She studied him, trying to pull answers from the facts and he looked away, shaking his head, clamping his jaw.
"At least give me that." she pushed, "You want me to walk away... well then I think I deserve that."
Luke held silent for long moments, reluctant, but she remained still, waiting...
"I only know fragments," he said at last without alluding as to where from or how, "That there was a... prophesy. Made a long time ago by the Jedi..." He shook his head, seeming embarrassed now, "Something... I don't know. This line is mixed up in it; twisted through with it- that's what he claims."
"What's the prophesy?"
Luke shook his head again, unwilling to be pulled in any further. "Look at us; this line... we're bad blood, Mara. Bad blood."
There was something in his tone, angry and bewildered and desperate and completely convinced, and she knew he was trying to push her away but it only drew her in further. She moved forward, reached out to brush his hair from his eyes, but he stepped back, lifting his hand against her, refusing the intimacy.
"Don't." he shook his head. "We can't be together Mara. I can't trust you and you absolutely cannot trust me. We were playing a game, that's all. It was just a game that got out of hand..."
She reached forward and took hold of him, though he tensed against the embrace, hands to her shoulders to push her away.
"It doesn't matter Luke. None of that matters, don't you see? I don't care. I don't care about prophesies and Sith and Emperors and Heirs- I don't care. I care about you. I want to be with you... and I'm pretty damn sure that you want to be with me. So nothing else matters- does it?"
He remained silent, hands still to her shoulders, though he'd stopped trying to push her away. She held still against him, arms wrapped tight, feeling the beat of his heart, the rise of his chest- and nothing else mattered.
"Say no and kiss me." she whispered, stretching up to him...
And he leaned in to her, fingers trailing across her outstretched neck- and kissed her.
But he didn't say 'no'...
.
.
.
Mara glanced up at the light knock on the door to her room, eyes narrowing with suspicion. She'd returned only a short while ago, having stayed overnight with Luke, and had come back only to change before she'd make her public return to Luke's quarters to begin her formal day's work as his bodyguard.
She walked slowly to the door and pressed the release. Nathan Hallin stood quietly in the corridor, glancing up as the door slid aside.
"Commander Jade."
The fact that he was here at all was suspicious enough; the fact that he'd arrived here just minutes after she had was an obvious statement. He'd come with something to say Mara knew, so it seemed petty to make him say it here in the hallway.
She stepped aside, allowing him to enter, gathering her thoughts and forcing herself to concentrate on the situation at hand. Despite his apparently easygoing manner, she'd come to know that Hallin was astute and perceptive- a handful at the best of times.
He walked into her quarters but went no further, politely waiting. Mara palmed the door closed then walked past him into the room and he followed in silence, in no hurry to speak.
"If you have something to say then say it, Hallin."
He studied her for a long time in silence before finally offering in a casual, clipped voice, "The Heir is unaware that I'm here."
"Are you asking me not to tell him you came?"
"I'm making you aware of the facts Commander; what you do with them is your choice." He looked her up and down quickly, "And choices are such... interesting things. Revealing."
Mara narrowed her eyes, wary. Hallin always spoke his mind and had never disguised his mistrust of Mara, but this was something new. This wasn't a casual snipe in an empty corridor- he'd actually sought her out to say his piece. Of course, she should have realised; Luke's doubts yesterday had to have come from somewhere, and Hallin was the obvious choice, but this- to come to her quarters, to speak as he had done, the lines drawn already- this was unexpectedly direct, even for Hallin.
But if there was one thing Mara could do, it was direct; "I find if I'm curious about something, the best approach is to simply ask."
Hallin only nodded slowly. "An interesting approach for someone who tells lies for a living."
Mara arched her eyebrows at that, stepping subtly closer, wondering if the slight medic realised she could break his neck long before he'd even begun to react to the move. Whether he knew that the only thing which stopped her was Luke.
"If all you're here to do is speak in riddles Hallin, then you should go, because you're wasting both our times."
"Go? Where would I go?" Hallin purposely misunderstood her words, "This is my home Commander. My obligations and loyalties lie here."
"And you're saying mine don't?"
"Do they?"
It was a surprising question in that it was just that- a question.
"My interests lie here, Hallin." Mara assured acerbically.
"Interests are such momentary things- they wane. And when they do, someone must pick up the pieces."
Mara sighed, frustrated all over again at this ongoing grudge-match. "You know him so well, Hallin- I can't believe you think him so blind."
"In some things we are all blind, Commander. Then we must rely on those around us to protect us."
"I would never hurt him."
"As you said before. Yet you're still here... and we both know why."
"Why don't you tell me?"
"You don't need me to tell you where your loyalties lie, I'm sure."
"I've never made any secret of my loyalties." Mara said, Luke's argument the previous night ringing in her ears.
"Nor I, Commander." Hallin replied, "And they are, I assure you, easily as passionate as your own."
"I'm glad to hear it."
Hallin shook his head, studying her, tone polite and genuinely curious. "I cannot understand how you have been so close to him for so long, yet you seem to have no concept- none at all- of who he really is. You cannot understand how close to the edge he operates every single day. How much pressure he exists under-"
"You think I don't see the cracks Hallin, but I do."
"Then I can only assume that you test them on purpose- or ignore them for your own self-serving indulgence."
Mara's chin rose, "You have no idea how close to the line you are right now."
"And you have no idea of how much it's costing Luke to survive here, I think. No idea of how much it takes to rise above Palpatine's grasping control, his constant manipulations. Luke would do anything- anything to be free of him." Hallin's soft, serious brown eyes came to Mara, expression grave, "So much so that if he tears himself apart in the process, then that is the price he will pay."
"He won't do that." Mara said, unnerved by Hallin's sinister prediction.
"He doesn't need to." Hallin said without animosity, "You're doing it for him."
She shook her head in denial but the medic pushed on. "You do so every day, Commander, simply by remaining close to him- and you know it."
"I think he can take care of himself, Hallin."
"I'm sure he can. But that does not lessen the dedication of those around him- and I am, I assure you, not alone in my commitment to protect The Heir."
"What does that mean?"
He was very calm now, coolly assertive and self-possessed, "Do you think we don't watch you- do you think you operate with impunity?"
The first inkling of nerves rose in Mara at the declaration within those words. "Who's 'we'?"
"We will not allow you to harm him." Hallin said quietly, but with absolute commitment. "You think you're here by the Emperor's sanction and that's true. But whether you choose to believe it or not, you are also here by ours. And the first time you cross the line - the moment we see him falter because of your actions..."
He met her eyes and his tone was absolute, "We will remove you. Permanently. I will inform Luke myself... and I will deal with and answer for the consequences of my actions, secure in the knowledge that whatever happens, I have done the right thing."