This ' very short ' story is based on characters and situations created and owned by Lucasfilm, Ltd and Timothy Zahn.No money is being made and no infringement is intended. All characters portrayed and official dialogue are the property of Lucasfilm,Ltd and Timothy Zahn.

         Author's note:This is, in a sense, a vision of a missing moment between chapter 4 and
         6 of ' Champions of the Force' by the infamous KJA. I know, I know, but I could not help feeling
         that it seemed odd that Mara did not pay Luke a visit when he was ill.I haven't read 'I'Jedi '
         yet due to financial and 'lack-of-time' problems, so I might be wrong in that regard.However,
         regardless of spoilers,etc,etc,etc...I hope that you would enjoy this story which came as
         an inspiration to me during a sad occassion.Out of respect for all Mara Jade's fans out
         there ( myself included ) I hope that I did not tarnish her personality too much! I'll be
         kesseled if I did!
 
 

               Leia Organa Solo stared at the brilliant stars in the night sky above her,realizing
       that they represented life, beings,people....people that she was responsible to. And one
       of them happened to be her son, Anakin. She sighed inwardly, as she often did these
       past few days. It was bad enough that her son was hidden from her,but the thought that
       had been dreading her ever since she had set foot on Yavin , was whether or not her
       brother, Luke, would survive this latest assault. Her eyes brimmed with tears at the
       mere thought of her beloved brother, and even a few tears managed to escape freely.

               Wiping furiously at her eyes, Leia tried not to think about all the happy moments
       that she had shared with Luke.Together with Han, they had some of the most memorable
       and enjoyable moments in her life.Smiling inwardly, she remembered the first time...or
       was it the second?.... time that she had seen Luke as he burst through her cell door in
       an untrooperly manner and announced enthusiastically "I'm Luke Skywalker, I'm here
       to rescue you!".She allowed herself another smile,although it was tinged with sadness,
       as she recalled the unforgettable night when Luke had revealed to her, a bit hesitantly,
       their family ties and her true parentage. She had felt so horrible that night, fearing that
       she might never see him again.... yet, she had Han to comfort her back then.

       Han.

                 She gazed at the stars again,feeling her heart ache at the loneliness she felt
        without her husband's comforting arms around her.Han was among those stars now,
        going on a mad rush to find Kyp, somehow feeling responsible even though it hadn't
        been anyone's' fault. She knew Han though, he wasn't the type that sit around doing
        nothing while there was a potential threat out there that he might be able to stop.
        Besides, Han could not bear to see his brother-in-law lying in state. He and Luke were
        closer than brothers, both willing to risk their life to save the other, and Han felt helpless
        when he couldn't do just that.

                  Just like she was feeling right now...helpless, as she wait for a hope that might
        never come true.

                   'Stop it!'she scolded herself.'Luke will get through this. He survived the emperor,
                   C'Baoth and countless others who had tried to kill him. He will get through this.
                   He has to" she told herself firmly.

                   Wasn't it after all that he had come back safe and sound after the battle against
        the emperor? Peace in his eye as he came to hug her, washing away all her fears and
        doubt at that moment. Relishing the feeling of being alive, of being together with a family
        that he had never known existed, and most of all....the feeling of knowing that he had
        been right about his father.

                    A tap on her shoulder interrupted her reverie. Turning slightly, she noticed that
        it was Tionne, one of Luke's students. One of the many who feared that they would soon
        be without a master.

                   "Yes, Tionne.What is it?"

                    Tionne hesitated, as she had sensed the swirl of emotions within the former
        princess, and did not want to disturb her over such a trivial matter. But she knew her
        master's sister would not like to be kept in the dark about anything that would be relevant
        to her.

                    "An unidentified ship has landed, and the pilot has requested to see you, and
         only you. He said it was important..."

                    "Thank you, Tionne.I'll meet him." Leia walked away, feeling a bit apprehensive .
         She hoped it has nothing to do with Anakin.

                    She approached the lone ship, noticing that some of the students were standing
              behind her, their feelings a mixture of curiosity and caution.

                    The ramp lowered down and a lone figure walked down from it, a hood draped
         over to hide its features. Leia frowned,reaching out with the force as she did so, trying to
         sense the figure's intention. She was surprised when her probe was resisted by a very
         strong barrier, a barrier which she knew only one could control so well....

                     "Mara Jade, " she breathed silently, when the figure was in full sight, the brilliant
               red-gold hair hidden by the cowl.

                     "You expecting someone else, princess?" the other woman said, amusement
         in her tone.

                     "Well, I was expecting,,,"

                      "Voice-changer device, " Mara explained. "Had it a for a while now. Pretty good
        thing to have to confuse an enemy,"she added wryly.

