Fic: Dawning Understanding

[beatrice_otter]

sedoretuex has revealed, and I can now reveal that I wrote TWO stories! (I have not yet had time to read any stories but my own--I have been really busy this January--but I am planning on making my way through the collection soon.)

A sedoretu is a specific organization of a poly marriage created by Ursula K. Le Guin in her short story "A Fisherman of the Inland Sea" aka "Another Story" available in a 1994 short story collection of the same name. It includes four people and specific arrangements of the relationships inside it. All people have a "moiety" that is considered as inherent as gender; the two moieties are Morning and Evening. Sex with someone of the same moiety is considered incest. The expected relationships within each sedoretu are:
The Morning woman and the Evening man (the “Morning marriage”)
The Evening woman and the Morning man (the “Evening marriage”)
The Morning woman and the Evening woman (the “Day marriage”)
The Morning man and the Evening man (the “Night marriage”)
(i.e. two homosexual and two heterosexual pairings) Here is the Fanlore explanation of it and the E2 explanation.

I like sedoretus because they create such interesting dynamics, one doesn't often see poly arrangements with the more rigid structures and cultural weight that one tends to find in a marriage. And fitting them into the worldbuilding of whatever fandom is always an interesting challenge.

My assignment was a Star Wars Legends Luke/Mara/Han/Leia foursome. I wrote a getting-together story, because that was most obvious; problem is, I've already done a Mara poly getting-together story (though that one was Luke/Mara/Lando), and Mara's character arc was roughly the same in both, and although I like the fic in general I was not thrilled that I couldn't find some other driving force for her. I include a diagram at the end if you have trouble visualizing the structure of the relationship.

Title: Dawning Understanding
Author: Beatrice_Otter
Written For: SassySnowperson in Sedoretu Exchange 2023
Fandom: Star Wars Legends
Betaed by: Shadaras

On Squidgeworld. On AO3. Rebloggable on tumblr and pillowfort.

On Dreamwidth. On AO3. Rebloggable on tumblr and pillowfort.

Mara slogged out of the cave, every step squelching in the mud and sending up noxious gasses. None of it toxic, or they would have been dead long since. Just unpleasant. And the mud. Was. Everywhere.

"Say what you will about Palpatine," she grumbled, "at least he never sent me on a wild goose chase through a swamp."

Luke laughed. Even covered in at least as much mud as her, he looked irritatingly good. He'd stripped down to a sleeveless undershirt before they started, and the sheen of sweat highlighted his muscles. "It wasn't a wild goose chase," he said. "We figured out the problem and fixed it. In the end."

"So is this what the Jedi used to do, in the Old Republic?" Mara asked. "Wander around planets figuring out how to keep weird Force bantha poodoo from messing things up?" The strange mix of hallucinations, navigational anomalies, and other hazards wasn't dangerous, per se, but it had been disrupting a lot of things in the area, including one of Karrde's most reliably profitable cargo runs. Which was why Mara had come to handle it, and called Luke in for backup.

"Some of the time," Luke said. "They also did a lot of diplomacy, and investigations into the crueler parts of the galactic underbelly, and a wide variety of other things, from what we can piece together. But you have to remember that they weren't the only group of trained Force-sensitives around. I bet you there was a group of locals who kept an eye on that vergence, back there, keeping it contained and quiet, and that's why it never used to be such a big problem."

Mara grimaced. "If that's true, do you think they were targeted for elimination, or did they just get swept up with the rest of the population when the Empire came through and swept up half the people for slave labor battalions?"

"You'd know better than I would," Luke said.

"Not really," Mara said. "The Emperor suppressed knowledge of Force-users, even within the Imperial hierarchy, unless you needed to know."

On that cheery note, they slogged on through the swamp.

"You are very good at figuring out where the solid ground is, and how to jump across to it without hitting branches on the way," Mara said eventually, to break the silence.

"I did my training in a swamp," Luke said. "This is smellier, but the terrain is familiar.”

"Is that why you picked Yavin for your academy?"

"No," Luke said with a laugh, "that's just a coincidence."

That was enough to get him on the subject of the Academy, and how training was going and how everyone was doing, which killed some time. There was something in the vergence that disrupted communications signals, which was at least half of why it had taken this long to handle the thing in the first place. Even with the vergence quieted, it would take a while to get back out to where they could call for someone to come pick them up.

