Author's Note: I know the ideas raised in this story leave a lot open to speculation, but the purpose of writing this one-shot was to address the fic-gift requirements over at the TFN boards. Speculation and spin-offs are welcome *grin*

Title: Second Honeymoon

Author: Jade_Max

Characters: Luke Skywalker & Mara Jade-Skywalker

Genre: Mush - A fic-gift [written in Dec 2009]

Timeframe: Post "The Last Command" AU

Summary: A second, voluntary, honeymoon...

Fic Gift Requirements & Restrictions:

I want:

1. Characters to be in a romantic/marriage relationship
2. Them to surprise the other with something the other person's always wanted-it doesn't have to be for any particular occasion just for love's sake *melts!*
3. Lots of snogging.

I do not want: Any interruptions for them or intergalactic crises-though they can be coming back off a harrowing mission

Characters: Luke and Mara

Author's note: The gifts here aren't strictly the kind you can keep with you physically... but then, there wasn't any stipulation about the gifts needing to be physical ;)

Second Honeymoon

Mara's planet of choice for their second honeymoon was ideal; so much so, that Luke could hardly believe his eyes when they'd landed among the lush country that was so aptly named 'the Lake Country' - or so she said. The records on the planet were minimal, with the name long ago expunged from the Imperial database and Mara's memory their only guide through the hyperspace corridors.

Foregoing a landing at the main spaceport, Mara headed immediately for a private air strip - one that didn't encourage questions. The Fire landed with barely a whisper and Mara flashed him a smile as she set her beloved ship to wind down; if things went as planned, they wouldn't be needing her for several weeks.

"I told you we'd get here in one piece."

"I never doubted you."

The look she shot him told Luke that she knew better and he shrugged sheepishly. "Okay, maybe that first jump when it looked like you were going to put us through that star instead of around it."

"And the one through the asteroid belt?"

"And that one." He winced, tugging the crash webbing free. "Aren't we supposed to be here as a happily married couple?"

"We bicker; it's part of who we are. That doesn't make us any less happy, Farmboy."

Luke conceded the point as she made to move past him, and caught her by the hand. She didn't protest, despite the saucy rejoinder, as he drew her down into his lap. Her lips covered his before he could initiate the kiss and his fingers tightened on her waist.

Mara pulled back after a long moment, her reluctance evident in the way she held herself. "Hold that thought. Once we get settled, we'll pick up where we left off."

"That'll be tricky without the cockpit."

"We'll improvise," the image that flashed through Luke's mind stole his breath away and Mara smirked. "And - I promise to be at my imaginative best."

Luke was out of his chair and ushering her out the door in a heartbeat.

The retreat where Mara brought Luke was like something out of a dream - a dream he'd not dared dream as a child growing up on Tatooine. It was the vista he'd always wanted and never managed to find. The lushness of the environment was so mind boggling, he almost forgot what they were doing there.

Almost.

From the landing strip, they'd taken a flat water transport propelled by oars down narrow waterways and across a lake to a private island. A butler was waiting for them and bowed with a flourish as Luke helped Mara out of the skiff, waving two young women forward to help with their luggage. They drew back upon seeing a single duffle bag - with so obviously very little inside. The butler was not put off however.

"Lady Arica! How nice to see you once again - it has been a long time since your last visit."

Mara inwardly winced, and Luke - in tune with her thoughts thanks to the Force bond - managed to keep his surprise off his face. He hadn't known she'd gone by that particular name outside of Jabba's palace. Lady Arica?

Long story, Mara returned silently, I'll explain later.

I really don't care one way or the other, Luke admitted, looking over the help with silent dismay as he mentally kissed his plans for this second Honeymoon goodbye. Providing, of course, you find a way to get rid of them for the duration of our stay.