                      Leia narrowed her eyes slightly. " We are not your enemies, Mara. "

        Mara waved the remark aside. "Of course not. I just didn't want those Jedi wannabes behind
        you knowing that I'm here," she gestured behind Leia.

                      Leia noticed that, although Mara was in plain sight to her, she was still hidden
        from the others. And they were too polite to eavesdrop on their conversation.

                      "Look, Leia.I'd rather not stir up any unwanted emotions in the others. I've never
         really been welcomed by them," Mara said a bit hesitantly.

                     The former princess nodded, and turned to address the students.
        " It's all right. The news is for me, I'll prefer to hear them alone, "she stressed on thelast
         word.

                     The students bowed to her, although they did not agree with her decision, and
         filed silently away.

                     "I've no idea how you can stand them, " Mara commented after the last student
         had left.

                      Leia ignored the comment and asked the question which had been lurking in
         the back of her mind, although she probably knew the answer.

                     "Why have you come, Mara?"

                     "What do you think?" Mara said quietly, and it seemed to Leia that there was a
               sudden softness around those hard-edged eyes.

                       Leia nodded in understanding, although a little surprised by the answer. She
                 gestured to her side, and the two women began walking silently to the
                 temple, each in her own thoughts.

                      "How is he?" Mara asked simply.

                       Leia sighed."No change whatsoever, since they found him on the rooftop.
                 Physically, he's fine, but...it's as if his soul has been robbed away, and there is...."

                      "..a huge void where his presence should be, " Mara finished for her. Noticing the
              other's questioning stare, she explained.

                      " I've heard about it, from the emperor's files concerning the extermination of
          the Jedis. Apparently, the emperor could summon up evil beings from the depths of the
          dark side, to help him attack an opponent, especially the Jedis.These beings, or whatever
          they are, are command to drive away the spirit from the body, thus leaving the body
          vulnerable."

                       Leia shuddered at the thought."Yet you serve him, even after knowing what
          he had done," she pointed out.

                       Mara threw her a patient look" I was young then. However, such power could
          only be commanded by a very powerful force-user, as it would tend to sap the strength
          of the user, both mentally and physically."

                       They had reach the turbolift and entered it, keying it to the level where the main
          hall was located. Leia glanced constantly at the woman by her side, wondering at how
          she continued to surprise her. She knew Mara would not simply drop everything to visit a
          friend, that is, if Luke was still considered as a friend. As if reading her thoughts, Mara
          looked at her, smirking as she did so.

                       "No, Leia.I did not 'drop' everything to come here. I was scheduled to monitor
          some supplies being flown to a planet in this system, so I thought I might drop by." She
          continued in a softer tone"Actually, I've been meaning to do so since I got the news. "

                       Leia started to reply, but the turbolift door had opened, revealing the main
         hall where the Alliance had celebrated their first victory. And at the far end of the hall,
         oblivious to the silence around him, Luke Skywalker lay as if in deep sleep, waiting for a
         chance to be awakened. Leia felt a quiet ache in her heart whenever she saw this deathly
         image, thus she almost missed feeling a sudden burst of emotion from the fiery woman
         next to her.She glanced sharply at Mara, but the woman's face did not betray anything,
         although it was noticeably paler. The two women approached the daiswhere Luke lay, a
         silent prone figure unaware of the feelings he was conjuring up from the both of them.

                      R2-D2, who had constantly been by his master's side, greeted them with a
         warbled beep when it recognized Leia.Mara pulled back her hood, revealing her brilliant
         red-gold hair, as she regarded the little droid amusingly.

                        "Hey Artoo, did you miss me?"

                        The little droid snorted in reply, but beeped an affirmative, then swiveled his
         dome towards his master. Mara approached the prone figure hesitantly, then gently took
         hold of his hand and gave it a comforting squeeze.

                        *What about you, Skywalker? Did you miss me too? * she sent silently, even
         though she knew he could not hear her.

                        *Probably not, what with you being so busy with all your students..and look
         what happen. * she thought grimly.

                       It was a bit unnerving that he did not reply back as he usually did, and it gave
         her no comfort in thinking how much she wanted him to retort back.

                       Leia appeared by her side, smoothing out his robes "I tried to reach him too,
         but to no avail. What about you?"

                       Mara reached out with the force, feeling for Luke's presence, but as she had
         expected, only a silent void greeted her where his presence should be. But there was
         something else, she could feel it. Guided by the Force, she sensed a small presence
         of the Jedi Master, hidden deep within somewhere, but the effort began to tire her.