Eventually they stopped for lunch. Mara fiddled with the transmitter as she munched; Luke filtered enough water to fill their canteens, then dropped shock tablets in to kill anything the filter didn't remove. "Do you think we'll get back within communications range to call for pickup tonight, or will we have to camp in the swamp?" he asked. "We're running low on shock tablets."

"I'm not spending another night camped in a swamp if I have to walk all night," Mara said. "But I don't think it'll be necessary. I almost got a connection."

"Leia and Han and the kids arrived on-planet this morning," Luke said. "I could call her through the Force, but if the Force vergence is strong enough to disrupt communications it's strong enough to disrupt the Falcon's instruments, and Han hates having Leia or I fly her with the Force."

"Pretty handy for you that Leia had a conference nearby," Mara said. "Are you all going to take some time off as a family?"

"As long as none of us get called in for an emergency, sure," Luke said with a shrug.

"How likely is that?" Mara was skeptical. The galaxy had a lot of emergencies, and the Organa-Skywalker-Solo family got called in for a lot of them.

"More likely than you think," Luke said. "You mostly see us during a crisis, but those don't happen every day—or every month, or even every year. Han and I both have schedules we can control, so it's mostly a matter of making time in Leia's schedule when the Senate isn't in session."

Mara hummed an acknowledgment. It sounded extremely complicated to her; but then, she'd never really been part of a family. Not that she remembered, anyway. Palpatine had been her mentor, her idol, and he had controlled her utterly. Once he was gone, she had been adrift, but her time had been her own, with nobody she couldn't discard if they became more trouble than they were worth.

Even Karrde. She respected him, and she owed him, and she was loyal to him; but as one of his top lieutenants, she managed her own time and projects. And if ever she had reason to leave, she could walk away without a second glance.

"I'm surprised you haven't found a Morning woman, to complete the marriage," Mara said. "I know Alderaan tended to be traditional about that, and isn't that what every farm boy dreams of? A full sedoretu?"

"Sure," Luke said easily. "It's always easier, when you've got more people to pitch in, more people you know you can trust even when times are hard. Growing up, I always assumed that's what my life would look like even if I did make it off planet. But it turns out that when you have a Jedi master, one of the top politicians in the New Republic, and a smuggler-turned-general, it's sort of hard to find people who fit with all of us." He gave her a crooked smile. "What about you? Ever thought about finding someone—or someones—and building a life together?"

Mara was a bit taken aback. "Of course not," she said, and then stopped.

Whenever she had a gut-deep, instant reaction like that, there was a very good chance that somewhere the roots of that reaction came from something Palpatine had instilled in her.

She did not want to be his puppet. Not any longer, not in any way.

Which meant taking the time to figure out how much of that reaction was her, and how much of it was who Palpatine wanted her to be.

Luke was watching her, with a wry look on his face. He knew her well enough that he probably had some idea of what was going through her head, but he didn't push.

"Shall we continue on?" Mara said.

"Sure," Luke said. He handed her a canteen, and she took a swig. Luke stowed the other canteen in his pack, and headed out. He did an easy flip over the next swampy bit.

Mara snorted. "Show-off," she muttered.

He looked back with a grin, so she knew he'd heard her. With a sigh, she jumped over to join him. No flips for her, thank you, not with a pack on her back, but she landed solidly.

Well, she thought as she followed him through the underbrush, at least I'll have some time to work through that on the hike back.

***

Two hours later, she was only just beginning to sort out what she felt. Obviously, Palpatine had wanted to prevent any ties to anyone other than him; she had been isolated intentionally, and told that it was to make her better, stronger, with fewer weak spots and stronger loyalty. What it had actually meant, was that when he was dead she had nothing. No lovers, no friends, not even any contacts. Completely adrift.

Of course, if she'd had ties, they would have been to other loyal Imperials; she would almost certainly never have realized Palpatine's evil, never gotten her head cleared of his programming.

She'd been so lonely, and hadn't even known it; only now, looking back, could she see the deep well of loneliness that had only really started to be filled when she joined Karrde's organization.

Things were better now. She was better now; she had friends, in Karrde's organization and at the Academy on Yavin, the first friends she'd ever had in her life. She had the occasional lover who knew her as more than an anonymous body, and that was good too.

She could, quite happily, continue on as she was now. That was not in question. But would she be happier with a more permanent relationship? People she could build a life together with?