Mara coughed, managing not to laugh at his peevish condition. He had, after all, promised to keep her as unclothed as possible while they were there - an impossibility with the help around; Luke wasn't about to be seen by anyone except her. She smiled to the butler, and extended the hand Luke had released - he still had claim on the other one. "Lia'phin; it's been too long. I trust everything is in readiness?"

"Of course, my lady." He sniffed, indicating what he thought of her question as he bowed over her hand. "Shall we show you and your guest to your rooms?"

"I remember the way, Lia'phin." she told him firmly, pulling her hand back. "We wish to remain alone; on the first of every week for the next month you're to return to set the place to rights."

"We couldn't possibly," the butler responded instantly, seeming offended at the very suggestion. "What would the Emperor say?"

"Nothing," Mara returned wryly. "He's been dead for months. Consider the time in-between your duties an impromptu vacation. Now that I am free of him, you are privy to my whims - not his."

"But-"

"Get what you need," she told him firmly, pulling Luke towards the house and ignoring the butler's shocked expression as Luke lifted their bag from the other servants with a wave of his hand. "My husband and I are here to celebrate and we wish to be left alone."

The last seemed to get through to the shocked butler and he bowed, clapping his hands and directing the two girls quickly away. There was no mistaking their initial fear response - or their excitement when they realized this was no joke. As if by magic, the staff disappeared leaving them to their own devices.

"You'll be lucky if they show up at all."

With a shrug, Mara pulled him onwards. "Do I look like I care?"

Luke had no response as she pulled him along up a large, sweeping flight of stairs to the top floor and pushed open a large set of doors obviously leading to the master bedroom. The design, like most of the buildings he'd had the opportunity to see, was open and airy, allowing the air to flow between the rooms and lattices with ease. It meant they'd have privacy from prying eyes without sacrificing the atmosphere.

He barely got a glance before Mara pulled him in behind her and sent him spinning towards the bed.

Within moments she was making good on her part of his promise and Luke, not one to be left behind, was more than willing to make good on his. Thoughts of their environment faded as her hands wormed them way under his shirt and he firmly told himself that the exploration of their surroundings could wait. His wife demanded his attention and far be it for him to disappoint her. Her growled approval of his tactics as he rolled her to her back and pinned her to the bed was lost as he covered her lips with his.

And investigation of the house could wait.

Mara woke the following morning to a soft tinkling sound near her head. Knowing Luke was the source, a smile curved her lips as her eyes fluttered open.

"Good morning."

"Mmm, not yet - but it will be."

Cocking her finger lazily, she motioned him closer and got a good morning kiss for her efforts. It was shorter than she'd wanted, but would suffice - for the moment. Luke, lying next to her with his head propped on one hand, traced a light pattern across the exposed skin of her abdomen. "Did you sleep well?"

"Better than I have in months - you?"

His lazy smile was her answer. "I have something for you."

"You know I don't like surprises."

"You'll like this one; it's the only tradition I know the Skywalker's have."

Shifting, Mara propped herself up on her elbows. "Aside from passing down their lightsabers?"

"Call it a Lars' tradition then." Lifting his hand from her abdomen, he revealed a filmy, almost gossamer fabric that was shot through with brilliantly sparkling threads. So sheer, Mara could barely make it out in the light - and without the inlays, would never have seen it. "I'm told my grandmother made it - my father's mother."

"Luke, I-"

Twisting the fabric in his hand, Luke unraveled it with a snap of his wrist - and Mara saw his hand for the first time in clear detail. Before, with the fabric wrapped about it, the detail had been smoothed away and she arched her eyebrows in surprise. He was right; she did like it. Except she made no move to take it.

"Shimmer silk," was his quick explanation as he carefully fed the piece onto the bare muscles of her stomach - which promptly gained a smooth appearance that lacked muscular definition. "With a few modifications."

"So I see." Examining the fabric pooled on her body for a long moment, she voiced the first question that popped into her mind. "Where'd you get it?"

"It's one of the few things I was able to save from Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru's," he admitted. "Other than the lightsaber you carry, that's the only other connection I have to my father."

