A Walk in Their Shoes

by Jaded Cabbit

Sequel to Jealousy- Luke and Leia take some time to see thier twin's life from a different prospective, while the academy receives some "surprise" visitors. PG-13 for some graphic language.

Well, for the usual notes... I don't own Star Wars or anything, so please don't sue me. Lesse... this story is the sequel to Jealousy. How it became that, I'm not quite sure. I was just writing along, when I read a review for Jealousy that said "make a sequel"... not to mention my good friend Enigma Jade kept bugging me about it. So I looked at this story... I had about 5 pages, and no ideas. I looked back, and wouldn't you know that it began with a party- perfect fit into Jealousy (if you haven't read it, it ended with a party). So I made a few revisions, and ta-da! And that's my entertaining story. If you haven't read Jealousy, you'll probably still get the story for the most part, just a few bits and pieces might be confusing. Also, you guys might notice that Leora is on a permanent pms moodswing in this story. If any of you have every seen the t.v. series Buffy, there's a character in the newer episodes named Glory. Well, I loosely based Leora's personality on her. Anyway, let's start this show! Read on, fellow writers, and PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!! Thanks!


A Walk in Their Shoes
By: Jaded Cabbit

"What do you mean, easy?"

"Exactly what it sounds like... you have it easy." Luke and Leia were standing in Leia's livingroom, arguing. Both twins had returned to the house late, tired and irritable.

"Why would you say I have it easy?" Luke asked pointedly.

"Isn't it obvious?" Leia retorted. "I mean, I work at least ten hours a day, not including emergency conferences and such, attend multitudes of extra meetings, deal with rude and inpolite people, and when that's all finally over I come home to my second job; taking care of the kids."

"What about Han?" Luke inquired.
"As I said, taking care of the kids. Now tell me how much easier my life is." Luke stared at his sister. Was she blind?

"You think my life is easy?" That was the last straw. Without even thinking, Luke exploded at her, all his pent-up emotions from the past couple of strenuous days streaming out of his mouth. "You think being the hero of the universe is easy? I risk my life every week to keep everyone safe! I am a prime target for many crime organizations who would love nothing more then to torture me and see me die. I have no privacy, and my whole life is dedicated to saving the whole fucking universe..." Luke stopped in mid-sentence and turned away from Leia's astonished gaze. 'All this ranting is anger... anger leads to hate... hate leads to the Dark Side... I need to calm down...' He took a couple of deep breaths, then turned back to Leia. He had yelled at her, but he wasn't about to apologize either. "If you could spend just a day being me, then maybe you'd see how hard my life really is." Leia was very upset that her twin had yelled at her, but she was still angry.

"Yeah, same here brother."

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"Maybe we should give them what they want?"

"Not sure am I. Disasterous it could be."

"But Master Yoda, it would teach them to appreciate each other more."

"Hmm... a lesson they may need. You may proceed, Obi-Wan."

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Luke opened his eyes slowly. Last night Leia had thrown another one of her senetorial bashes, and Luke had been dragged along. He hadn't really minded, though; it was in Mara's honor. Still, he had been upset from his fight with Leia earlier in the day, and he had probably drank a little more alcohol than he should have. He started to get up, but a headache hit him and he flopped back down onto the bed.

'Hm... wait, this doesn't feel like my bed...' Luke desperately racked his brain, trying to remember the events of the previous night. He'd had a few shots of Corillian brandy with Han, along with a few other beverages. Then he'd snuck out to meet Mara; they had gone back to his room... 'Maybe we went back to her room instead...' Everything was a little fuzzy, starting after he left the party. Maybe they really had gone to Mara's room instead of his? Probably, he figured as he rolled over to go back to sleep. As he turned onto his other side,he came into contact with a body. He grinned as he ran his hand down Mara's back.

"Hey, wait a second; what the...?" Luke immediately knew something was wrong. Mara was well-toned, but her back wasn't that muscled...

Luke opened his eyes and stared in disbelief at what he saw.

"Han?!" He had to be seeing things; he was a little drunk last night, but not that drunk. "What the hell...?" Luke sat up, his head spinning. He brought his hand up to his head when he saw something unexpected.

"Nail polish?" Luke brought his hands closer to his eyes for inspection. They were long and feminine, coated with a light blue nail polish. On his left hand was a ring; the wedding ring Han had given Leia...

Quickly Luke looked down. He couldn't see his stomach. "Breasts!? I have breasts?!" He jumped out of bed, then ran for the 'fresher. Luke turned on the light as soon as he had gotten the door closed. Immediately he turned to the mirror, only to see exactly what he hadn't wanted to.