What actually would change? She wouldn't give up her job; and she didn't think she'd find anyone interesting who just sat around and waited for her. She liked traveling, she liked her independence. She'd just have someone she was guaranteed to come home to.

If she did form a marriage, of whatever size, and they died … it would be as bad as when Palpatine had died. And the galaxy was a very dangerous place.

***

Mara was quiet for the rest of the hike. Luke didn't worry too much about it; she felt like she was thinking through something heavy, and she didn't like talking about things until she'd figured out how she felt about them.

He hadn't thought he'd get that strong a reaction by asking her about her own plans and desires. Mara was a very private person, but these days she'd done the hard work of working through the worst of her issues, and she was much more open now than she had been.

And besides, she'd been the one to start the conversation. He'd thought … well, he'd known it wasn't an oblique way of opening negotiations to join them; if she wanted to, she would have just said. But all the same, she had to know that she was one of the few good candidates for a Morning wife they had. Even if you ignored Luke and Mara’s mutual attraction, and only considered trustworthiness and availability, who else was there? Winter was Evening, the same as him and Leia; and she was with Iella and Tycho and Wedge. None of Han's old smuggler buddies were trustworthy enough to marry, except for Lando; but that wouldn't solve the problem of needing a Morning wife. Luke wasn't romantically interested in anyone from his Rebellion days who'd survived, and it wasn't like he was going to go looking for a wife among his students.

Which left Leia to find them someone. Leia mostly knew politicians, and her criteria for allies was 'politically useful with similar goals' which was not the same thing as 'someone you trust enough to marry.' And there were a number of the surviving Alderaanian nobility who would love a chance to provide a fourth for the Princess' sedoretu, both for the sake of propriety and the future of Alderaanian culture, and for the sake of the social power it would give them. But the difference between "someone the Alderaanian nobility thought was suitable" and "someone Han and Luke would be comfortable marrying" was … pretty big.

Of the Morning women they knew, and trusted, who were not already in relationships with other people … well, there was Mara. And while it was always possible that one of them would meet someone they liked who would turn out to fit with their family, Luke wasn't holding his breath.

And besides. He cared for her and he was attracted to her. She obviously felt the same, though she’d never admitted it.

"I'm going to try the transmitter again," Mara said abruptly.

"Okay," Luke said, shrugging off his pack on the nearest stretch of dry ground and sitting down beside it.

Closing his eyes, he reached out to Leia. She and Han and the kids were on some part of the planet that was just as warm but dryer, beside a lake. The kids and Han were splashing each other, and Leia was lounging on a blanket on the shore, feeling mildly guilty. (Probably because she wasn't reading a briefing document or something like that.)

Luke sent her a pulse of exasperation, which Leia met with a mental eye roll.

"Got through," Mara said. "Threepio picked up."

"They're at a lake, hanging out," Luke said. "Not sure if they'll leave Leia and the kids there and send Han to get us, or bring the whole group. You could join us for a few days."

Mara considered the offer.

Luke was relieved; the serious thought she was giving meant he hadn't scared her off too badly. Whatever else happened, he valued her friendship, and wouldn’t want anything to mess that up. “I don’t have my ship with me,” she said. “And with how disrupted shipping lines have been in this sector, I don’t know how long it would take to get a ticket on a passenger ship going the direction I want. Might as well spend the time with friends at a beach or something.”

“Good!” Luke said with a smile. Karrde could send a ship for her, of course, but if she needed an excuse (however transparent) to accept, that was fine with Luke.

***

“So,” Han said that evening, after the kids had gone to bed and Mara had gone out for a moonlit stroll, “what’s eating her?” Mara had been standoffish and prickly since they’d picked her and Luke up. It was like she’d reverted to how she’d been when they’d first met. When she’d been insisting to anyone who’d listen that she was going to kill Luke one of these days.

Luke sighed and looked down at his cocoa. “I asked her if she had ever thought of marrying,” he said.

“I thought we weren’t gonna ask her without talking it over some more?” Han said.

“I didn’t ask her,” Luke said. “I just … she wanted to know why we didn’t have a fourth yet. And so I asked about her plans. In general. Not about us specifically.”

“And?” Han said. “Didn’t go well, I’m guessing.” If it had, she wouldn’t be so crabby now.

