Neon
Title: Neon
Characters: Luke/Mara, Han/Leia
Rating: PG
Warnings: Implied boinking.
Luke fussed with the formal tunic he'd been put into for this particular event. It was a mixer of sorts, a meet-and-greet for the new session of the Senate that began in three days' time, and as ranking Jedi Master--and brother of the Chief of State--he was all but obligated to attend.
That didn't mean he had to like it, though. He had become comfortable again on Yavin, all the places that he'd associated with Callista long since returned to blank slates. But he'd made a promise to his sister, and Luke loved her far too much to back out. Besides, fostering goodwill with planetary governments made it easier for the Jedi to do their job, and sometimes meant more jobs. With the Order growing rapidly, it needed all the funding and resources it could get. That didn't make coming to things like this any easier for him.
"Hey, Skywalker."
Though, there were sometimes factors that mitigated the hours of torment. Such as the petite redhead making her way over. Mara Jade was certainly a mitigating factor.
Luke smiled. "Hello, Mara," he said with a bow. It felt strange in the formalwear, compared to the comfortable, loose clothes he preferred to wear at the praxeum. "I didn't know you were coming to this party."
She pretended to roll her eyes. "It's the only party, farm boy. Besides, pass on an opportunity to see you all dressed out? No way."
"A chance to see me squirm uncomfortably, more like!"
"Well I was trying to be nice, but..." she smiled, a real smile. "You do look good, though."
Luke felt heat flush him from forehead to toes. "You look beautiful too," he said, taking in her floor-length, green shimmersilk dress. It was elegant, and it was completely Mara.
For a moment their eyes met, and something passed between them; a spark, a bit of static energy like a lightning bolt. Luke looked away first, but offered his arm in the courtly Alderaanian gesture Leia had taught him.
"I think dinner is through here," Luke said, gesturing to an arch of flowering vines that stretched across the space between two planted areas. Mara slipped her hand through his arm.
"Back into the fray," she muttered.
They made their way into the crowd; Luke stopped more than a few times to solemnly accept greetings and thanks, and as he did so, he felt Mara bristling more and more. It wasn't shown outwardly--she'd been fired in the kiln of the Imperial Court and her facade was without blemish--but it was more a sense in the Force than anything else. When they had reached a lull that existed in a radius around the dinner table they were both seated at, Luke leaned over.
"What's wrong?"
She shot him an emerald glare. "Out of my head, Skywalker," she muttered, then looked away. "Those beings back there, they all love you."
"Well, I don't think they love me..."
"You're a hero," she said. "Despite everything, they still think you're a hero."
Puzzled, Luke opened his mouth to ask what she was talking about, but shut it when the chime to announce dinner rang twice. Already he could sense Mara closing up again, and kept his sigh to himself.
Dinner was, he thought, a completely unmitigated disaster. One of the courses included a shellfish, and in the process of trying to get into his food, Luke managed to squirt Mara in the face with juice from it. She took it stoically, an expression hovering between apoplectic rage and hysterical amusement on her face--and continued on being elegant, despite the fact that some of the makeup she'd applied had run and a few droplets had made their way onto her dress.
After dinner there was more mingling time, and due to the fact that the height of the heels on the shoes Mara was wearing made her feet ache, she spent most of the time leaning slightly on Luke for support as they talked with various beings. Luke got some sly glances from his sister, but couldn't decipher them and instead focused on keeping Mara upright when she seemed to flag a bit. Though why she didn't just draw on the Force for help keeping her muscles strong, he wasn't sure, but he suspected it had something to do with the reason why he'd been less focused on displays of power lately.
Eventually, the function wound to a close, and guests began departing for their suites. Luke made his goodbyes to his sister and his niece and nephews, and said he planned to escort Mara back to her room to make sure she didn't fall over.
*
Watching them go, Leia sighed, leaning a little on Han herself.
"There are two people who have no idea what they're supposed to do with each other," she murmured. "And yet, they're meant for each other too."
"How d'you figure?" Han offered his arm, and Leia happily slipped hers home, leaning her head on his shoulder. It was a gesture that reminded the both of them on a night on Endor, not too long ago, and it made them both smile.
"Mara's not a trained Jedi," Leia said, "But she's strong enough to keep herself upright if she wants on those stilts she calls shoes."
"So she's leaning on Luke because...?"
"Because she wants to be close. And Luke wants to be close to her, so he offered."
"Luke's also a gentleman," Han pointed out.
"Yes, but do you see how he looks at her?" Leia smiled, and stood up on tiptoe to kiss her husband gently on the mouth, ignoring the gagging sounds from their children. "I hope they realize it soon. If there's anyone who deserves to be happy, it's my brother and Mara."