"Leia?!" Without exactly knowing why, Luke let out a cry of surprise and exasperation. Yet, it sounded more like a piercing scream.

"Ahhhhh!"

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Leia turned over and snuggled closer to her loved one. The party she had thrown had lasted long into the night, and by the time she had gotten herself home it was already 03:00. She and Han had been so exhausted that they had practically stumbled into bed as soon as the front door was closed. Leia heard a sigh as the person next to her rolled over and buried their head into Leia's shoulder.

'Han was a little tipsy last night... I hope he's not feeling sick.' Leia stroked his head, then stopped immediately. 'Han doesn't have long hair...' Leia opened her eyes and found herself staring at a slim, naked female body with a mane of golden-red hair.

"Sith!" she screamed involuntarily, then she jumped out of the bed. Tripping over a shoe, she looked down to watch her footing.

"By the Force!" Leia found herself sporting a man's golden-tanned body, completely naked except for a pair of boxers. 'What in the universe is going on?!' By the time she had screamed (or shouted) those two phrases so loudly, the red-haired woman on the bed had woken up. Leia looked over to see a pair of jade-green eyes staring back at her.

"Jade?!"

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"Ahhhh!" Luke screamed again, then suddenly the 'fresher door opened. Han ran inside, followed by Jaina and Jacen.

"Honey, are you okay? What's the matter?"

"Mommy, are you alright?"

"What scared you, mom?" Luke was suddenly bombarded with a million questions asked by people calling him mommy. Han came closer and hugged Luke fiercely.

"Leia, really, what's wrong?" Luke just stared at them. What could he say? That it was really him, Luke, not their mommy? Yeah, right.

"Um... I'm, uh, fine. Just had, um, a bad dream, that's all." Han protectively embraced him, while Jaina and Jacen just stood motionless.

"Are you sure?" Han asked. Luke didn't know Han was so protective of Leia.

"Yes, fine. I'm sorry for waking everyone." Luke looked at his niece and nephew; Jacen seemed pleased that his mother was alright, while Jaina had a puzzled look. "Jaina, are you okay?" She looked at him sharply, then politely smiled.

"Yeah mom, of course. Glad you're okay." Jaina grabbed her brother's arm and dragged him out of the room, mumbling something about getting to her bed before it got cold. She gave Luke one more glare when she got to the door, then disappeared around the corner.

"Are you really okay?" Luke turned back to his best friend, who was holding his shoulders.

"Yeah... I just need to se Lei... Luke really quick." Luke went to head for the holo, when Han grabbed his around the waist. He was suddenly pulled back into Han's strong chest.

"You can talk to him later. It's only 06:00, and the Kid's probably still asleep. I can give you an alternative, though."

"Really? What?" Han pulled Luke even closer, which made him nervous, then started whispering in his ear.

"Well... we're both awake, and the children are going back to sleep..." Han ended his half-sentence by nibbling on Luke's ear.

'Oh, sith...' "Han, DEAR, maybe we shouldn't..." Luke was suddenly cut off as Han kissed him fully on the lips, pushing himself against Luke. "Mmph mphf mfmph..." Luke tried to say, then he abruptly pushed Han away.

"Hey, what's the matter? You've never backed away before..."

"Han, really, I'm sorry..." Luke didn't want to say it, but he had to. "... I really want to, but..."

"But what, Princess?" Oh boy, he had called him princess. He was upset. "This smuggler not good enough for ya anymore?"

"No, Han! Look... I just really have to talk to... um, Luke, immediately. It's imperative; it can't wait."

"And I can?" What was Luke getting himself in to? He didn't know Han was so emotional...

Without thinking, Luke walked over to Han and kissed him hard on the lips. He waited a few seconds, then pulled away.

"If you wanna see what I have for you later, yes." Suddenly Han's face lit up like Coursant at night. Luke had pushed the right button.

"Oh, I see your little game..." Luke smiled slyly, then quickly ran toward Leia's closet. He opened it and gasped; he had never seen so many outfits! Quickly he rustled through Leia's many dresses, trying to decide which one Leia might wear. Finally he settled on a simple blue dress, then ran back into the 'fresher. He shut the door, then started to strip. He unconsciously glanced in the mirror; he had almost slipped off the small nightgown that Leia was wearing. He could face the mirror... the last thing he wanted to see was his sister's naked body. He turned away from the mirror, making sure he couldn't see any part of it. How was he going to do this?

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"Jade?!" Leia stared in horror at the trader/ex-imperial. Now she was really cofused (and scared). What was going on?

