luke held him aloft a few seconds longer, his will in the Force concentrated on the man’s larynx, until he felt the man’s death. Only then did he allow him to gently settle to the floor of the ruined temple.

“Well done,” Skalho murmured, not looking up from the computer terminal he was examining. “Swift and ruthless.”

“I don’t like killing Stirmtroopers,” Luke replied. “Well, I don’t like killing anyone, not really. But they’re under my command.”

“Not if your presence here is discovered,” Skalho replied. “Your connection to Anakin won’t save you if Sidious learns you entered the Temple.”

“Why are we here?” Luke asked.

“Information,” Skalho answered. “I want the names of the Jedi not yet confirmed dead.”

“You think they will help you?” Luke’s skepticism was clear.

“They might. They’ll certainly have no love for Sidious.” He shrugged. “And they might buy us the favor of your rebel princess. I rather suspect she’s displeased with you right now.”

Luke.

“Probably. I was in a difficult spot, then.” He glanced around. Had he imagined that?

“Divided loyalties are problematic,” Skalho observed.

Luke? What are you doing here on Coruscant?

it was Mara! What am I doing here? What are you doing here? This has to be the most dangerous planet in the galaxy for you!

“Maybe you should go find her,” Skalho suggested. “Repair your alliance, if you think she can be trusted. Once we’ve finished here, obviously.”

-*-

“I’m hoping,” Han said, in tones like he was whistling past a graveyard, “that Bail didn’t accidentally give him an order that lets him run amuck. I’m sure Lando would let us know if the security feed showed him wandering the halls with an axe, though.”

The joke fell flat. Mostly because he could all too easily imagine the murderous droid doing exactly that. So he settled for watching Leia as she stared across the city at the Falcon. She was as itchy to get flying again as he was, he realized, although for different reasons. He just didn’t like being grounded, while she was being hunted by the Empire. Darth Vader’s traitorous daughter and the woman who’d pulled the trigger on the Desth Star. Her death mark probably made his look like nothing.

“Yeah, I’m out of here,” he said slowly, walking up beside her. “Soon as she’s fixed.” He bit his lip. “You could come with me, you know - you’re a hot pilot and good in a fight.” He chuckled, feeling uncomfortable with cumin even this close to talking about his real feelings. “I’m sure I could find a position for you.”

Sighing, he leaned against the canopy and stared hard at his ship. “Hell, bring the others along too. A handful of sharp operators like us, we could take Crimson Dawn over. Hand it off to the rebels - after taking a cut off the top for us, that is. They’ll need the supplies and credits anyway, right?”

Shifting a little, he looked at her. Without intending to he reached out and stroked her cheek, fingers tingling at the touch. “Your hair looks good like that.”
 
“I’m sure I could find a position for you.”

Leia smirked, and tried to ignore the innuendo. Even though she was quite sure they were several positions they could agree on. “And what would we even do, the two of us?” Warm thoughts followed those words, warming her skin, before she realized she misspoke, “Or, I guess at least three of us, right,? Since Chewie will be there…”

“Hell, bring the others along too. A handful of sharp operators like us, we could take Crimson Dawn over. Hand it off to the rebels - after taking a cut off the top for us, that is. They’ll need the supplies and credits anyway, right?”

“Yeah, and then what? Just fly about aimlessly? Go where ever the work takes us?” She’d been trying to make fun of him, trying to diffuse the tension building between them, but her joke fell flat. Mostly because it didn’t sound so crazy. It wasn’t a half bad idea, it was just opposite the way she’d grown up. Always there was something that needed to be done, some task to complete, some mission to accomplish. Serving the Emperor, feeding her father’s ambition, it left so little idle time that it was difficult to imagine how she might handle herself like that.

Shifting a little, he looked at her. Without intending to he reached out and stroked her cheek, fingers tingling at the touch. “Your hair looks good like that.”

“Thanks,” she answer, the unexpected compliment disarming her wit, and leaving her unaccountably shy. And yet, she couldn’t bear to look away, not now.