"And nothing of your mother."

He nodded.

Looking from the fabric and then back to her husband, she cocked her head and wisely shifted the topic back to his original statement. "How is this a tradition?"

"I'm starting one," he confessed, his lips tilting.

"You're starting one." Her echo held an amused note despite the fact there was a suspiciously tight feeling in her chest; Mara hadn't ever been part of a tradition before – or the cause of one. True to form, she ignored the feeling – and so did Luke, even as the awareness of it was reflected in his gaze. "And just what is the occasion for this tradition?"

"Every time we take a holiday - which is going to be once a year - I get to spoil you with something unique."

Mara's hands finally lifted as she eased back to the bed, and she scooped the piece of fabric into her hands, testing its weight and feel. A shiver of delight passed through her as the softness slid across her torso. "And If I want to surprise you?"

His fingers slid over to twine with hers. "You already have. I'll let you pick our destinations - places we can go for just the two of us - if you'll let me find oddities I know you'll enjoy."

"Like this."

He nodded.

"I think I'm getting the better end of this bargain."

Luke laughed softly. "I figure if you're that keen on surprising me with something other than locale, you'll think of something."

"Mmm," pulling him back down to her, her smile widened as she flipped them both to pin him to the bed. "Count on it."

Their lips met briefly before Mara pulled back to stare down at him, searching his face with a frown puckering her forehead.

"What?"

"There's just one thing I don't understand."

"Just one?"

She nodded sharply, struggling to hold onto her frown as she deliberately kept her tone laced with breathy concern. "Since you gave me something you can't possibly top next year, how are you going to keep me from being disappointed?"

Laughing, he drew her back down and her composure cracked with his response. "I'll think of something."

His promise ended with another kiss as her hands began to explore the contours of his chest - and for many, many hours neither of them thought of anything beyond the walls of their bedroom.

Water erupted as Mara dropped into the lake beside Luke, soaking his once dry head and making him sputter as he inhaled at the wrong moment. She came up for air in another spray of water. "Gotcha!"

Hacking and coughing, Luke fought to breathe even as he struggled to stay above the surface. Mara's arms wrapped around him and he could feel her take over keeping them afloat as the last of the water was expelled from his lungs. She hung on as he regained his breath - and, to his surprise, smiled sheepishly.

"I thought you knew I was coming."

"As far as apologies go," he came back weakly, wheezing. "That one is lacking."

"I'd smother you in kisses, Skywalker, but I might just kill you when you can't even breathe properly yet."

"But what a way to go."

Mara rolled her eyes and obligingly kissed him - but broke it off quickly. "Since when do you enjoy swimming anyway?"

"Don't you mean, where did I learn?" He resumed keeping his own buoyancy, but Mara didn't move back very far and their legs kept touching underwater.

"That too; there aren't too many places to do so where you grew up."

"True. But I've been in enough situations over the last few years that knowing how to swim is kind of essential; so Han taught me."

"Han?"

"Yeah," His movements stuttered as he seemed to lose focus. "I'm not very good at it though."

Shifting his weight in the water, Luke flattened out on his back and Mara teasingly pulled on the waist band of his shorts. "You just came out here to wear these, didn't you?"

He laughed, staring at the clear sky above them and marveling once again at his fortune. He and Mara had been there for several days - and it was the first time she'd let him leave the house. Not that he was going to complain about it. "I don't want to forget entirely that there's a galaxy waiting for us beyond this lake and villa; otherwise, I might get too comfortable and then just forget how we live here isn't the norm."

She splashed him a little, sending a fountain over his chest; Mara was an expert swimmer - just like everything else she did - and could tread water for hours. "Meaning you might greet Han and Leia in the buff?"

"The thought had occurred, yes."

"When?"

"When what?"

"When in the last few days did you have the time to think about that?"

"Shortly before the hearing to see if we'd have to go to trial; you were a little preoccupied."