"Yeah, Skywalker?" Mara said mockingly to Leia's startled expression. Then a look of concern crossed her face when she saw Leia was genuinely upset. "Hey Luke, what's wrong?" Mara started to push herself up and walk over to Leia when she screamed (or yelled) again.

"No! Don't come near me you, you... you!" Mara stopped in her tracks, then whispered softly.

"Hey, farmboy, take it easy... there's no one here. We don't have to pretend anymore, remember?"

"Pretend..." Leia mumbled to herself. Suddenly, like a flash of lightening, it hit her.

She was in Luke's body! And Luke...

"Is with Jade...?"

"What about me, farmboy?" Mara purred at Leia, then quickly walked up to her and gave her a long, hard kiss. Leia was frozen stiff. Mara Jade was kissing her...

Suddenly a searching tongue popped into her mouth. Surprised, Leia gasped and accidentally bit down.

"Rrrh!" Mara yelped as she pulled away from Leia, holding her mouth. "What'd you do that for?" What was Leia supposed to say; oh, sorry, but I'm really Leia and I wasn't expecting myself to wake up in my brother's body and then have you stick your tongue down my throat? Yeah, right.

"Um..." Leia stumbled, "I, uh, didn't mean to. I guess you, um..." Leia took a big gulp. This is the last thing she ever thought she'd be saying to Mara Jade. "I guess you just... excited me a little unexpectedly." Mara stared at her for a second, then a sly smile crept across her face.

"Guess you're losing your touch, farmboy." Mara smiled wickedly, then headed for the boxers covering Luke's vunerable parts.

"Mara, I..." Leia started, but then she was interrupted by the buzzer for her hotel room. "Who is it?"

"It's me, Luke. Leia. I NEED to talk to you." A look of horror came over Mara's face as she heard the well-known voice.

"Kreth." Mara grabbed her clothes and raced into the 'fresher to hide.

"Um, coming." Leia waited until Mara had disappeared out of view, then ran herself, but for the main door and her brother. She hit the pad on the panel and the door slid open, revealing her body in a pale blue dress.

"Oh stars... that dress is SO last year..."

"I need to talk to you!" Luke hissed, then dragged her out into the hall. He quickly looked around to make sure nobody was within sight, then looked back to Leia.

"Look, I don't know what's going on, but it's not very funny!" she whined at her brother, who now looked like her.

"Neither do I... and I don't know how to fix it. All I know is that I woke up in your body... and Han was trying to, um... seduce me." Luke grinned awkwardly at himself, who was frowning. "What's wrong, sis?"

"Speaking of waking up and being seduced..." All at once the small grin on Luke's face dissolved to pure terror as some color went out of his face. Oh gods, she had seen her.

"Jade?" Luke piped smally. Leia gave him a look that could melt his brain into mush.

"Yes... what in the universe posessed you to, to... do that with Mara Jade?" Luke had been frightened before, but this was sheer terror. What to say...

"Um... I was drunk?" Leia, taking advantage of her new size, backed Luke up against the wall.

"That is not an excuse! Really, what's going on?" He couldn't tell her... Mara didn't want her to know, but...

The door to the room next to Luke's opened and Mara walked out, whistling to herself.

"Oh, hey Skywalker... Senator." Mara bowed her head mockingly at Luke.

"Mara!" Oops. Luke hadn't meant to say that. Sith.

"Yes, Senator?" Mara asked, putting extra pronounciation on Leia's title.

"Um, what are you..." Luke quickly scanned his brain. What would Leia say?

"Doing here? If you don't remember, I'm staying here, attending to extra business for the rest of the week." She stared at Luke long and hard, then a smirk appeared on her lips. "At least I didn't come out of Skywalker's room." On that note, Mara walked jauntily down the hall towards the turbolifts as Leia stared harshly at her back and Luke stood frozen in place, petrified. Leia turned to her shocked brother, a sarcastic expression on her face.

"Well, that went well."

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'How am I supposed to do this?' Luke was quickly trotting down one of the many halls of the New Republic building, wearing a new dress that Leia insisted was better then the blue one. Even though the blue one wasn't tight, like this one; he could barely breathe. 'How does Leia wear these things?' Luke slowed to to a walked, trying to catch his breath. It's not that Leia was out of shape, that's not why he was out of breath; it was the stupid dress. 'Late... can't breathe...' Finally he reached the designated meeting room. Everyone was already seated around a big conference table. Leia had waited until the last possible moment to tell Luke she had a meeting today. She had briefed him on the information on the way to the NR headquarters, then shoved him out of the car; over a cliff...