“I guess we do have time to kill, don’t we?” she murmured, drawing closer. Not entirely sure what she was doing, yet unwilling to stop herself and think it through. Their lips met, hesitant for a moment, before opening upon mutual agreement. His warmth filled her mind, pushing out her worries and apprehension. When they parted, she preempted him, “Don’t speak. Don’t say anything, just…”

Nothing else came, but another kiss.

~*~​

What am I doing here? What are you doing here? This has to be the most dangerous planet in the galaxy for you!

Reconnaissance, Mara replied simply, still unsure if she could trust him, no matter how much she wanted to. But I am glad you are so worried about me.

She was glad, actually. He did care, and their liaison was more than a mere fling. But before should could sink deeper into connection with Luke, something struck her hands. More shocking than truly painful, it brought her back into focus.

“Now is not the time to be flirty with your Sith Lover.”

“Of course, Master Valis.” Meet me at Nebula later tonight.

~*~​

Nebula was dive bar in the slums of lower Coruscant, and the absolute last place an imperial princess of high ranking member of the emperor’s court would be found. Which was why it was the perfect place to meet up with Luke. Mara dressed the part, in a skin-tight black leather minidress that left little to the imaginations. Cinched in at the waist and barely covering her cleavage, no one would mistake her for the Imperial Princess, but a whore who looked a little like her.
 
Leaving the ruined temple was easier than entering, in part because all of the guardians were already dead. That was a relief, because the conversation with Mara proved a genuine distraction. He needed to focus on his surroundings, but wanted to focus on the rebel princess who had occupied so many of his thoughts and fantasies.

Meet me at Nebula later tonight.

I’ll be there, he assured her, trying not to sound too eager.

“Your thoughts betray you,” Skalho remarked as his eyes swept the Temple landing for reinforcements. “Your attachment to your Princess is... troublesome.”

“Why?” Luke asked. “The Jedi rejected attachments, not the Sith.”

“True,” Skalho agreed, donning his helmet. “But the Sith understood that attachments bring risk. And your Princess is a risk.”

“Because of her ties to the Emperor?” Like laughed. “That is what makes her...”

“Because she is the daughter of the assassin Scarlett,” Skalho stated. “And the daughter of Shadows. And because she seeks to blind herself by staring into the light.”

Luke hesitated, then strapped on his jet pack. “All of those things,” he said slowly, “also make her a powerful ally.”

-*-

Han drew back from the kiss, lips tingling and breath short, feeling as if flame courses through his veins. He’d kissed her before, of course. Done far more than just kissed her. But that simple contact of the lips sent heat rating through him, left him breathless and wanting. He opened his mouth, and she closed it with a slim finger. “Don’t speak,” she said in a husky whisper. “Don’t say anything, just…”

His hands cupped her face, drawing her in for another kiss. Her lips were wine, were a potent drug, one he found himself craving more of as he deepened the kiss. Her arms slid around him as he caressed her throat and gripped her shoulders, and he gasped for breath as he drew back. Then he kissed her again, molding her body to his as he pressed her into the gentle curve of the transparent dome.

This time, he trembled as he drew in a breath. His hand started to trace her curves, then hesitated. “I want to touch you,” he breathed, nipping at her lower lip. “I want to see you.”

-*-

“Perhaps. But some allies should not be trusted.”

Luke grimaced at the memory, then sipped his drink to wash the bitter taste away. His Master was right, of course. Objectively, it was foolish to trust Mara. Foolish to trust a woman who was the Emperor’s Hand, and a traitor, and dedicated to the destruction of his father. Objectively. But he wasn’t certain he could be objective about Mara.

Perhaps that was the danger Darth Skalho warned of?

Grimacing, he finished the rest of his drink. It was raw and rough, much like the rest of the dive he sat in. He could see why Mara had chosen it. Nobody would expect to see an Imperial Princess or a Sith Lord here, after all. Particularly when he was dressed to blend in, more or less, in work boots and a utilitarian grey jumpsuit and a tool belt that let him disguise his lightsaber.

