What If : The Story Retold

Enemy of my Enemy.

Luke knew that it had been difficult enough for Jade to accept that she had been manipulated by her former Master, now she had to deal with the fact she had literally been processed and hardwired to stay ignorant like this. Fearing that perhaps this revelation might prompt an outburst from the ex-sith and that it could end up tarnishing the already fragile truce she had created with the Jedi beyond the mirror, Luke reached out with the force to try and console the ex-sith, only for him to hiss in pain when she batted back, anger surging through her.

"Get. It. Out!" She spat through her teeth, emphasising every word as her hands clenched into fists with her knuckles stark white.

***

Despite the ex-sith's growing anger the longer they delayed, the medical droids bustled about her again, with more scans and prepping the pod again for her operation. She would have to be unconscious for the procedure and even with the amount of times she had been placed in an operation for an injury, she still didn't take kindly to the idea of being completely vulnerable for any period of time.

She knew she had no choice in the matter but eitherways, she didn't have to like it.

The idea that during a serious operation, she would be asleep and unaware of her own surroundings scared her. Despite the fact she knew that she was in probably the safest medical facilities this side of the galaxy, Mara still shuddered at the thought of anesthetics.

Before, whenever she had to be put under for something, she was painfully aware that whilst she was asleep, her mental shields were completely unguarded. But then again, that would only be susceptible to force sensitives of which Maul was the only one around her at the time.

Despite the fact she knew that his teachings were now nothing but lies, Mara could not shake the lesson about vulnerability. She knew to keep her cards close to the chest and never let anyone in, which was why she had built up such a tolerance for her shields. She had only occasionally let them slip, Luke had seen that already and though she now considered him a 'friend' of sorts, she still did not warm to the idea that the entire Jedi Council would now be available to her thoughts throughout the operation.

As the droids instructed her to lay back down, a moment of panic crossed her as she saw Luke make to leave, probably to join the rest of the Jedi. Not wanting to be left alone, she quickly sat back up and reached out for his hand, not really sure why. He turned back to her curiously as he looked from her rather painful grip on him, then up to her face where she was clearly trying to hide her panic.

"Don't go, I'm... Scared..." She admitted quietly, looking away from the mirror wall despite knowing full well that it would make no difference in whether or not the other Jedi could see her, "I mean, what if this chip is all I am? What if I wake up and I'm a completely different person? What if-"

"You'll be fine," Luke assured her, giving her hand a comforting squeeze as he turned away from the door, no longer intending to leave even if he knew he should, "The chip doesn't define you, nor does Maul... When you wake up, you'll still be you, you'll be sat right here on this bed and I'll be by your side the whole time, I promise."

"Getting a little sappy there, Skywalker," she huffed, half in amusement and the other half in sentiment as she finally leaned back and saw the droids begining the anesthetic process, Luke's face being the last thing she saw as reality begun to fade.

"Not at all, Jade."

***

For the most part, Luke had been true to his word. She couldn't remember when she had fallen asleep, but she remembered waking up, a numbness throbbing near her right temple and a face coming into view. Blue eyes and dirt blonde hair, she surprised even herself how quickly she had associated those features with him, but then again, she shouldn't have been surprised, he had promised after all.