"Ah, Miss Organa-Solo... thank you for showing. Please, have a seat, and then maybe we can get started." A few chuckles floated through the room.

"Excuse me for being late... family problems."

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Leia walked slowly through the shopping district of Courscant. This was great; she had nothing to do but shop, shop and shop some more. Luke needed a new wardrobe anyway. Slowly she sauntered down the crowded street, enjoying her freedom from the day.

She was just about to walk into a men's casual-wear shop when she felt a small vibration on her thigh.

"Hm, set to vibrate... bad brother." She took the small, new-model comlink out of her pocket and answered it. "So... uh, Skywalker." That was too close. No answer from the comlink. "Skywalker," she repeated, only louder. There was a little static, then a strong voice at the other end.

"Master Skywalker, we've got a problem at the academy. Can you return to Yavin?" Leia slightly recognized Kyp Durron's voice, even though it was faded and static-masked. The range on this new comlink was amazing. "Master Skywalker?"

"Yes Kyp, um..." Leia's mind raced. Should she leave? Maybe she should. If Kyp needed Luke's help... "Yeah, I'll leave as soon as I can."

"Wonderful, Master Skywalker. Have a safe journey, and please..." There was a short pause, then Kyp whispered, "Please hurry." The comlink bleeped, then shut off. Leia sighed, then slowly put the small machine back in her pocket.

"So much for shopping."

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Luke sighed as he finally found refuge behind the door of Leia's office. They had drilled him like a war prisoner. Thakfully Leia had spent the entire last week discussing all the topics that had been reviewed at the conference. But still... it was stressful. Luke walked slowly to Leia's desk, trying hard not to stumble over the two-inch heels he was wearing. Finally reaching it, he flopped down hard into the soft chair, prying his shoes off and stretching. His feet were aching, and he still couldn't breathe. There was time to worry about that later, though; now he had to call Leia. He grabbed a comlink off of the desk and punched in the number for his new comlink. Suddenly a voice came over the frequency.

"Skywalker."

"Leia, it's me."

"Oh, good." Luke heard his voice lower as Leia began to whisper. "Listen, I need to talk to you."

"Yeah, me too. Like how do you wear these..."

"Luke, I'm leaving." Luke forgot all the questions he was about to ask her.

"Leaving? Where?"

"To Yavin IV. Kyp called about ten minutes ago... he said that they needed you, me, to go back and help."

"But, but... you can't go! You can't help them."

"What else am I supposed to do? You can't just show up there saying 'Yeah, it's really me. Leia and I switched bodies'. They'll think you're on spice or something; it won't work."

"Well, then I'm going with you."

"What? You can't do that... I have meetings to go to!"

"I'm cancelling them." He heard Leia growl over the comlink, then answer him.

"You can't do that."

"Watch me. Meet me at my x-wing in one hour." Luke snapped the comlink off. Leia had to take him anyway; he was the only one who could fly the x-wing.

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Soon Luke's heavily-modified x-wing was speeding through the empty space to Yavin IV. Anyone who saw them would see a young woman piloting the x-wing with a smug look on her face, while the guy shoved in the back was looking very unhappy.

"Luke, can't I pilot for a little? It's so cramped back here... and your body isn't making it any easier." Leia whined. She had been cramped in the stupid bucketseat for hours, and Luke's body was bigger than hers, so she was even more uncomfortable. 'I'll never call myself fat again...'

"I heard that, sis."

"Sorry."

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After a very quiet trip through space in a very small x-wing, Luke and Leia finally made it to Yavin IV. When Luke set the small craft down on the single landing pad, there was already a crowd of students gathered, waiting for Luke. When the top of the cockpit lifted open, the mass surged forward, excited to see that their master had returned. When they saw who jumped out of the cockpit, though, they all shifted their eyes and moved back.

"All right, what's the problem?" Luke jumped out of the cockpit and almost broke his ankle when he landed in Leia's high heels. Oh gods, he forgot...

"Um, Senator Organa-Solo... what a surprise." Kyp commented slowly, making his way out of the crowd. He looked around quickly, almost as if he was hoping something (or someone) hadn't noticed Leia's presence.

"Tell me about it." Luke muttered back.

"Master Skywalker... we need to talk." Kyp yelled up to the open cockpit, where Leia was standing. She heard Kyp, but didn't pay any attention. "Master Skywalker?" Still, no answer.

"Luke!" Luke shouted at his sister, who finally turned around.

"What?" Leia asked innocently. She looked down at the sea of eyes watching her. Luke was frowning. 'Hm... I look horrible when I'm angry... no wonder Han always backs away from me when I'm mad...'