Wolf whistles and lewd comments caught his attention, and he looked up to see rough-looking workmen hooting at a scantily-clad hooker with red hair. Then he did a double take. Not a whore, but a disguised Imperial Princess. Grinning, he rose and crossed the room. “There you are!” he called, slapping her ass. “Running a bit late, aren’t you? Any longer, I’d’ve picked up another girl and left.”
 
Leia held Han’s gaze for several heartbeats, before her lips curled into a smirk. “I know,” she breathed, and pulled Han into another hungry kiss. Even still, she shimmied her shoulders free of the vest she wore and tugged Hans jacket away as well. Burning hunger flowed from her mind to his, feasting on his desire and returning to her. More emotion touched that lust, emotions she didn’t care to name or consider. None of that mattered, nothing but his touch and his lips and his heat, matching and reflecting her own need.

When they broke part again, she shoved him back, letting him fall back on the couch that dominated the room. There was a momentary shock in his eyes, just breaking through the lust drunk haze, but his gaze went dark again as she pulled her dress up over her head, and bore her nudity to him. He helped, tugging down her pants as she crawled over him, marking his skin with stinging bites and deep purple bruises. Mine, each one whispered in their throbbing ache. Then she claimed his mouth again, moaning her possession against his lips, Mine.

~*~

The dress was mostly an effort to blend into their surroundings and hide her identity on her home planet, but perhaps if she were being honest, she might admit to wanted to make Luke feel jealous. Just a bit, while she decided whether she would forgive him. And based on the possessive way he grabbed her, it was working.

And she was glad of that too. Because, while she could defend herself from the bar full of lustful men, it would be better if she didn’t have to. A Jedi would prevent such a conflict from occurring in the first place, so said Master Valis, and Mara still had every intention of becoming a Jedi. Even if she hoped to engage in some rather unJedi-like activities with Luke.

“You’d be waiting a lot longer if you think you can find another girl of my caliber,” she purred, molding herself against him. Damn, she missed him. And while she didn’t share that thought with him specifically, she didn’t hide it either. Instead, she posed a question. You never did tell me what you are doing here. “Come on, let’s get out of here. Because none of these men have paid me to put on a show.”
 
“Come on, let’s get out of here,” Mara purred, her voice a sexy counterpart to her thoughts: You never did tell me what you are doing here. “Because none of these men have paid me to put on a show.”

No more than you told me why you’re here, Luke replied, enjoying the feel of Mara pressing against him and the jealousy wafting off the assembled men. “Fuck,” one of them called out with a laugh. “Give us ten minutes, and we’ll pass the hat.”

“Don’t think so, boys,” Luke laughed, tossing a few coins on the bar. “You’ll have to settle for a round on me.”

As the men laughed and collected their drinks, he led her outside. “You might be right,” he agreed amiably. “But you’re going to have to put on a hell of a performance for wat I paid. Half a week’s wages, you know.” I was infiltrating the old Jedi Temple - my master is looking for leads on survivors of the purge. But why the hell are you here? Anywhere would have been safer.

“My flat’s just up the block,” he remarked, lading her along the crowded street. “I like a little more comfort than an alley, you know.” Not that the idea of dragging her into the alley and fucking her brains out against the wall was unappealing, particularly since it wasn’t hard to imagine that short skirt shoved up over her hips. I actually rented one as cover. Naboo would have been safer. More use, too - I’ll explain why, once we’re somewhere more secure. He glanced meaningfully around. I don’t need to tell you that the air listens, on Coruscant.

-*-

Han barely noticed Leia’s teeth as she straddled him, the stinging pain blending intoxicatingly with the pleasant caress of her lips and skin. His hands slid over her bare back, nails dragging slowly down her spine as he molded her body to his, hungrily drinking down her moan of pleasure as she claimed his mouth with hers.

They’d fucked before, more than once. Two bored people, relieving frustration and tedium and tension with flesh. This felt different, somehow. More intense.

Han gripped the firm curve of Leia’s rear, encouraging her to slide against his shaft as he trailed kissed and bites down her jaw. “You look good,” he whispered, breath hot on her skin as he nipped at her throat. “Like a goddess among the clouds.” His hands slid up her back, pulling her tight against his chest as he devoured her lips again.