Luke shrugged. “Her first reaction was a knee-jerk ‘no.’ But I think now she’s second-guessing whether that’s her or Palpatine.”

“Thought you guys dug all that stuff out of her brain a long time ago.”

“The Force-implanted suggestions, sure,” Luke said. “The garden-variety manipulation can’t be isolated so easily.”

Han shrugged, thankful that he wasn’t the one having to deal with all the Force-related nerf shit. “Lots of people have to deal with stuff like that. Most of them just ignore the issue as much as they can.”

“Mara isn’t most people,” Luke pointed out. He sighed. “I shouldn’t have pushed her.”

“She’d be angrier if you started treating her with kid gloves, though, kid.”

“True,” Luke said. “Do you think she’ll ever come around?”

“How the hell should I know?” Han said. “You’re her friend—and even if she said yes, she wouldn’t be my wife.” He hesitated. “I think you and Leia spend too much time worrying about it, anyway. We’re fine the way we are, just the three of us and the kids. If we find a fourth, that’s great. If not … we’ve still got it better than a lot of folks do.”

“It would be easier for Leia, politically, to be in a full sedoretu,” Luke pointed out.

“And the kind of people who hold it against her that she isn’t would find something to hold against her anyway,” Han countered. “I want all three of us to be happy, and I want the kids to be safe. Anything more than that is just a bonus.”

Luke looked away. “Yeah, you’re right.”

And that was the rub, Han knew. Luke was happy now … but he’d be happier with Mara joining them. He was more than half-way in love with her. Most people didn’t see it, because he didn’t want to pressure her, and Luke was pretty good at not dwelling on things he couldn’t change. But Han knew Luke better than anyone but Leia did, and he’d held Luke late at night while Luke sighed about Mara leaving, after every time she’d stopped by the Jedi Academy or helped them out with some emergency.

“Hey, kid,” Han said, holding out his arms. “C’mere.”

Luke smiled and got up from the table, walking around to join Han on the couch. He sat next to Han and leaned into him.

It was a bit more awkward sitting like this with his husband than with his wife, Han reflected; Leia was small enough to tuck in under Han’s arm perfectly. Luke wasn’t, but they fit in their own way. He ruffled Luke’s hair. “Wanna hear about the assholes in the local Space Traffic Control?”

Luke huffed out a laugh. “Sure.”

***

Leia slipped out the back, closing the door gently behind her. She’d been in the master bedroom reading some files her aides had sent her while Han was out with Luke. She didn’t know exactly what they’d talked about, but she could guess; and when Han had started cheering him up, she’d figured it was time to give them some privacy. Besides, they were here on vacation, and it was a beautiful night.

After about ten minutes’ walk, she realized that Mara was just ahead. Mara was prickly tonight, and Leia wasn’t in the mood for it, so she considered turning back; but Leia hadn’t lived her life by backing down from anyone.

“Did Luke send you?” Mara asked, as Leia drew near. She was sitting on a rock, watching the moonlit waves lap at the sand.

“No,” Leia said. “It’s a small cabin, and tonight is for the Night marriage.”

“How do you figure out which of you is going to get Han?” Mara asked, stopping Leia before she could walk on.

Leia’s first instinct was to shut down the intrusion; as a politician and princess she spent a lot of time deflecting attention from her ‘unsuitable’ sedoretu. But if Luke had his way, and Mara agreed, Mara might join them some day. “A lot of it is simple proximity, for us,” Leia said. “I spend most of my time on Coruscant, or on diplomatic duties; Luke spends most of his time on Yavin, or on Jedi duties. Han spends a lot of time traveling between us, or transporting us, which he likes because he doesn't like staying in one place for too long. And obviously, in that case, whichever one of us Han is with ‘gets’ him. When we’re all together … it depends on a lot of factors. Who needs Han most. Who does Han need. Who he’s spent most time with recently. Who’s in what kind of mood. What the kids need.”

“And it’s just that easy, is it?”

Leia snorted. “Easy?” Have you met us? We are three very stubborn people.”

“And you and Han both have tempers,” Mara said.

“Don’t let Luke’s normal sunniness fool you,” Leia said. “He’s the best of us at reining it in, these days, but when something really gets to him, watch out. No, it’s not easy. It takes a lot of talking, and a lot of compromise on all our parts. But it’s worth it.”

“Is this marriage anything like you dreamed of when you were a kid?” Mara sounded distant, and her focus was turned inward.

