Something up, Luke?
The more time I spend working on piecing together Mara and Lando's misadventures and sham relationship, the more surprised I am that this conversation never took place while Luke and Lando were off on Lando's courting mission (aka his wife hunt). Lando must have been biting his tongue so hard...
“Something up Luke?”
“Why?” Luke glanced over from his place in the co pilot’s seat where he had been staring, brow furrowed, out the viewport.
“You’ve been extra quiet. Like something is bugging you.”
The younger man flinched ever so slightly, a reminder that he had not always been a mysterious Jedi Master, “I’m just wondering if you’ve told Mara about this new mission of yours?”
Lando shrugged, “haven’t seen her much lately. I think you’ve spent more time with her than I have.”
“That seems unlikely. I haven’t seen her since Almania.”
Lando refrained from pointing out that had only been a couple of months earlier.
“Why would I discuss it with her?”
“You have a past.” Luke’s tone was mildly rebuking, “she might appreciate the heads up before you show up married.”
“Nah that’s long over, whatever it was.”
“Whatever it was? What does that mean?”
“It means I was just along for the ride.”
“Ride?” Luke sounded offended.
“What? Does it bother you that Mara might have been looking for some casual fun?”
“No.” Luke caught his raised eyebrow, “of course not. It just, just didn’t seem like her style.”
“Sounds to me like it bothers you. You should ask her about it.”
“It’s none of my business.”
“Kind of sounds like you’d like to make it your business.”
“If Mara wanted it to be my business, she’d have talked to me about it.”
“She didn’t?”
“No.”
“Not even when you asked?”
“I didn’t ask.”
“You didn’t?”
“No, it’s none of my business.”
“But you’re asking me now.”
“Well, now I know about your plan to get married. And I know Mara’s not big on surprises.”
Lando contemplated Luke for a moment, weighing his loyalties.
“She really didn’t tell you anything about us?”
“Not a word.”
“And you really never thought to ask?”
“It’s not my business.” Luke was insistent enough that Lando fought hard to keep a straight face.
“Yes, you’ve said that, several times.” He took in his friend in silence a moment remembering the look on Mara’s face when Luke introduced her to Callista: a sort of frozen impassivity that revealed nothing of the frantic determination of the prior hour during which she’d altered hyperspace routes, and faced down armed Gamorreans to make sure the Jedi was safe.
Luke wore the same expression.
“So you think Mara would be upset that I’m hoping to marry someone else?”
“You were together a long time. I figured you’d wind up together.” If anything his face closed up further.
“Jade and me?” Lando laughed, "you think we made sense?
“You have connections in the same community. You know how to dance and which fork to use.”
“I do, but Jade’s not really all that into that.”
Luke blinked, “but you’ve spent years together.”
“Business. We had work together, a project that took a number of years. It was easier to let people think what they wanted.”
“She didn’t tell me that.”
“You already said you didn’t ask. She probably thought you didn’t care.”
Luke sucked in a breath and the impassivity seemed to drain out of his expression, leaving something unexpectedly agonized behind.
“Oh.”
“You really thought we were together?”
Luke nodded.
Lando smirked, “she really let you think that.”
“She would,” Luke murmured. “If she didn’t want me to know, she wouldn’t share.”
Lando looked away so Luke couldn’t see him roll his eyes. Stars, he was even worse at this than Mara!