A momentary shadow darkened the room, a cloud obscuring the sunlight that beat down through the dome. Han cradled Leia’s face in his hands, gently tugging at her lower lip with his teeth before kissing her again. “Mine,” he whispered. “Mine.”
 
“Don’t worry, I plan to leave you unable to walk afterwards,” Mara teased, brushing lips against his ear as they walked. I guess you can say I am doing the same. An abandoned holochron lead me here, in search of a possible Jedi Master. It was close enough to the truth to hide the pertinent details, like that Master Valis was alive, or that it was her real father who lead her here. But Luke was torn between his lust and his paranoia, so he didn’t question her further. Instead he whispered of Naboo, and played into his current role.

“My flat’s just up the block,” he remarked, lading her along the crowded street. “I like a little more comfort than an alley, you know.”

“Doesn’t matter to me, baby,” she purred, more than a little aroused by the vivid fantasy of Luke fucking her mad in an alleyway. Used, like the whore she appeared to be. Still she kept her wits about her. Believe me, I know. Hunting these streets was how the Emperor trained me.

Luke’s rented flat wasn’t much to speak of –a cramped affair, with the single room encompassing a kitchen, living room and dining room all at once. It really wasn’t much larger than the room she’d taken up on the Falcon. But, tiny as it was, it meant there wasn’t much place to hide a holo-cam, or audio recording devices. I trust you’ve swept this place for bugs?

The available seating was limited to the bed and a single chair, so she opted for the chair. While she didn’t bother to hide the hope that they’d end up in bed together tonight, she still expected some answers first. So, bare legs crossed before her, she bore into his eyes. Why do you keep trying to send me to Naboo? Is it something beyond staying out of the Emperor’s reach?

~*~​

“You look good. Like a goddess among the clouds.”

His words drove a shudder down Leia’s spine, disarming her aggressive desire. Instead, he consumed her, and she offered herself up into his hungry kiss. “Han…” she breathed, holding his gaze as he held her face in his hands.

“Mine,” he whispered between kisses and nips, sending electricity over her skin. “Mine.”

“Yours,” she agreed, despite herself. Despite how it scared her to open herself to him. But she wanted him, and wanted to be his, “Yours, and mine.” She pulled him up, straddling his lap and holding him closer until she positioned herself to take him. Lust dripped from her slit and smeared his cock, and each time he throbbed, the head brushed her clit.

She didn’t break the kiss as she slid herself down his shaft, but dug her nailed into his shoulder as he filled her. She loved that pressure, that friction, as slick, tight muscles swallowed his shaft. She broadcast her pleasure in the force, radiating ecstasy along her nerves. Rolling her hips, she rose up his length, hardened nipples brushing over his bare skin. “Han!” she cried again, sheathing him deep inside her again, building momentum to match the beating of her heart, “Han…”
 
I trust you’ve swept this place for bugs?

Luke snorted in disgust as he licked the door behind him. Thoroughly, he replied, opening the small refrigerator next to the sink and pulling out two cans of ale. And I left them all in place, set to create a boring snapshot of a single working man living his lie when I come here. He tossed her a can. “Make yourself at home, why don’t you”

Why do you keep trying to send me to Naboo? she asked as she took the lone chair. Is it something beyond staying out of the Emperor’s reach?

Yes, he replied as he perched on the bed. There was a crack and a hiss as he opened his can. But I didn’t dare tell you at that distance, even through the Force. It was far, far too dangerous. He swigged the ale. My father has, it seems, been conspiring against the Emperor since I was born. Working to build a power base and a cadre of loyal officers, ones that will support him in a coup.

He patted the mattress. “Why don’t you come over here, babe,” he leered. “Make yourself a bit more comfortable.” My mother, through her influence in the Senate and her network of confidantes, has been supporting him in this. I know you have no love for my father, but after Hoth I believed you could find a way to make common cause with their efforts. The enemy of my enemy, and all that.

-*-

Leia repeated his name over and over, the words following the rhythm of her motions. His hands gripped her hips as he interrupted her, kissing her and being kissed by her in return. He made no attempt to set the pace, content to assist and encourage her as he delighted in the glory of her body on his.