Leia shook here head, although Mara wasn’t looking at her. “I was never a romantic. When I was a child, I dreamed of a free galaxy, with the Empire dead and gone. When I thought about marriage at all, which wasn’t often, I assumed it would be something like my parents’ sedoretu: traditional, appropriate matches, but with genuine love and care.” She bit her lip, looking down. “But then, when I was a child, I assumed I would be Queen of Alderaan one day.”

“When I was a child, I dreamed of serving Palpatine, and being always in his favor,” Mara said. “I had no idea what was out there, what was even possible to dream of.”

“And now you’re free, and there are a million choices you never thought you’d have a chance to make,” Leia said. The destruction of Alderaan had been, for her, as devastating as the Emperor’s death had been for Mara. All her expectations, all her certainties, all her hopes and fears and dreams, gone in an instant. The difference was, of course, that Alderaan’s destruction and the death of her parents was a tragedy; the death of Palpatine was freedom, though Mara hadn’t been able to appreciate it at the time. And Leia had had the Alliance to throw her energies into and provide her with a place and a goal.

They watched the water for a bit in silence.

At last Mara shook herself. “So, if tonight is for Han and Luke, that leaves you without a room. You’re welcome to sleep in mine.”

“Thank you, but I think Luke would be disappointed if I slept with you first,” Leia said dryly. Not that she thought Mara had been offering sex, but given the conversation Leia was pretty sure Luke and Mara had had, she couldn’t resist the implication.

“Not like that,” Mara said, making a face. Then she paused. “Luke wants to sleep with me?”

“Luke would like a hell of a lot more than just a tumble, if you were willing,” Leia said dryly. “Wasn’t that what you talked about, that got you so prickly?”

Mara stared up at her. “No.”

Leia wasn’t sure why Mara was surprised. Luke wasn’t obvious about his interest in Mara, at least not in his words or actions, but anyone with the Force could sense it in him whenever Mara was around—and Mara was strong in the Force.

Mara was locked down tightly in the Force, and Leia hoped she hadn’t just scared the other woman completely off.

“More than just a tumble,” she said slowly. “As in … a long-term affair?”

“If that’s what you’d be interested in, sure. Ideally, marriage.” Leia shrugged. “He’s a bit of a romantic.”

“I can’t imagine you’re happy with that,” Mara said.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Leia said. “You’re trustworthy; you saved me and the twins from the Empire, at a cost to yourself. You always do the right thing, and you have a knack for surviving, and that’s important with lives like ours. You’re good with the kids. You and Han get along. You’re a very attractive woman I’d be happy to be intimate with. And I picked Han; it’s only fair for Luke to get his choice, for a Morning wife. If you were interested in marrying in, I think we’d do well together, the four of us.”

“Marrying an ex-Imperial wouldn’t be good for your political image.”

“The kind of woman who’d be good for my political image wouldn’t fit with Luke and Han,” Leia pointed out. “And might not be trustworthy or reliable. And definitely wouldn’t be as good at surviving the odds as you are. I don’t base my personal life on politics.”

“Luke’s never said anything,” Mara said.

“You have the Force, Mara, you have to know how he feels about you.” Leia shrugged. “If you’d ever given him a sign you were interested, he’d have jumped on it in a heartbeat. But he’d rather have you as a friend than not at all.”

“And so he sent you out here to talk to me?”

Leia rolled her eyes. “Nobody sent me anywhere. I was out for a walk on a beautiful evening to give Han and Luke privacy. You are the one who started this conversation, and keeps asking questions about my marriage. If you don’t want to think or talk about it, then all you have to do is … stop talking about it.”

“All right then,” Mara said. “Good night.” She got up and walked back down the track to the house.

Leia watched her go, shaking her head. She wondered if Mara realized just how much she’d given away, in that conversation. If Mara weren’t conflicted—if there weren’t some part of Mara that was interested in building deeper relationships with them—she wouldn’t be so prickly just acknowledging the possibility, and she wouldn’t have felt the need to end things so abruptly.

But that was Mara’s issue to deal with. If she worked through that conflict and decided she was interested, that would be great, but Leia wasn’t holding her breath. She had her hands full with the family and career she already had.

Speaking of which … Leia lowered the shields around her bond with Luke, just a smidge, to see whether it was safe to come back. And hurriedly raised them back up. There were some things she did not want to know about her brother.