*
The walk back to the residential area of the former Imperial Palace was much less raucous or beset by mishaps. Mara had put her arm in Luke's, and with the two of them walking along the glassed-in bridge that soared between the two areas of the palace, bathed in the light of Coruscant's moons and the lights of the city, they could be any couple enjoying a stroll after escaping the rigors of diplomacy.
Their conversation was quiet, but full of personal things. Luke talked about the first time he'd set foot in this place after it had become the headquarters of the New Republic; Mara talked about the first time she'd come here on assignment. Mostly she did the talking, as some of her stories were pretty humorous--nearly-botched jobs, discovering embarrassing things about the Moffs, seeing much more of a given Moff than she ever wanted to. Luke laughed, and it wasn't out of politeness. Looking at him, grinning, Mara didn't think that Luke had it in him to do something like that.
Too soon, they reached the point where they had to branch apart. Mara's room was down one hallway, Luke's suite another, and they stood at the juncture, bathed in the strange twilight of Coruscant. Luke seemed suddenly quiet.
"Mara, I know we wanted to stop this kind of meeting, that we didn't think it was... okay, anymore. But..." he looked at her, met her eyes. Even in this light she could tell the very color of his eyes. She could have picked out the shade of blue they were, for all the long moments she'd spent looking into them.
The very reason she'd wanted to stop this particular part of their friendship. She was getting too attached, too involved, too close. If she got too close to Luke, that pure, kind spirit would be sullied somehow. She would open herself to him, and he would see her for what she truly was, and he wouldn't want anything more to do with her. Once more cast aside, one of many, forgettable.
"Luke, you know I can't," she said, but there was no sincerity in her voice, nor in her heart. She knew that she could and she wanted to.
"Mara..."
Why in all the Corellian hells did he have to keep saying her name? Every time he did it eroded a little more of what was left of her resolve.
"Please. Just one more night."
"That's what you said the last time." Her protest was weak, even as she slipped her hand into his. The spaces between his fingers were a perfect fit for hers. "Just one more night, Skywalker."
It was all worth it, to see him smile at her like that. And for Luke, it was worth it to be able to hold her against him once more, to touch her skin once more, to lay beside her in a sleepy daze, stroking her hair absently as the ever-changing lights of Coruscant made patterns in her hair and her green eyes watched him, for once unguarded.
He must have fallen asleep at some point, because when he woke up in the middle of the night, she was gone.
Characters: Luke/Mara, Han/Leia
Rating: PG
Warnings: Implied boinking.
Luke fussed with the formal tunic he'd been put into for this particular event. It was a mixer of sorts, a meet-and-greet for the new session of the Senate that began in three days' time, and as ranking Jedi Master--and brother of the Chief of State--he was all but obligated to attend.
That didn't mean he had to like it, though. He had become comfortable again on Yavin, all the places that he'd associated with Callista long since returned to blank slates. But he'd made a promise to his sister, and Luke loved her far too much to back out. Besides, fostering goodwill with planetary governments made it easier for the Jedi to do their job, and sometimes meant more jobs. With the Order growing rapidly, it needed all the funding and resources it could get. That didn't make coming to things like this any easier for him.
"Hey, Skywalker."
Though, there were sometimes factors that mitigated the hours of torment. Such as the petite redhead making her way over. Mara Jade was certainly a mitigating factor.
Luke smiled. "Hello, Mara," he said with a bow. It felt strange in the formalwear, compared to the comfortable, loose clothes he preferred to wear at the praxeum. "I didn't know you were coming to this party."
She pretended to roll her eyes. "It's the only party, farm boy. Besides, pass on an opportunity to see you all dressed out? No way."
"A chance to see me squirm uncomfortably, more like!"
"Well I was trying to be nice, but..." she smiled, a real smile. "You do look good, though."
Luke felt heat flush him from forehead to toes. "You look beautiful too," he said, taking in her floor-length, green shimmersilk dress. It was elegant, and it was completely Mara.
For a moment their eyes met, and something passed between them; a spark, a bit of static energy like a lightning bolt. Luke looked away first, but offered his arm in the courtly Alderaanian gesture Leia had taught him.
"I think dinner is through here," Luke said, gesturing to an arch of flowering vines that stretched across the space between two planted areas. Mara slipped her hand through his arm.
"Back into the fray," she muttered.
They made their way into the crowd; Luke stopped more than a few times to solemnly accept greetings and thanks, and as he did so, he felt Mara bristling more and more. It wasn't shown outwardly--she'd been fired in the kiln of the Imperial Court and her facade was without blemish--but it was more a sense in the Force than anything else. When they had reached a lull that existed in a radius around the dinner table they were both seated at, Luke leaned over.
"What's wrong?"