“Leia,” he groaned as she broke for air, and then his mouth quested for hers. The velvet of her throat tasted of salt and the aroma o their mingled, building pleasure, and her tongue was sleek and slippery as he found her lips once more. She sped up, her bare body pressing into his as she took him harder and deeper into her. In return he rocked his hips forward, offering her more of his length.

“Leia,” he moaned, breath becoming harsher as he felt his pleasure build. Involuntarily his hips rolled and bucked beneath her, sheathing himself deeper in her silken grip as he met her thrusts with his own. His hands slid up the arch of her back to her shoulders, pulling her tighter against and onto him. Her pert breasts slid gently over his chest on a thin film of sweat, and the liquid heat of her core held him trapped within her as he continued to move in the rhythm she had set.

Pleasure erupted through him as he climaxed, his hoarse cry an offering he poured into her mouth as his orgasm flooded her body. The cry became a series of agonized gasps as he pulled her tighter and deeper, hips bucking and rolling as he lost himself he n delight until he was spent,
 
On the surface, Mara smirked at Luke’s offer, strutting over to his bed with an exaggerated sway of her hips. Underneath the seductive mask, she seethed, Luke’s offer of cooperation enraging her. No matter his goals, the monster who slew both of her parents was no ally of hers. But none of that tension showed in her actions, taking a place beside Luke on the bed, with her bare arms and legs touching his. “Hmm, much more comfortable,” she cooed.

Oh, your father opposes the Emperor? He has a funny way of showing it. Try as she might, she couldn’t hide her anger from Luke, couldn’t hold it back. The man he slew on the Death Star, the one I arrived with was one of the last remaining Jedi Masters. He would have been an excellent ally to oppose The Usurper.

“Perhaps we should get right into things?” she said tugging the zipper down on his jumpsuit. I don’t doubt your father seeks to take the Emperor down, but I can’t see him as an ally. And I will not be a pawn in his naked power grab. Rage seeped into her touch, forcing a vicious kiss onto Luke’s mouth. He was everything she desired, and yet represented everything she resented. Lust and anger burned in her veins and she pushed Luke onto his back with breaking the kiss.

What about you? Do you support his coup? Or do your ambitions runner deeper?

~*~

Trembling in the aftermath of her climax, Leia sagged into Han’s arms “That was… incredible. You are incredible.” She buried her face in his shoulder, but she couldn’t escape the confession. Nor did she want to. She’d expected the heaviness that accompanied a strong orgasm, but in Han’s arms, she felt light. Safe. Whole.

Hold me. It wasn’t a command in the force, but a request. A plea, born of need and desire. Don’t let me go. Words that had haunted her all her life, words that had always been just a breath away from escaping her lips whenever Luke was near, dripped form her emotions in the force. Outside her control, control she let slip away, for just a little bit. Leia took a kiss from Han, long and lingering and tender, and gasped when they broke apart.

“Hold me,” she whispered, caressing his face as she stared into his eyes, “Don’t let me go.”
 
Luke would have been able to taste her anger, even if she hadn’t kissed him. But her kiss was aggressive, demanding, forcing him back into the mattress even as fury burned in her thoughts. He found himself responding to the aggression, hands digging into her thighs and pushing her skirt up around her hips. What about you? she demanded Do you support his coup? Or do your ambitions runner deeper?

He bit at her lip, tugging at it as he tasted her back. For now, at least, he answered. My ather has given little thought about what happens after Sidious is dead. I suspect he cares more for the assassination than for power. Someone will have to seize the throne, afterwards.

He drank in Mara’s fury and lust, letting it heat his blood more. Hard hands gripped her rear and copper hair, forcing her to move as he rolled her into her back. Someone like me, he said, pinning her to the thin mattress with his weight. His hand tightened in her hair, drawing her lips to his. Someone like us, he said, grinding into her as he kissed her hungrily.

He tugged at her hair, arching her throat and trailing stinging bites down the smooth skin. Let him have his revenge, he said, dragging the thin straps of the dress over her shoulders. Then, when he does the hard work for your rebels, you can have yours.

