Chapter Text
Meditating. I am meditating. Breathing in and out, like I practiced a hundred times before. Like many Masters showed me over and over again. I can do it, I just have to concentrate very hard on it. Now in and out, breathe in and out slowly......
Meditating....... At least trying to meditate.
"Do or do not. There is no try," a clear voice breaks the atmosphere of peace and tranquility Mara tried to cultivate, to no avail apparently. "Don't you have something better to do, than to spout stolen quotes of wisdom? Like I don't know Meditate? Like they told us?" Mara bites back, feeling her irritation rise and all the calm she accumulated just disappear like it never existed in the first place.
She sighs and opens her eyes, to glare at the girl she has to serve her punishment with. Leia Skywalker ignores her glare and raises her eyebrow like she wants to ask what is the problem with her. "And you listen to everything the Masters tell you right? After all, only the best students end serving extra meditations and other chores around the Temple because of their exemplary record, don't they?" She sarcastically answers, and lays down on the mat without any shame.
Mara huffs at that, and retaliates: "Well you are not doing any better either, because you are here with me, 'serving extra meditations and chores' as you said. Your exemplary record is even more exemplary than mine. I at least don't get into as much trouble as you. After all I am not a Skywalker."
"What does me being a Skywalker have anything to do with this?!" Leia almost shouts out, her eyes blazing with a familiar fury and anger, she became famous for. In all of Mara's memory (and the memory of all the Masters in the Temple), there was never a more emotional line of Jedi like the Skywalker family is known to be. So this kind of behavior was nothing new to Mara, and well she actually rather enjoyed getting the rise out of the Skywalker twins. Luke was a bit harder to anger or even annoy occasionally, but his sister had a more explosive and volatile reactions from time to time.
Not always of course, sometimes she kept her anger on a leash, but sometimes she wielded it like a weapon. And Mara wasn't sure what it said about her when she really enjoyed to agitate the younger twin, and see that anger in action. It was one of her favorite past times, and it made the sometimes boring Temple life more interesting. Especially when she succeeds at having a spar with the other girl. Those moments she treasures the most, because there is nothing more beautiful than a furious woman on a path of destruction and almost a desperate wish to win against all the odds.
Unfortunately her appreciation goes unnoticed, because Leia Skywalker even with all her advantages, stays oblivious to Mara's interest and instead concentrates on that stupid nerfherder! (Every time she sees the Solo kid, she gets such an urge to strangle him, she starts to worry about the dark side and all the consequences that brings with it. However every time he flashes his smug grin toward Leia, the dark side starts to appeal to her even more).
So she has to be satisfied with only poking Leia with witty barbs, flirty euphemisms and having a once in a two-week time lightsaber spars. At the beginning it was enough. But now, it drives her crazy. If only that stupid dead last Jedi Solo could just die somewhere in a ditch that would be great. But alas the will of the Force does not follow the wims of young teenage girls in love with their fellow Jedi students.
(Of course if Mara became aware of her feelings for Luke's sister earlier maybe none of this would have happened. She even went out with Luke for a time, but they broke it off, when Mara understood that it was Leia, she wanted to come closer to and not Luke. Luke was very gracious about the whole thing, and they stayed friends in the end. But unfortunately Leia started dating Han, and Mara lost her chance. She was just so stupid!)
All in all, a pretty bad situation, if you asked Mara. So this punishment she was serving with Leia was actually a blessing in disguise for Mara. She could spend more time with the other girl and tease her as much as she can. This was proving to be a really fun afternoon.
"Being a Skywalker has everything to do with this. And quite frankly I thought you would hold out longer," Mara taunted and smiled smugly hoping it will only rile Leia up even more. By the way she was looking at Mara- it worked and Leia sat down and took a meditative position again. Mara quickly followed, still smiling to herself and enjoying this situation a little too much.
But after a while, she lost the patience and gave up on meditating. Coming over to Leia, she poked her arm and jumped back, when Leia instinctively tried to throw her over the shoulder. "What the kriff are you doing?!!! Do you want me to kill you?!" She angrily shouted, to which Mara only smirked in answer. "No, don't want you to kill me. But I would like to spar. Do you have a lightsaber with you? Or we can go hand-to-hand, I don't mind either way."
"What about meditating? Wasn't that more important to you, than having idle conversations with a fellow Jedi?" Leia asked, raising her eyebrow in question, but Mara only shrugged at that. A flash of irritation appeared and disappeared on Leia's face, and she sighed in defeat, waving her hand around to show Mara she accepts her offer. The red head flashed her a grin, and took her place on the mat, turning her lightsaber on. The younger Skywalker twin took her position opposite her, and her glare only intensified with time. Mara felt goosebumps all over, along with the myriad of other emotions, while Leia was solely focused on her, the sharp attention making Mara giddy.
The spar turned out to be short, fast and exhausting, making both of them fall on the ground almost instantly after they finished it. "Yet another draw. Since when were we so evenly matched? This is like the fourth time this happened in a row," Leia said through her labored breathing and Mara hummed in answer. "The fifth. You forgot about that time with Solo..." Mara started, when Leia cut her off with a curse. "Please don't mention him again. I really can't deal with his bullshit again." The red head turned to look at Leia, wondering what had she missed. "I thought you and Solo were on good terms. Did something happen?"
Leia sighed, apparently deciding she won't succeed at escaping this explanation. "Yes, we broke up. So I try not to think about him these days. I mostly succeed," the brown haired girl confessed, and Mara blinked in surprise. A break-up? How the kriff didn't Mara hear about this earlier?
"Aha I see. Sorry I won't mention him again," Mara said in apology and Leia waved it off: "It's fine. You were curious, you didn't know and I won't hold a grudge."
She started to wonder if this was maybe her chance. Not to seduce Leia or anything like that, but just to show interest, to imply that she was open to suggestions or to something more in their relationship. Is this the right moment? Leia just recently broke up with a guy, was she too hasty?
However in the end Mara decided there was no time like the present, and that if she waited even for a day longer, she would burst from exhaustion of keeping her emotions hidden.
"Soooo, now that you are free........ Are you open to other sources?"
The brown haired girl looked at her in interest and asked slowly: "What kind of sources do you mean?"
"Sources of the......... female kind, perhaps," Mara revealed awkwardly, cringing at the tone of her voice. "And why do you ask? Who are you asking for?" Leia implored, her gaze now locked with Mara's tightly. Mara felt like losing all air, and her eyes becoming unable to even blink because of the tense air that settled between them.
The red head gulped down her insecurities, fear and pessimism, answering with a strong and booming voice that rattled her bones along with her spirit. Apparently today was the day for confessions and Mara could not stop herself anymore. Now it is too late to change anything or bring it back.
"I am asking for myself. And why? Because I am interested." Letting out most of the truth felt good. Really good and really freeing. The only worry she now had, is how Leia will react to these news. Will it be positive or negative? Or neutral? Mara wondered if this will be the last time she gets to hang out with Leia, so she tries to carve her face (and body) into her mind, by blatantly staring at her without any shame.
After a tense silence, that didn't seem to end, the red head felt like a mumble or a whisper suddenly cut through the all encompassing silence around them. "Did you say something?" She asked to be sure, and Leia met her eyes looking determined and sure. (Mara swooned inside her mind and tried to remember that face for all time).
"I will think about it. For now can we be friends?" Leia settled on at the end, and Mara nodded in a bit of a disappointment and relief. It was not an outright no, so she still had a chance. And she will fight for it every step of the way.
Hopefully the Force will be with her in this endeavor.