                      *Blast it! Guess I'm not as strong as I thought I was*

                      "Are you alright?" Leia asked worriedly, for she had noticed that Mara was
         leaning rather heavily on to the dais.

                      "I'm fine," she lied.

                      "Are you sure, you look rather pale..."

                      "I said I'm fine, Leia, " she snapped.

                       Leia back away from this outburst, which prompted Mara to apologized.

                      "I'm sorry. Using the force too much tend to sap my strength greatly," she explained.

                       Leia placed a hand gently on her shoulder, in understanding. Mara shrugged
         away the gesture as gently as she could, then turn to stare at the prone figure.

                      "Although my control of the Force isn't that great, I'm still better off then he is
         right now." She shook her head. "Your first mistake, Skywalker, is trusting people too
         easily, especially a young, uncontrolled boy like Kyp Durron.Your second mistake, was
         proclaiming yourself a master even though you knew you weren't ready yet."

                      "Mara, " Leia admonished, aghast that Mara would think that of her brother
        "There was no other Jedi Master to promote him to that level, and you do know that was
        what Obi-Wan had wanted him to do, to rebuild the new order of the Jedi Knights."

                      "No, Leia.That's not what I really meant. I knew he had no choice in the matter,
         just like the rest of us when faced with a great responsibility. He knew what had to be
         done, even if he wasn't ready for it yet. He understood his responsibility, his destiny to
         produce a new legion of knights. If he didn't take up that responsibility, I'll bet that ol'
         Obi-Wan would probably be haunting him forever to do it, " she said jokingly.

                        Leia smiled, but what astounded her was how Mara seemed to understand
         Luke well, perhaps even better than she did.

                       "But like I said," Mara continued, "he always run headlong into things, like taking
         on so many force-adepts as his apprentice. Even the emperor thought two servants was
         a bit too much."

                         Leia nodded in understanding, for she too had not totally agreed with Luke's
         idea of teaching so many students at the same time. However, she frowned when she
        understood the full meaning of Mara's remark.

                         "I thought the emperor had a few apprentice, " she pointed out.

         Mara nodded absently, not really hearing her comments, as her hand reached up to brush
         back a few stray hairs from Luke's eyes.

                         "So, how are things back in the Smugglers' Alliance?"Leia asked.

                     The other woman shrugged. "The usual. Why?"

                     "I mean, how are things with Lando?"

                     Abruptly, she withdrew her hand and her brilliant green eyes flashed almost
         perceptibly as she regarded the princess coolly. " There is nothing between me and
         Lando. Period. " Her tone indicated that she did not want to discuss the matter.

                      Leia probe further anyway. The former princess held the other's stare evenly.

                     "But I thought you were rather impressed with him after he gave the falcon back
          to Han. Han told me so. "

                  Mara shook her head. "Solo obviously got his circuitís crosswired." She gazed at
          Leia, smirking. "I was impressed, impressed by the means he would do just to charm a
          woman who would like nothing better then to to sent him straight into the sun's core.
          But no, I'm not in the least impressed with him. A little respect, yes. Impressed, no.
          Besides, Solo was a fool to bet the falcon in the first place. "

                      Leia's eye narrowed slightly at the other woman's perception of her husband.
           "That's my husband you're talking about. And it was just a game between two
           old friends. "

                      Mara shrugged, saying nothing, not noticing that her hand had reached out
           to hold Luke's limp hand. Leia, who had been too preoccupied with her thoughts, had
           only begun to notice the strange behaviour. Mara, perhaps sensing the sudden change
           in the princess's mood, withdrew her hand from the grasp, quickly but gently placing
           the hand back to cover the other. Leia reached out with the force again to probe  the
           other's mind, but only met up with a barrier she knew she had no way of breaking.
           Whatever the fiery woman before her was feeling right now was only known to her alone.
           Mara's face became an impassive mask as she glanced at the chronometer.

                      "It's late. You should rest, princess, " Mara said softly.

                    Astounded as she was with Mara's understanding of her condition, she could not
          escape the fact that she had not slept well in the past few days. Leaving her brother's
          side, she was again struck by the sudden softness around the usually hard-edged
          emerald eyes as Mara gave a quick glance to the prone figure near her. Leia shook
          her head, not really caring and too tired to comprehend the enigma Mara always
          presented every time she met her. Together, the two women headed towards the
          turbolift, oblivious to the pale shimmering figure who had listened to the entire
          conversation between the two women.
 