"Um, brother, Kyp needs to talk to you." Hearing her own voice growling at her brought Leia back to the here-and-now.

"Yes, of course. Kyp, I'll be there in a minute." Leia walked to the edge of the small vehicle; it wasn't too far from the ground. And Luke had made the jump, in high heels, and survived. 'Well, here goes...' Leia jumped off the edge of the x-wing... and into blackness.

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"Master Skywalker, are you okay?"

"Hey, he's waking up!"

"Luke... Luke!" Leia opened her eyes slowly. Her head was pounding; and why were they calling her Luke? She looked around; she figured she was in the academy's small med center from the looks of everything. Kyp was standing next to her with Tionne and half the academy.

"What... what happened?" Tionne looked at her worridly, then glared at the few students behind her who had the nerve to giggle.

"Um... Kyp?" Kyp glanced sharply over at Tionne, who only smiled weakly. Sighing, he started.

"Well, Master Skywalker... you, um, tripped... when you were, err, attempting to jump out of the x-wing." Leia stared at him in silence. Kyp paused, not sure how she would respond. "And you knocked yourself out. But Tionne and I caught you before you hit the ground, so you should be fine soon." Kyp blurted out the last sentence very quickly, hoping it would make everything just a little more okay. A few more students giggled, and Tionne once again stared at them, daggers in her eyes. The giggles stopped. Tionne turned back to Leia, who was extremely confused.

"Um... where's Luke?" Immediately Tionne and Kyp caught each other's eyes. It was worse than they had originally thought.

"I'd better go get Leia... you stay here with Master Skywalker." Tionne spun around, and hearding the others out, left to find who she thought was Leia.

"Luke, we're going to get Leia, your sister." Kyp said worriedly, over-pronounciating every important detail. He never called Luke by his first name in front of anyone, and even then only when he was worried about the heroic man.

"No, you don't understand... I'm Leia. Luke and I... we switched bodies. Ow, my head..." Leia continued to rattle on while Kyp tried to digest the outrageous story.

'There's no possible way...' Out of the corner of his eye he saw Tionne returning, dragging who they thought was Leia behind her. She walked the small figure to the bed.

"Luke," Tionne said softly, "your sister's here." Tionne was the only other student besides Kyp and Mara who refered to the Jedi by his first name. Luke leaned over his sister, who had given his poor head a concussion...

"Luke, dear... are you alright?" he asked. It was like talking to a mirror.

"Oh, cut the crap Luke! I told Kyp how we switched bodies... so stop the act! It's making my head hurt." Kyp looked over at Luke in question. Tionne ust heard this news; she stared queerly at Leia.

"Leia... I think Luke might have some weird case of amnesia..." Kyp started.

"No." He looked puzzeled.

"No?"

"No. She doesn't. Everything she said is true..." Tionne's gaze shifted from Leia to Luke, the questioning expression still plastered to her face. Kyp's mouth dropped open.

*Do you think they've both been exosed to some drug?* Tionne sent to Kyp. His mouth closed.

*No... that's about as absurd as both of them taking spice. I think I believe them.* Now it was Tionne's turn for her mouth to pop open.

*Really?*

*Yes. I mean, it's just too weird to be a coincidence. Think about it... would they both have the exact same story, even if they were both exposed to the same drug? It's just too unlikely.* Tionne considered Kyp's words for a minute; they did make sense...

*I, um... I guess you're right. So what do we do now?*

*I have no idea.*

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A smile appeared on the face of the figure watching the academy through it's own survellance holos.

"Hm... not only is Mara Jade on her way, but Skywalker and Organa-Solo are both here. This is better than I had planned." The cloaked figure laughed as the academy attendants kep moving through their schedules, unaware of the impending danger residing within their own home.

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After a couple of hours of monitoring to reduce the risk of side-effects after her concussion, Leia was freed of the cramped med center bed. Even though she was fit enough to be walking around, the jackhammer inside her head was still running.

"Isn't Luke supposed to have some special healing powers or something?" Leia mumbled to herself as she walked down the hall to her semi-permanent quarters in the academy. As she walked past Luke's room, a red-haired woman appeared from behind a corner.

"Hey Skywalker, not going to say hello?" Leia frowned.

"No." A look of shock appeared on Mara Jade's face.

"What jawa climbed up your butt, Skywalker?"

"Look," Leia said, puttingher arm around Mara's shoulder and guiding her down the hall, "this is not the time or place for hostile attitudes. Go talk to Leia... I promise, she has all the answers." Leia gave Mara a quick pat on the back, the continued strolling down the hall. Mara stood rooted in place, watching whom she thought to be Luke enter Leia and Han's quarters, then shut the door.

