#StarWars LukeSkywalker MaraJade Fanfiction Romance Angst Hurt Comfort ExpandedUniverse undercoverwork LukeSkywalkerandMaraJade

[mariahjade2]

WIP Wednesday: Place holder Hurt Vector

Bright sunlight reflected diamond patterns on the walkway from the nearby towers of Courscant’s skyline.   It was a late spring day,  and the air was warm and humid, hinting at the rain to come.   From his vantage point across the way in an outdoor café, a blond haired man watched about 15 or more journalists and holographers gathering in preparation for the large ornate doors of the Galactic Court of Justice building  to open.  

Inside the building,  the door to the court room currently being used for the latest trial was discreetly opened in preparation for the outflow of people when the verdict came.   The high ceiling of the room transmitted echo’s of multiple conversations as they bounced off the light grey stone and wood paneled walls.  

At the front of the room,  the defendant’s counsel looked down at his notes as if considering what he would do next depending on the verdict.   Lawyer and client stood when the first Justice entered  to hand out the judgment of the court.   The murmuring of the crowd petered off into silence as anticipation rose in the grand room.   No one there seemed surprised when the verdict came back guilty and the woman on trial slumped momentarily,  but then straightened her shoulders in defiance, holding on to a fierce pride and bitterness.  

The crowd resumed talking once the gavel sounded and the sentence was passed, getting louder while they gathered their things and pushed against each other to leave.  The object of their attention already dismissed in their minds,  as if that  one life was no longer worth thinking about.    To one observer though,  things were not so simple.  How was she to feel about an old friendship when she had just helped to destroy that same person?  

Eva Svikari was guilty without a doubt,  but that did not stop the memory of what she once was,  or perhaps she never really was what Mara wanted or thought her to be.   And that was the bitter truth.   She represented everything that Mara used to be or what she would have turned into were it not for one fateful day over Endor.    She walked out of the courtroom and into the harsh sunlight of Coruscant’s day and was immediately barraged with questions from holoreporters who surrounded and blocked her path of escape.

“How do you feel about the sentence?”  

“Would you like to tell our viewers what it was like working for the Emperor with Eva Svikari?”

“What does it feel like to be a hypocrite?” yelled one particularly nasty man from one of those sensationalist  channels. “Did you like being in the Emperor’s harem?”  “Why should your testimony condemn her but you get off Hutt free?”

Mara wanted to wipe that smug, irritating smirk off of his face,  and she had the weapons to do it too.  Her eyes narrowed and her hand instinctively covered her concealed vibroblade hidden in her tunic.   He was too stupid to notice the gesture and she laid a cold stare on him.

“Were you his private whore?”  

Mara almost snapped right then and there,  but just then the sound of a sleek newer model speeder pulling up made everyone jump back including her harasser.  The vehicle stopped and the passenger door opened up towards her.  She couldn’t see the driver in the darkness of the interior,  but Mara didn’t need to see to know who  her rescuer was.

“Get in,”  a very familiar voice said and she complied.  

  The speeder took off and Mara sat in silence as the man piloted them away from the main traffic lanes towards her home.    She half expected him to offer her comfort and was surprised that he remained silent, letting her get her emotions under control, but then he always did read her well, or maybe he was just afraid to say anything.   Yes, that was it.  He did want to, but it was just there holding  back at the edge of his mind.   Well she would let him off the hook.  

“Look Skywalker I’m fine, so you can stop looking pained and like you want to rush in and solve all the problems of the universe.”  

He risked a glance at her while he drove.   “Funny, you didn’t look fine, in fact I could have sworn you were about to use some questionable  remedies on that reporter.”

“Violence doesn’t solve all problems that’s true, just a lot of them  and I’m not a Jedi.”  

Luke’s brow furrowed and she could feel the frustration leak out of him.   “Mara…”

“Oh lighten up, you know I wasn’t going to do anything.”    Though truthfully she wasn’t totally sure herself.  It had been a long stressful couple of months but finally all the trials were over.    He sighed and stayed silent for the rest of the ride home, which was just fine as far as Mara was concerned.  She wasn’t sure if she could deal with his instinctive need to do something.   This wasn’t something the Jedi master could wave his hand and fix.  Blessedly they arrived at her complex and she moved to get out of the speeder but before she could, he grasped her forearm.

“Mara, look I can…” He paused obviously re-thinking what he was going to say,  but she noticed he didn’t let go of her arm.  “Just call me if you need anything okay.”  The face he was making was so Skywalker she almost smiled.  He released her arm giving it a slight encouraging squeeze.   It was a good thing her shields were up.  Before she could regret what she was about to do, she opened the speeder door.

She turned to look at him before she left, “Karrde is throwing me a little post-ordeal shindig tonight.  I won’t throw you out if you show up, though I won’t vouch for any other guests depending on how drunk they are.”

Without pausing to see his reaction she walked away towards her building entrance.  She could feel his eyes on her evaluating.   She only turned back to observe Luke’s speeder when she heard him pulling away.  Mara kept her eyes on it until it disappeared into the traffic.  Sighing, she headed inside and rode the lift to her place.

She entered and walked with purpose over to the kitchen,  pulled out an etched glass tumbler and filled it with whyrens, sipping as she returned to the main room and slumped into her favorite spot on the couch.

Outside a nondescript observer spoke into his com saying “She’s home,” and left in the next air taxi.

 When Luke returned to his apartment, he found a message from Airen Cracken flashing on his com.  He stared at the blinking light and the name on the screen, his eyes narrowed and a muscle in his cheek twitched before he turned and walked in the other direction.  

It wasn’t until he’d eaten and showered and dressed again that he returned the call.

 The sound of laughter and music floated across Mara’s balcony from her living room and out into the busy Coruscant evening, disappearing into the buzz and whoosh of air cars and speeders flashing by in the night.

Most of her crewmates from the wild karrde were inside imbibing and doing something that only a drunken Gammorean would call dancing.  

Mara stayed out in the fresh air for a minute longer, sipping on the last of the whiskey in her glass.  A bit of ice remained and she tilted the glass back and forth watching it slide around leaving a wet trail on the sides. The air was calm, very little breeze except for the air that blew back from the traffic nearby.

She gazed at the cityscape, not really focusing on any one thing.  Mara could feel him sitting inside waiting for her to come back in, or at least that’s what she assumed.  When Luke showed up earlier, her bad mood lifted briefly at the thought of ways she could make the Jedi Master come out of his shell, and have what was colloquially called fun.

But instead he’d deposited himself in the big stuffed chair and hadn’t moved while he held in his mechanical hand whatever drink Ghent had offered him.   An hour later and it was still only half empty, his face slightly distant.  

Irritated and confused by his lack of engagement, she swallowed the tiny remains of the melted ice and wandered back into her living room.   She glanced briefly in Luke’s direction when she entered,  but his gaze was focused on  a picture on her wall.  It was an abstract, yet one could still make out a Couruscant skyline if you looked at the right angle.

Even so, she got the feeling that he was very aware of her entrance.

Well if he wanted to be the dark and mysterious guest he could play that game alone, she wanted to forget the past few weeks and another drink sounded good.