"So were you."

"We," he conceded, "were preoccupied. Which is why you probably missed it."

Mara conceded the point with a tilt of her head. The events leading up to their arrival on the planet - and escape from Coruscant - weren't something she would dwell on; all that mattered was that her name was free and clear and she could enjoy his company the way they were supposed to.

Wrapping her arms suddenly about his wait, Mara put her legs together and pulled. They dropped through the water like a stone, Luke thrashing in surprise at her tactic. Twisting him in her grasp, she grabbed his face between her hands.

Trust me.

Luke stopped struggling - and she kissed him

Breathing air into his lungs, Mara was careful he only got air and she didn't surrender hers complete supply. Pulling back, she glance above them, smiled and pointed downwards. Luke understood and jack knifed after her as she dove. For several long seconds they were in warm water before the temperature dropped sharply as the light started to fade - and they reached the bottom. Mara dug her hands into the sand, raking her fingers through the grains as if looking for something.

What are you looking for?

She didn't so much as glance his way. Something the Emperor insisted I get rid of when I was gifted with the house. Something the former owner left behind - something he didn't want me to keep.

In her mind, Luke could see the images of that day. Some kind of heavily ornamental wire contraption - A headset? Jewelry? - he couldn't identify. Mara glanced at him and then back towards the surface after pawing through the sand for a few more long seconds. The need to breathe was becoming more demanding by the second. He nodded, grasping her hand as they bent their knees against the bottom and propelled themselves surface ward.

Beside her, Luke drew on the Force and added it to their push off. They streaked through the water at such a speed he could feel Mara's laughter as if it were within him. They broke the surface with enough force to be sent out of the water only to crash back down underneath it by several feet. Gaining the surface once more, they broke through laughing and Mara whipped her head to the side to get her hair out of her face.

"You're full of surprises."

"I figured you'd like that. I married a speed demon."

Her smile turned mischievous. "You weren't saying that last night."

"Because that's the only time you're not!"

Reaching for him, Mara pulled them towards one another through the water and slid her hands down his side and under the waist band of his shorts. "I can be."

"M-Mara... you'll drown me."

"Then take a deep breath, Farmboy; you're going to need it."

He did, though it stuttered through his teeth, and Mara drew him beneath the surface yet again. This time she searched for something else - and found it.

They were both weak kneed and shaking upon their return to the lake house almost two hours later, and Luke had been drawing heavily on the Force to simply make it that far. His arms and legs felt like jelly after so long in the lake - and Mara had been unwilling to relinquish him as a playmate when he'd tired. She was in little better condition than he simply because she'd refused to believe she couldn't keep them both afloat.

"You're the... most stubborn woman I have ever known, you know that?"

"I know," Mara eased him down onto the couch in the main room before flopping down next to him. They were both too exhausted to go further. Luke's condition would likely last; Mara, however, had a stronger constitution and he could already feel her recovering.

"You could have killed us both."

"I know."

"Was it worth it?"

Patting her towel, which was wrapped around the items he'd made a point to ensure he retrieved from the bed of the lake shore, she sighed contentedly. "In every way."

"Even after you insisted we climb that tree on our way in?"

Luke's towel was on his lap and Mara tugged one corner to reveal the fruit they'd brought with them. "You haven't tried it yet, so you don't know just how worth it, it is."

"Is that your way of thanking me for your wire thing?"

Luke reached down to pluck one from her, but Mara batted his hand away. "Ah ah; this is a delicacy best served by another. Consider this my surprise, and thank you if you want, for our trip; wait here."

Her recuperative powers never ceased to amaze him and Luke watched as she pushed up from the couch. Albeit, she stumbled for two steps before finding her stride, but the fact she was able to walk was almost insulting. He was going to hurt come morning. Tilting his head back, Luke idly surveyed the room.