-*-

Han gasped for breath, smiling into warm brown eyes as he basked in the afterglow. Leia was warm against and around him, still gently gripping his softening cock as she cupped his face with her hands. “Hold me,” she whispered. “Don’t let me go.”

He felt like he should panic at the request, and the emotion he heard behind it. Instead he smiled and kissed her gently, hands caressing her smooth back. “I won’t,” he murmured, kissing her again. “I won’t.”
 
Needy thighs gripped Luke’s, pulling him closer as he ground his erection against her. Mara groaned, growled, hungry for his body and filled with rage at his father. “Fuck me,” she rasped, arching her back and offering her aching breasts to his hot mouth. Alternating between teeth and tongue, stinging bites excited her fury, and soothing kisses inflamed her lust. She was dripping for him, she knew, and he knew as well, since she hadn’t bothered wearing panties with this outfit.

Deciding that Luke was still wearing entirely too much, Mara tore at his jumpsuit. The zippered screeched as she forced it open, and desperate hands followed in, digging into his skin and muscles. Reflecting and reciprocating his touch and desire.

“Fuck me hard,” she demanded, nails biting into his biceps. His lips were divine torment on her throbbing nipples, each rigid, and dark red once he finished teasing her. Ecstasy coiled in her stomach with each electric sensation, lust burning her from within and sticky against her thighs. She yanked at his jumpsuit, tugging it down over his hips, so she could free the erection that taunted her terribly. “I want you inside me when I cum.”
 
Luke shifted as Mara dragged the jumpsuit over his shoulders and down his arms and back, wishing he’d chosen a better outfit. This one was too fucking awkward. His tongue rolled her nipple as he moved, taking his weight with one arm and then another, feasting on her lust and need. “Fuck me,” she groaned. “Fuck me hard.”

“You want this, don’t you?” he growled, sliding his aching shaft over her slick lips as she pulled the jumpsuit over his hips. His hands slid over her, fingers gripping her smooth skin as he bit at her other nipple. “Want this thick cock, don’t you? Maybe you should beg for it.”

Her nails raked his back, leaving thin white and red lines as they dragged up his spine to grip his shoulders. “I want you inside me when I cum,” she hissed.

He gripped her hips, pinning her to the bed as he slid against her. She slid a thigh over and around his ass, opening herself for him, and he groaned as he bit at her breast and throat. “You want this thick dick inside you?” he murmured against her skin, then bit hard enough to leave a crescent-shaped bruise on her shoulder. “Want this thick dick fucking cum into you?”

He felt himself sliding over lust-slicked lips as he shifted, then gasped aloud as he found the right position and thrust into her. The feel of her wet sex prying around him and gripping him was intoxicating, and he stared deep into her eyes as he filled her. “Beg me,” he gasped, fingernails digging into her hips. “Beg me to fuck you.”
 
Fuck it’s had been long. Too fucking long. She ached with his penetration, and she pulled him in deeper with strong, firm thighs wrapped around his hips. “Oh fuck,” she gasped, just restraining herself from pleading with him. He was so good inside, so thick, and all she wanted was more.

Mara tried to force the issue, squirming and writhing under him, but he held her fast with a steel grip. “Fuck, I… I want you,” she admitted, need consuming her thoughts, her words. One hand clung to his broad shoulder, the other trailed down his strong back, trying to get some leverage with which to fuck him back. Beneath her fingertips, his muscles strained, quivered, sending a thrill of arousal through her mind.

She meet his gaze, his eyes wide, and his body trembling, and she knew he wanted her as badly as she wanted him. Fine. “Please,” she breathed, squeezing him between her thighs and gripping him with silken muscles. The pointed heels of her boots dug into his ass, meeting his stubborn posturing with the sting of lust.

The thin mattress beneath her whined as she tried once more to fuck herself on him, trying to move up and down his swollen shaft. Her clit brushed his length, and she cried out in a sharp tone, mad with ecstasy. “Please!” she demanded, the word half growl, half sob. “Please fuck this thick cock into me.”
 
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