Good thing it was a nice night ….

***

Luke was dozing but Han was still awake when Leia came to bed that night. She crawled in on Luke’s side; Han was a furnace, and she tended to overheat if she slept next to him. Luke, on the other hand, got cold easily and so tended to prefer the middle.

She leaned over Luke to give Han a kiss.

He deepened it, and she leaned into it appreciatively. “Didn’t get enough with Luke earlier, hm?” she murmured.

“Never,” Han smirked, going in for another kiss.

“You know, I’m right here,” Luke pointed out.

Leia huffed out a laugh and broke away from Han to give Luke a peck on the cheek. “Sorry. Thought you were asleep.”

“Not deeply,” Luke said.

“Feeling better?” Leia asked.

“Yup,” Luke said. “Have a nice walk?”

“The lake is beautiful in the moonlight.”

“Good.”

Leia snuggled down into the covers and used the Force to turn off the light switch.

***

Mara lay in her bed, staring up at the ceiling, deeply aware of the warm, content, sleepy group in the next room.

She couldn’t seem to tear her attention away. When Leia had come in, they had stayed up for a while, probably talking, and now they were drifting off to sleep again.

Mara couldn’t imagine what it would be like to be that close to people you trusted. Palpatine would have scorned it, both the trust and the simple comfort of touch. And once her world had ended, she couldn’t afford to put that much trust in anyone. At first, out of fear they might be taken from her as her Master had; later, out of fear of what someone you trusted could do to you. (As her Master had.)

But they made it work.

And she wanted what they had. The comfort and the trust and the warmth.

She’d been on her own long enough. She didn’t want to give up her freedom, but she wanted something more.

Question was, did she want it with them? Mara groaned and covered her face with a pillow. She’d just had one galaxy-shattering revelation for the night, surely she could stop thinking now and go to sleep. She was very tired, and making big decisions on the spur of the moment when you were sleep-deprived was pure stupidity. Everything was going to look different in the morning.

This whole thing was no different than all those terrible thoughts that came to you alone in the dark hours of the night to prey on your mind.

In the morning, she was going to wake up and remember everything she loved about her life, and shake her head at the foolishness of midnight musings.

Mara firmly pushed down the traitorous voice saying that she didn’t have to be alone in the dark hours of the night, and used a Jedi meditation technique to clear her mind and put herself to sleep.

***

Han sat on a picnic bench and drank some local fruit juice—he wasn’t sure of the name, the kids had picked it out at the store because they liked the picture on the container and it wasn’t bad.

Luke and the kids were playing in the water, and Han shook his head as Jacen got held upside down in the air a foot above the water, until a great jet of water hit Luke in the face and Jacen tumbled down with a splash. They all looked like they were having fun, but it was definitely something for the non-Jedi to watch instead of join.

Arms draped themselves over his shoulders from behind and Han reached up to pat them. “How’s it going?” Leia asked in his ear.

“Well, nobody’s killed anybody yet, so it’s going great. I figure they’ll get bored around lunchtime, and then we’ll have to figure out how to keep them occupied in the afternoon,” Han said.

“Maybe a hike or something,” Leia said. She studied the scene, and let out a huff of laughter.

“What?” Han asked. He couldn’t see anything funny, but then, Leia could sense a lot more than he could.

“Mara,” Leia said.

Mara was stretched out on a lounge chair, sunbathing.

“What about her?”

“She looks cool as a cucumber,” Leia said, “but she’s really enjoying watching Luke shirtless and dripping wet ….”

Han snickered. “Well, I can’t fault her taste,” he said. “Or Luke’s, either,” he said, making a show of leering at her. Not that he was interested in Mara that way, but pretending interest in a fellow Morning person would get a rise out of Leia.

Leia hit his shoulder. “Stop that,” she said.

“Hey!” Han said. “I’m not the one who kissed my own sibling.”

“I didn’t know he was my brother,” Leia said with a huff.

“No, but you knew he was Evening,” Han pointed out.

“I was just doing it to get a rise out of you.”

“Sweetheart,” Han said, “I knew that at the time.” He turned his head to grin up at him, and finding her smiling face within inches of him he took advantage and kissed her. Nothing hot and heavy—the kids were around—but with the promise of something more later.

“EWWWWW,” Jacen shrieked.