They'd spent a lot of hours in this room over the last few days and would likely spend a lot more; most of their evenings were spent in front of the fire place since it cooled down enough to warrant it and the rug before the raised hearth had seen a lot of his - or her - back. His lips creased as his gaze wandered back towards the kitchenette where Mara had disappeared. She was grumbling about something, her thoughts carefully blank so he wouldn't dip into the surprise, and he found he didn't want to.

Whatever she was planning, he was looking forward to it.

"Mara?"

"I'll be there in a second; there's not a decent knife in this whole place!"

Decent clean knife she meant.

"So wash one."

More grumbling ensued before she returned with a sparkling knife that had obviously just been washed and a small plate. These were placed on the table beside the couch before she relieved Luke of his bundle. Unwrapping it carefully - so not to damage the fruit - she proceeded to rub one and then another with the towel. Several gentle polishings later had removed a slightly tougher outer skin and revealed an appetizing looking center.

Two of them went on the plate as Luke watched with interest.

The knife was brandished expertly as Mara first halved then quartered the fruits and discarded the pits. Juices pooled around the flesh as she cut these again into halves. Once bite size, she pulled a slim flask from behind her back - Luke hadn't a clue where she'd been hiding it - and checked the contents. Popping the top, he could smell the aroma of concentrated citrus; and it seemed to compliment whatever the fruit on the plate was.

Mara smiled a little half smile. "Shurra fruit; it's a local delicacy."

"I've never heard of it."

"I'm not surprised. Here," puncturing one on a thin skewer Luke hadn't realized she'd had until that moment, Mara extended a piece his way and held just shy of where his mouth would be if he were sitting straight. "Try it by itself. If you like it this way, I'll save the cider for later."

"Cider?"

"Made of the same with a twist; some people aren't fond of the natural taste so they've added something to make it more palatable."

Bending forward with a wince - his back muscles practically screamed in protest - Luke accepted the small morsel and bit into it. The explosion of rich and pungent flavor swamped his mouth and he coughed at the unexpected impact. Managing not to spray Mara with the juice, he slumped back and swallowed hard.

She wasn't laughing - on the outside anyway.

"Must be an acquired taste," he wheezed, his eyes watering from the intensity and making her image swim.

"Here; try this." A bottle was tipped against his lips and the flavor was washed away with a much milder and less shocking flavor at the heart of the fruit. Mara slid one hand between his back and the sofa and began to kneed. "Better?"

"Much."

Mara reached down to stab one of the pieces before tasting it - and spitting it out immediately. "Under ripe," she explained apologetically. "I should have tried it first."

"Then they're not normally that... flavorful?" His eyes closed on a wince as her hand dug into a painfully knotted muscle. "Force that feels good."

Applying pressure, Mara eased him forward and coaxed him to lie down on his stomach before straddling his backside and using both hands on his back. He writhed beneath her at the initial pain, cursing her for a heartless woman in one breath before sighing with relief in the next. Eventually settling, Mara got back to their original topic.

"No, they're not normally that powerful. A few days on the sill and they'll be about perfect."

"I'll try it again when it's ready then. Oooo - right there... harder... down... ah!"

Mara dug her finger tips into a particularly knotted muscle on his shoulder blade and Luke all but jumped underneath her. Keeping him pinned, his body tensed - and then relaxed as the pain melted away. "You shouldn't have stayed in the water so long."

"I hadn't planned to," reminding her got him a bit of a jab in another sore area, "but I've got this incredibly irresistible and insatiable wife who wouldn't let me leave."

Bending over his back, Mara placed a kiss on the nape of his neck. "Irresistible, huh?"

"As inexhaustible and flexible as a Nexu, too."

With a purr, she flicked the tip of her tongue over the same spot and he shuddered - and not from the continued pressure she was placing on his muscles. "I like the sound of that."

An image formed in his mind and she laughed, a low, throaty sound that he felt to his toes.

"And I like that idea..." Stretching out, Mara used one hand to brace herself above his head as her knees gripped his hips - and her other hand began to work its way down his spine. "Though I hardly see what you get out of it?"

