Horizons ( Luke Skywalker )

chapter VI

Images flashed through his mind: bright red hair, a girlish giggle. He could see a sun flashing over the trees and an unrecognizable face. Then he's scared, fear freezing his limbs. Something is wrong; the people are wrong, the place is wrong, where is mother?

Luke's eyes flicker open, and the images in his minds eye are replaced with reality. Slowly, his own memories come back to him and he remembers that he's a boy from Tatooine. But that's not all he is, not any longer. Upon waking up, he found he had a massive headache but also a second set of memories in his head, memories that didn't belong to him. It didn't take long to figure out where the they came from.

He looked up, and saw a pale, slender arm hanging over the side of the bed.

"What happened?"

Luke knew where the question came from. It flitted through his mind, wrapped in a presence that Luke could only describe as Mara. He pushed himself up into a sitting position, leaning on his arms. Mara's face came into view, pressed against the sheets, her eyes tightly closed.

Very slowly, as if he were approaching a frightened animal, he pushed his force presence out to her. Mara?

Her brow furrowed, her nose scrunching up. Luke. You were a farmboy?

The statement threw him so off guard that he had to take a moment to process it. "How do you know that?" He asked out loud but of course he knew the answer, at least a part of him did. He knew her past, had access to all of her memories which meant it worked vice versa. She had seen his memories from the dessert planet and from his time farming.

"I know everything about you," he heard her whisper. It should've made him uncomfortable but, really, he felt pleased. Then worry, started to sink in. What did she think of Luke Skywalker? She knew him better than anyone else now; she knew of all his victories and triumphs but also of all his failures and regrets.

And Luke knew where she failed him.

'The boy's weakness was his heart and she would be the one to sabotage it. She would gain his trust, become his ally, and become his downfall.'

'You are playing a dangerous game, Mara. Are you sure you know how to handle our young Jedi?'

'The strong sense of victory washed through her, elating her. She won. She finally broke through Luke's thick walls.'

So, she was always a part of it, a part of the plan to pull him to the dark side. A very successful plan as it turned out. Luke would place a bet that Mara never allowed failure.

"Don't feel guilty," he whispered. Her eyes finally opened and found him still sitting on the floor. "I always knew you were with them. I haven't forgotten whose side you're really on."

"We're on the same side now." The thought resonated in his mind, sounding soft and foreign. A part of him felt unnerved but it felt completely natural. New and familiar all at once.

He was so wrapped up in what was happening mentally that he barely registered what was happening physically. He felt quite surprised when he realized that Mara was sitting up and towering over him. Her long hair, which always seemed impeccably in place, was mussed and tousled; her eyes were bleary, from just waking up; her jumpsuit was wrinkled. It was the first time Luke had seen Mara look so... mortal. She wasn't some ethereal, indestructible goddess. She was human. And she looked exhausted.