"Strange... okay, where did he get the spice, and why isn't he sharing?" But Mara was not one to ignore Luke (yeah, right), so she went off in search for Leia.

Once inside her room, Leia wiped the cheery grin off her face. What was she thinking... being nice to Mara. Maybe it came with the territory?

"Stupid, conniving little... ooh!" Leia fumed. "I can't believe Luke is even associating with her..." Suddenly a scene from the night before entered her mind.

"Well I'll be..." Leia looked up from her conversation with a couple other senators.

"What is it, dear?" Han looked around, and seeing that there were too many ears listening, he dragged Leia off.

"She'll be right back." he called to the confused senators. When they got far enough away from everyone else, Han leaned over and whispered in Leia's ear.

"Luke and Mara." Leia looked around the room and spotted the couple in the corner; Luke said something and laughed, then Mara punched him in the arm and said something in response to Luke's earlier comment. That's what they always happens when they're together. Leia looked back at Han.

"What about them?" Han looked at her, then over towards Luke and Mara, and back again.

"You don't see it?"

"See what?" Han grabbed Leia's head gently between his hands, squishing her mouth, then turned her head so she was back to staring at the two Jedi.

"That!" Luke and Mara were still bantering.

"Day're dust biting." Han spun Leia around.

"No, they're not just fighting!" Han lowered his voice again. "They're flirting."

"Flirting?" Luke and Mara... no... who was Han trying to kid?

"Don't you see it, Princess? Look at them; the way they act, the way they speak... they're in love."

Love? Just the word, love... all the emotions connected to it. Could Han possibly be right? Are Luke and Mara... well, they are sleeping together... but she could just be using him... a simple fling. But how long has it been going on? A couple of days... weeks... months... even years?

"Great Stars... what if they are in love? They... they might get married, and... have kids... I'd be an aunt..." And hasn't that been Leia's big dream for Luke- for him to get married and settle down? Now, it could finally be happening... but with Jade? "Maybe she's not so bad..."

And the revelation began.

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"What?!"

"Um, well..."

"You mean I slept with your sister?!" Mara had just gone to talk to Leia... or so she thought.

"No! No, no no no... that was me... believe me, I remember..."

"But you woke up in her body?"

"Yeah... and she woke up in mine..."

"So your sister saw me naked?!" Okay, this was getting bad.

"Um, yes... no... I don't know..."

"I tried to take her boxers off!" Whoa, talk about TMI's...

"Look, it's not my fault. It's not like I did it... or like I'm enjoying it. So please, just calm down." Mara stopped, then took a deep breath. Skywalker was right; at least she didn't switch bodies with anyone.

"Yeah, okay... sorry." Mara mumbled.

"Did you just apologize, Mara Jade?"

"Uh-huh." She mumbled some more.

"Wow, and new ground has been broken..."

"Watch it farmboy, or I might retract that apology." Mara grinned wickedly at Luke.

"Okay, I'll hold my tongue." Mara's smile grew.

"I'd hold it for ya..." Luke grinned at this new prospect. "... but you're in your sister's body, so I'm not going to touch you." Luke smile vanished instantly.

"But..." he started, then he stopped. Did he really want Mara kissing his sister (sort of)? Not really.

"But what?"

"Oh, um, nothing." Mara gave him a small smile, then hugged him.

"Don't worry... soon this will all be over, and everything can return to normal." Normal meaning Mara torturing the esctacy out of Luke. To Luke, that torture was good...

"I really hope so."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

For the protection of the academy, Luke and Leia's little switch was kept as a secret between the two twins, Kyp, Mara and Tionne. This way, there would be no leaks to the press or anyone else who could benefit from the situation. During most of the day Luke paraded as Leia, while Leia struggled to become Luke. She would end up resigning Luke's classes to Tionne or Kyp because she couldn't teach them herself. Two days of trying to teach classes left Leia wandering the halls with a sore butt (after falling on it multiple times).

On the other hand, Luke was off prancing around, leaping in to a few classes as Leia. And he was doing really well. To everyone in the clases, it appeared that Leia had been training; maybe she had even inherited many of the Jedi genes Luke had. Either way, she was getting really good.

The cloaked figure watched a class in progress in the courtyard; watched Leia bound around in sweats and a tank top.

"Very unlike the senator we all know so well... something odd is going on." The camera switched pictures, showing Luke walking down a hall, a little limp in his right leg. "And the Jedi... he's looking a little weak. Perfect." The figure pushed a small yellow button, and two more cloaked figures entered. They bowed down on their knees.