Han winced and rubbed his ear as he and Leia broke apart. He hadn’t noticed the kid coming up towards them.

“Mom and Dad are kissing!” Jacen was, as always, shocked and grossed out to see his parents show affection.

“That we are, kid,” Han said with a smirk. He reached up to Leia, who rolled her eyes but let him bend her dramatically over his lap so they could kiss theatrically and loudly.

Jacen and Jaina shrieked in unison, and Han and Leia kept it up for a few minutes until the kids retreated in disgust. And then Han discovered that given how he was sitting at the picnic table, he didn’t have the leverage to lift her back upright.

Fortunately, Luke had followed the kids up towards the picnic area, and Leia was lifted gently out of his arms by nothing Han could see.

“Thanks, Luke,” he said.

“You’re welcome,” Luke said.

“Do you often get in positions you can’t get yourself out of?” Mara called from her chair.

“No,” Han said.

“Yes he does,” Luke and Leia chorused.

“But we love him anyway,” Luke said with a smile.

***

The next day, they packed everyone up into the Falcon and left.

“You don’t have to leave your vacation early just for me,” Mara said as they carried things into the Falcon. “I could easily find some other way of getting back.”

Luke shook his head. “With the kids, it’s easier to break the trip up,” he said. “We’re not going directly back to Coruscant after we drop you off, we’ll be stopping for a few days at a couple of different places.”

“Where all are you going to visit?” Mara asked. Luke filled her in on their itinerary, and the list of things they were going to see or do on the way. She let his enthusiasm wrap around her like a blanket—this was a different side of him than the Jedi master she saw when she visited the Academy or when they had missions together, and she found herself enjoying it.

That feeling from two nights ago—the desire for the warmth and companionship and trust that Luke and his family had—hadn’t been just an artifact of the late hour and a moment’s weakness. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to do anything about it, but she couldn’t pretend it was a simple anomaly any longer.

Mara had expected the packing and loading up to take longer, given the children, but they were old enough to help and knew how everything worked with the ease of long experience, and the planet didn’t have enough traffic in this hemisphere to delay their takeoff, so it didn’t take long before they were in hyperspace.

Once they could unbuckle their seatbelts, the kids ran off to play in what used to be the number two cargo hold, Luke went to meditate in the quarters he shared with Han and Leia (formerly the number three hold), and Leia pulled out some work and started writing something. Mara decided against digging out a book to read, and wandered up to the cockpit.

Han was staring out the window at the mottled lights of hyperspace. “Missing Chewbacca, Solo?” Mara asked, dropping into the copilot’s chair.

Han shrugged. “We don’t do everything together, you know.”

“Just most things,” Mara said.

“Things are pretty quiet right now, and there are a couple of major Wookie holy days right in a row that just finished, so Chewie went home for them.”

“Luke told me,” Mara said.

Han grunted.

“Those partitions in the cargo hold look pretty permanent and well-used,” Mara said.

“Yeah,” Han said. “Makes it a lot more practical to have the family along on trips—and any guests,” he said, with a nod to her. He busied himself checking over his controls. The autopilot would have said if anything was wrong … although Mara supposed if she flew on a bucket of bolts like the Falcon, she would be a bit leery of trusting the automated systems, too. Han frowned, swore, banged on the panel with a fist, and brightened as the readouts in front of him changed.

Mara shook her head, wondering if he’d fix that control panel any time soon. “So do you mind it? Losing your cargo bays?”

“No,” Han said. He leaned back in his chair and shot her a sideways look. “I didn’t start running cargo for the Hutts because I had a passion for spice or anything. Or because I loved Jabba. I’m a pilot. I want to fly. But if you want people to pay you fly, you have to either haul passengers or cargo.” He shrugged. “And I’m not good with people, and cargo ships are big and boring, and smuggling pays better anyway.”

“And now you get to fly a lot just carting your family around, and your wife’s salary pays the bills?” Mara said.

“I get to go a lot more places than I did as a smuggler,” Han said, “and I only have to worry about arrest warrants if I go into Imperial territory.”

“And you certainly don’t lack for excitement,” Mara said.

“I certainly don’t,” Han said. He smirked. “What about you, Jade? You working for Karrde because second in command of an information broker is what you’ve dreamed about your whole life?”