 

                    Luke Skywalker regarded the two retreating figures thoughtfully, his feelings a
          bit jumbled by what he had witnessed. He had been surprised that Mara had decided
          to pay him a visit, and had even felt a little guilty at Mara's revelation that he had taken
          too  many apprentices at one time. Leia's sadness had also heartened him, and he
          knew that he had too overcome this latest obstacle before it consumed him. But it
          was the  fiery woman who had once promised to kill him that had woken him up from
          his helplessness. Mara had been right in the sense that he had often ran headlong into
          things, and if he did survive this latest assault, he knew that he would be more
          controlled with his feelings, although some unexplained emotions seemed to seep
           into him whenever he thought about Mara. He sighed heavily, knowing that he
           could do nothing to save himself or the others by just standing there, contemplating
           the mysteries of the universe and Mara in general. With a grim determination, the
           Jedi Master vowed to unite the Jedi Knights in a formidable line as their predecessors
           had to oppose Exar Kun and bring him to justice.
 
 

                   Outside the great temple, Leia stood with Mara as the other waited for her ship
          to get clearance for take off.

                   "I wish you could stay. It would be good to have someone I trust near me, " Leia said.

                   Mara threw her an amused glance.

                   "And that someone is me?"

                   Leia in turn, threw her a patient look."Yes, Mara.You know that since the C'Baoth
          incident, Luke and I trust you as a friend."

                   Mara smiled slightly but shook her head."I wish I could, Leia, but I've got a job
          to do. "

                   The former princess smiled back. "I understand. "

                   Mara surprised her when she reached out and placed a comforting hand on her
                   shoulder.

                   "Don't worry about Luke, Leia. He always comes out alive from these kind of
          obstacles. Heck, he even managed to prevent me from killing him. "

                    The last remark brought another smile to her face, and she wondered again at
          how Mara's feelings towards Luke really were.

                    "And don't you worry about Anakin, either. I'll be kesseled if any of those slimy
          hutts who dared call themselves imperials ever lay a hand on him. If they do, you'll be
          sure that I'll be there to kick some serious imperial butts really hard. " Mara proclaimed.

                    Leia laughed outright, feeling grateful for Mara's thoughtfulness. She gazed at
          her meaningfully.

                    "Thank you, for that and for coming here to see Luke. It would mean a lot to him."

                    Mara rolled her eyes. "Jedi Master or not, he hardly cares what I do lately. Anyway.."
         she continued, ignoring the ' that's-not-true ' look in the princess's eyes "...enough talk.
         Inform me on his condition if you can. "

                    And with that, the ex-emperor's Hand strode up her ship, closing the ramp
          behind her.

                    Within minutes, the sleek craft lifted off from the landing bay, heading towards
          the stars that seemed to blanket the entire planet, comforting it in the sudden wake of
          tragedy that had befallen it.

                    Leia gazed at the retreating ship, marveling at the side of Mara she had rarely
          seen. Was there something going on between her and Luke after all? Did Mara consider
          Luke more than just a friend? Too many questions formed in her head, but like Mara
          said, she was too tired to care anyway. She started to walk back to the academy,
          noticing that Tionne was waiting respectfully by the door.

                    "Who was that?" Tionne asked quietly.

                    Leia smiled.  "A friend, Tionne. A good friend. "
 
 
 
 

                   In the silent cockpit of her ship, Mara readjusted her controls and rechecked her
           data. So far, everything was checking out all right, and she would be able to reach her
           destination in time. She glanced at the retreating planet that was growing smaller by
           the minute.

                   "What in Sithspawn was I thinking, visiting Skywalker out of the blue like that?"
           Mara scolded herself angrily.

                   In reply, she could almost hear Luke telling her.  "Anger is of the dark side, Mara. "

                   *Blast it, Skywalker! Enough with the lecture!* Mara did not know why she had
           gone to see him. After all, he was still in a comatose state. If Leia had not been there,
           she would not have gone anyway. The others would have stare at her, not knowing why
           a woman who had once promised to kill their master had come to visit him.

                    She laughed bitterly,"They probably thought I had come to finish the job. "

                    Leia was one who never asked too many unnecessary questions unless
          called for. She would wonder, but she would never ask. Mara was also wondering herself.

                    She and Skywalker were considered friends, nothing more, and he was someone
          who had trusted her back when nobody did. What was really nagging her was how
          much his inactivity had created all kinds of emotions that she wanted no part of. She
          frowned inwardly, knowing where these kind of emotions lead to.

                   Taking a deep breath,she pushed aside all the unwanted feelings and
          concentrated at the matter at hand. What really concerned her at the moment was
          that she performed her duty correctly as she always had. Smiling triumphantly, knowing
          that she had her emotions in check, she reached up and pulled back the hyperspace
          lever. As the starlines faded into nothingness however, Mara Jade, for all the control
          she was famed for, could not prevent a single teardrop to slip unnoticed from her eyes.

                                                    The end.