"Master."

"Now's the time... Skywalker is weak, and both the women in his life are here. Capture them."

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"Lu... uh, Leia, I need to talk to you."

"Okay... be right there..." Luke huffed as he was doing jumping jacks.

"Um... it's really important..." Luke stopped moving and looked over at Kyp, who was looking around somewhat nervously and figiting.

'Something's not right here...' Luke thought to himself. *What's wrong, Kyp?*

*Luke!* Kyp gasped. *It's... it's you!* Apparently when using the Force, Luke still sounded like his usual self. Even in Leia's body.

*Yeah... and it also appears that I've kept my Force power.*

*What do you mean?*

*Well, even though Leia and I switched bodies, our minds retained all our characteristics.*

*So you mean...*

*Even though Leia has my body, she's pretty much helpless. The only things she can do are the actions her mind already knows.*

*Oh gods... look, Luke, I've got bad news.* Bad news? Leia didn't smack his head again, did she?

*Bad? How bad?* Luke suddenly felt a wave of terror coming from Kyp. *Kyp, what's going on?*

*We... we have reason to suspect that the Imps have infiltrated the academy... with the Empress.*

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"Hmm... so they know we're here. That's a shame; now we don't have the element of surprise. But that's just as well... now we'll have a fight." Leora smiled as she ran the procedure over and over through her mind; everything was perfect, and this time Luke Skywalker wouldn't get away.

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Leia and Mara were walking down the hall, and believe it or not, they were chatting. Civily.

"So, um... I guess you and Luke are... getting along nicely?"

"Me and Skywalker? Yeah..." Mara stopped short; Leia knew about them now... she woke up next to Mara, for the love of the Force. If she hadn't figured it out by now... "Um, yeah, we're doing fine."

"Well... I'm glad Luke's happy." Was this really Senator Leia Organa-Solo, the president of the Mara Jade Hate Club? "And, I don't know you very well... but since you're, um... dating my brother, I'd like to get to know you better." Guess not. Mara started to giggle. "Was... was that funny?" Leia inquired, looking a little flustered.

"No, no! It's just... your words coming from farmboy's mouth... it's just..."

"Weird?" Mara laughed.

"Exactly." Leia joined in Mara's laughter; this may have been the first time Leia had ever seen Mara smile. And if she can laugh, then she can't be all that bad.

Well, we're all hoping it'll be over soon. I know I miss Han, and you..." Leia stopped and looked over at Mara, who was blushing slightly.

"Yeah... guess us women are all alike. Do you like chocolate?"

"Do banthas smell?" Leia said, laughing some more. Mara joined in.

"Well, I've got a small stash in my room... care to join me?"

"If you're not worried I'll inhale it all, then I'd love to."

"Great... and I guess that'll give us a chance to get to know each other better."

"Yeah, guess so."

An hour later found Leia and Mara sitting on Mara's floor, giggling (somewhat) and eating chocolate.

"Wow, I didn'tk now that much about how far back you and Luke went!"

"Yeah, and I still can't believe the first time I met him was when he rescued me from father... while he was still Vader, though..."

"You two have an interesting family... do you have a chocolate truffle?"

"Uh-huh... I thought he was the shortest stormtrooper in the world! Yeah, I have two..."

"Well, don't hog them all..." Leia threw one of the small candies at Mara, then laughed when it hit her in the head. "Thanks... anyway, and you met Han at the same time?"

"Yeah, back when his ego was bigger than his ship." Both women laughed at this, then Mara laughed even harder when she heard Leia giggling. After all, she was in Luke's body; and Luke was not the kind of guy who giggles.

"Speaking of Han," Mara giggled, trying to stop, "does he know about your... predicament?" Leia suddenly stopped laughing, her eyes growing wide. Mara looked over to her, then her giggling also died off. "You... you haven't told him yet?"

"No, I totally forgot..." Both women glanced at each other, then got up and ran for Luke's quarters.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Uh-unh, I'm not doing it."

"Please brother... for Han's sake..." Leia stared at her twin; een though his mind was in her body, she could still see him, his essence.

"Yeah farmboy... just do it... for Leia and Han." Wait a minute... was that Mara agreeing with Leia? And she just called her Leia, not senator, or your highness, or any other title. Just Leia. Could they possibly be getting along?

"Um, well..."

"Please?" they both asked in unison. Luke did a double take, then shook his head in disbelief.

'Now they're ganging up on me...' He looked at both women and their pleading eyes. Why the eyes? "Okay, fine." Mara and Leia smiled at each other, and each taking one of Luke's arms, pulled him down the hall to the holo room.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Leia! Great Stars, where are you?"