"Relief from aching muscles?"

"But what else?"

"A brief period of respite?"

Looking back over his shoulder, he was able to see her expression out of the corner of his eye as her hand slipped beneath the back of his shorts and began to knead his backside. Her expression as her hand moved - now trapped between them - kept and held his gaze.

The massage quickly turned into something else as she threw her head back and her hair spilled down across her shoulders with abandon. Luke collapsed with a groan, his face turned away, as her hand shifted from one buttocks to the other and worked the kinks with powerful and measured strokes. He focused on what that hand was doing to him - the release in his body as it eased the tension away so expertly - and closed his ears to her soft gasps.

But not his mind.

He was with her as her fingers stilled for several seconds - confident her grip would leave an interesting array of half-moon indents and bruises on one buttock - and smiled as her legs trembled for half a minute or more before her hands firmed and the soothing massage of his sore body continued. The hand she'd used to brace herself joined its sister as they worked down to his thighs to ease the tension from the abused muscles there - and, eventually, Mara sat on his feet.

They didn't speak - there was no need - as Mara turned her impromptu massage into a full body melting.

When she was finished, she rolled him over and stretched out next to him on the sofa - the cushions accommodating them both so long as they were pressed close, and Luke wrapped an arm about her middle as his lips settled on the nape of her neck.

"Thank you."

Covering his hand with hers, she smiled. "It's as much for you as for me. When you can bother yourself to move again, we're going to relax in the tub upstairs - with jets."

"Jets."

"But not until later..." Glancing back with a sassy little smile that was slightly tired, she amended that while smothering a sudden yawn. "Much later."

Silence descended as she closed her eyes, exhaustion from their adventure in the lake taking a sudden hold, and used his shoulder for a pillow. Luke was both willing and able to accommodate. Waving one hand towards the fire, he called on the Force to activate the little unit - it wouldn't do for them to catch a chill! - and held his wife close as she drifted off. Unguarded, she placed her trust in him completely in moments like this and it humbled him.

"Much later," he agreed, brushing her cheek with a soft kiss.

Unable to see her face and watch her sleep, his gaze went instead to the small bundle he had pulled from the lake bed for her - and he knocked it to the ground with a soft clink to give her more leg room. The towel fell away as Mara stretched out completely - her back to his front - and Luke regarded Mara's treasure with a small shake of his head.

She'd been discreetly searching for it since its disappearance beneath the lake's surface - whenever she'd come back on her infrequent visits - and failed to find it. It was just his good luck that his foot had brushed against it on one of their last dives before his strength had ebbed. Her reaction upon his surfacing with the treasure had been worth every pain there-after. Not that he believed in luck, but looking at it now, he couldn't understand why she'd been so set on retrieving it.

It was a fan-like structure for holding hair with an elaborate decorative head dress attached to go over top with the name "Amidala" etched within.

Whatever the significance - he would never understand why the Emperor had ordered the head dress of a dead former Queen, the previous owner of the villa, evicted from the house. Perhaps he never would and, in that moment with his wife sleeping peacefully in his arms - Luke didn't much care.

fin

Author's Note: I love Monday Mush Mania - which is what this started out as a fic for - and then I got the request for theHoliday fic-gift exchange and voila! - it practically wrote itself!

I toyed with the idea of making this longer, but that wasn't where I wanted it to go. The idea behind this was to make it light and fluffy without complications. So that's what I aimed for - but I also wanted to show that, despite their interlude, their past is very much still with them.

Tragedy and crisis are part of the Skywalker legacy; Anakin couldn't escape it and neither can Luke - except they both found someone to share both triumphs and sorrows with. The discarding of the head dress is supposed to be symbolic; to show that no matter his legacy, there is not only hope for the future, but that past isn't going to dictate his future. If that makes sense... it's the major reason I didn't take this any further than I did.

Thanks for reading!

-JM