She shot him an emerald glare. "Out of my head, Skywalker," she muttered, then looked away. "Those beings back there, they all love you."
"Well, I don't think they love me..."
"You're a hero," she said. "Despite everything, they still think you're a hero."
Puzzled, Luke opened his mouth to ask what she was talking about, but shut it when the chime to announce dinner rang twice. Already he could sense Mara closing up again, and kept his sigh to himself.
Dinner was, he thought, a completely unmitigated disaster. One of the courses included a shellfish, and in the process of trying to get into his food, Luke managed to squirt Mara in the face with juice from it. She took it stoically, an expression hovering between apoplectic rage and hysterical amusement on her face--and continued on being elegant, despite the fact that some of the makeup she'd applied had run and a few droplets had made their way onto her dress.
After dinner there was more mingling time, and due to the fact that the height of the heels on the shoes Mara was wearing made her feet ache, she spent most of the time leaning slightly on Luke for support as they talked with various beings. Luke got some sly glances from his sister, but couldn't decipher them and instead focused on keeping Mara upright when she seemed to flag a bit. Though why she didn't just draw on the Force for help keeping her muscles strong, he wasn't sure, but he suspected it had something to do with the reason why he'd been less focused on displays of power lately.
Eventually, the function wound to a close, and guests began departing for their suites. Luke made his goodbyes to his sister and his niece and nephews, and said he planned to escort Mara back to her room to make sure she didn't fall over.
*
Watching them go, Leia sighed, leaning a little on Han herself.
"There are two people who have no idea what they're supposed to do with each other," she murmured. "And yet, they're meant for each other too."
"How d'you figure?" Han offered his arm, and Leia happily slipped hers home, leaning her head on his shoulder. It was a gesture that reminded the both of them on a night on Endor, not too long ago, and it made them both smile.
"Mara's not a trained Jedi," Leia said, "But she's strong enough to keep herself upright if she wants on those stilts she calls shoes."
"So she's leaning on Luke because...?"
"Because she wants to be close. And Luke wants to be close to her, so he offered."
"Luke's also a gentleman," Han pointed out.
"Yes, but do you see how he looks at her?" Leia smiled, and stood up on tiptoe to kiss her husband gently on the mouth, ignoring the gagging sounds from their children. "I hope they realize it soon. If there's anyone who deserves to be happy, it's my brother and Mara."
*
The walk back to the residential area of the former Imperial Palace was much less raucous or beset by mishaps. Mara had put her arm in Luke's, and with the two of them walking along the glassed-in bridge that soared between the two areas of the palace, bathed in the light of Coruscant's moons and the lights of the city, they could be any couple enjoying a stroll after escaping the rigors of diplomacy.
Their conversation was quiet, but full of personal things. Luke talked about the first time he'd set foot in this place after it had become the headquarters of the New Republic; Mara talked about the first time she'd come here on assignment. Mostly she did the talking, as some of her stories were pretty humorous--nearly-botched jobs, discovering embarrassing things about the Moffs, seeing much more of a given Moff than she ever wanted to. Luke laughed, and it wasn't out of politeness. Looking at him, grinning, Mara didn't think that Luke had it in him to do something like that.
Too soon, they reached the point where they had to branch apart. Mara's room was down one hallway, Luke's suite another, and they stood at the juncture, bathed in the strange twilight of Coruscant. Luke seemed suddenly quiet.
"Mara, I know we wanted to stop this kind of meeting, that we didn't think it was... okay, anymore. But..." he looked at her, met her eyes. Even in this light she could tell the very color of his eyes. She could have picked out the shade of blue they were, for all the long moments she'd spent looking into them.
The very reason she'd wanted to stop this particular part of their friendship. She was getting too attached, too involved, too close. If she got too close to Luke, that pure, kind spirit would be sullied somehow. She would open herself to him, and he would see her for what she truly was, and he wouldn't want anything more to do with her. Once more cast aside, one of many, forgettable.
"Luke, you know I can't," she said, but there was no sincerity in her voice, nor in her heart. She knew that she could and she wanted to.
"Mara..."
Why in all the Corellian hells did he have to keep saying her name? Every time he did it eroded a little more of what was left of her resolve.
"Please. Just one more night."
"That's what you said the last time." Her protest was weak, even as she slipped her hand into his. The spaces between his fingers were a perfect fit for hers. "Just one more night, Skywalker."
It was all worth it, to see him smile at her like that. And for Luke, it was worth it to be able to hold her against him once more, to touch her skin once more, to lay beside her in a sleepy daze, stroking her hair absently as the ever-changing lights of Coruscant made patterns in her hair and her green eyes watched him, for once unguarded.
He must have fallen asleep at some point, because when he woke up in the middle of the night, she was gone.