Mara rolled her eyes. “You know it isn’t.” It was interesting work that she was good at, and she liked Karrde and he respected her. But she’d ended up there by happenstance; it was just the first good place she’d found after the Emperor’s death, and the place she’d been when she’d dug his programming out of her brain and could actually start to build a relatively stable life.

Working with Luke to rebuild the Jedi—and with Leia to put out fires and fix problems throughout the New Republic—would also be interesting work she would be good at. With people she liked, and who respected and trusted her.

“Y’know, if I did have a passion for cargo-hauling, Leia and Luke would’ve been fine with it, right?” Han said. “It would’ve made schedules a bit more complicated, but we could’ve made it work. And I’m sure Karrde would be okay with you being based on Coruscant, he’s got a lot of business that goes through there, and a lot of information.”

“I didn’t ask your opinion,” Mara said, voice a little harsher than she meant it to be.

“I’m just saying,” Han said, raising his hands. “It’s your life.”

“It is,” Mara said, and went to go find Luke.

***

Luke was coming out of his meditation when he could feel Mara drawing herself up in the Force, as if she had made some sort of conclusion. He was more attuned to her than he was to anyone outside his family.

And she was coming this way. He hoped whatever decision she’d made wouldn’t lead her away again; Mara valued her independence so fiercely that she tended to run when anything hinted at a deeper connection, and they’d done more than hint about it in the last few days. (She always came back eventually, though.) But Mara wasn’t one to hesitate. If she were going to distance herself, she would have left for the spaceport immediately instead of staying at the lake with them and then hitching a ride on the Falcon.

Mara strode into the cabin, plopped herself down on the mat next to him, and kissed him, fiercely.

Luke almost pulled back in shock, before surging forward into the kiss, bringing a hand up to cup her head.

Mara made a sound, deep in her throat, and pulled back. Luke forced himself not to chase after her. She was breathing a little raggedly, he noticed.

“Yes, I’ll marry you,” she said.

“What?” Luke said, dragging his eyes up from her lips. “I mean, that’s wonderful. But can I ask what changed?”

“I love you,” Mara said, “and I don’t want to be alone any longer. And the only thing keeping me alone is fear of loss, of everything crashing down around me, and fear of someone having power over me. But if I let that fear dictate my life, it’s just another way of letting him control me. And I’m done with that.”

Luke studied her in the Force. She felt sure, calm and determined, and settled in herself. There was still a bit of fear there, but no uncertainty. He smiled. “I love you, Mara. I will be so happy to marry you. And so will Leia.”

Mara nodded. “So, what next?”

“Well, that depends,” Luke said. “There are going to be a lot of decisions to make. The wedding, for starters, and then where you want to live, and how we’re going to arrange the household. We could go out and get Leia and Han and start talking this through. Or—”

“Or, farm-boy?” Mara asked, eyebrows raised.

“—or,” Luke smirked, glancing over at the cabin’s bed, “we could wait a bit to talk it over.”

***

Han found Leia sitting at the holochess table with an odd look on her face, studying her work with an air of determination. He could hear the kids playing, which was good; it was when things were quiet that you had to get suspicious. “What’s up?” he said.

“Luke and Mara are in the smaller of the two main bedrooms,” Leia said. “And Luke is not shielding very well.”

“Ha!” said Han. “See, I knew the two of you were making it way too complicated. I talked to her, and here she is throwing herself into Luke’s arms not half an hour later. Sometimes I amaze even myself.” He smirked and threw himself onto the bench next to her.

“Oh, sure, nerf-herder,” Leia said. “It was all your doing. You’re so well known for your tact, diplomacy, and persuasion skills, after all.”

“Exactly!” Han said. “And as the Otherhusband, I get to make a speech at the reception afterwards, and I’m going to tell everyone it’s all because of my wisdom and eloquence.”

Leia scoffed. “We don’t know what she wants, yet. She could just be looking for sex.”

Han rolled his eyes. “Sweetheart, somebody just looking for fun in the sheets, no strings attached, doesn’t approach someone they know is in love with them. And they certainly wouldn’t do it after talking about marrying into that person’s sedoretu.”

“I suppose,” Leia said.

“You know I’m right,” Han insisted. “I’m always right.”

Leia laughed, just like he knew she would. “I love you.”

“I know,” Han said.

Comments

Good Story!

[eileenlufkin]

I enjoyed reading this.

Re: Good Story!

[beatrice_otter]

THank you!