"I'm, um... on Yavin IV... with Luke."

"At the academy?"

"Yeah... I might be here for a few days..." Han sighed, then looked back at the holo. "Okay Princess... well, the kids wanna talk to ya."

"Okay Han... thank you." Han's face disappeared as Jaina and Jacen appeared on the holo.

"Hi mommy... are you with uncle Luke?"

"Sure am... and how are you doing, Jacen?" Jacen smiled brightly.

"Today in school I got the highest score on the class test!"

"That's wonderful... my little genius." Jacen's face turned to a look of confusion, but then his smile returned.

"Yeah, guess I am. Well, it's Jaina's turn... love you mommy."

"Love you too." Jaina stepped forward while Jacen moved into the background.
"Hey Jaina... how is everything?"

"Okay." Jaina had a small frown on her face.

"Just okay?"

"Look, I know what's going on... why did you lie to my dad?" What was she talking about?

"I didn't lie to your father; I really am at the academy."

"No that. Where's mom, really?" No way; how could she possibly know?

"Jaina..."

"I want to speak to my mom... Uncle Luke."

"Jaina! How...?" Luke lowered his voice to a whisper. "How did you know?" For the first time since the conversation started, Jaina smiled.

"It was like you taught us; I read your personal Force vibrations. When we thought mom was in the 'fresher with dad, and Jacen and I ran in, I couldn't feel mom's vibration. It felt more like your vibes, not mom's. Right then I knew that wasn't my mom standing there in front of me, even though it looked like her." Luke listened to his young niece, stunned. She definitely had inherited the Force from her mother. And Leia always thought she wasn't strong enough to produce children with the unique manipulation.

"Well... I'm very proud of you Jaina, but..."

"Don't worry... I won't tell dad." Luke grinned; she was quick.

"Thank you. Do you still want to talk to your mother?"

"No, that's okay. As long as I know she's fine."

"Okay. She'll be home soon... Skywalker out."

"I'll be waiting... Solo out." The screen flashed, then went black. Luke smiled to himself; Leia's kids were growing up, and very likely with a good amount of the Force. Luke walked out of the holo room and into the hall, where Leia and Mara were waiting.

"So, how'd it go?" Leia asked, a little nervous.

"Good, and I think you should know..."

"Know what?" Leia interrupted him.

"... that Jaina has definitely inherited the Force."

"Well, we already knew that..."

"And is already developing her powers." Leia stopped for a moment, then went back to talking.

"But... but nobody has been teaching her." She turned to Mara, like maybe she could help. Mara just shrugged.

"I know, but it's true." Luke began to whisper. "She knows that we've switched bodies."

"You told her?!"

"No, that's what I've been saying. She's known eer since the day we woke up like this." Luke said, gesturing to Leia's body.

"But how?"

"She sensed it... with the Force. This means that Jacen is probably as advanced as she is." Leia stared silently at Luke. She was happy that her children had been blessed with such a gift, of course, but they will want to take after Luke and go to the academy... then go into battle with the Dark Side... or get dragged into it...

"Look, I don't want to talk about this just now." Leia snapped. Mara took a step back; Luke's mouth dropped. Leia never got that angry at him. Mara was just afraid; she'd heard that Leia had a nasty temper.

"Okay... I'm sorry." Luke said quietly. Leia sighed.

"No, don't be. You didn't do anything..." Just then Tionne and Kyp came down the hall.

"Master Skywalker, you're needed in the Assembly Hall." Luke smiled, then thought to himself as Leis stared off into space.

'Something doesn't feel right...'

"Master Skywalker?" Luke Force-jabbed Leia, who had temporarily forgotten about their little charade.

"Oh, um, okay Kyp... I'm right behind you." She then turned to leave.

"Senator, Miss Jade... you can come along." Tionne said slowly.

"Hey, it's always fun to tag along behind Skywalker, right?" Mara said, turning to Luke.

"Oh, yeah, of course," he said in a mocking voice, like Leia might. But he was still busy thinking. He knew something was wrong; but what? He and Mara fell into step behind Leia, while Kyp and Tionne walked in front of them. Luke took a closer look at his two Jedi aids; Kyp's chin was down, unusual for his confident self, and the bounce was gone from Tionne's step. They were both walking stiffly, almost like robots. Robots...

Just as Luke had figured out what was wrong, it was already too late. The trio had walked into the dark Assembly Hall, the doors shutting and locking behind them. Suddenly the lights on the stage came on, shining into the auditorium. Every student was there, tied to the chairs and the columns, even some just sitting on the floor tied in groups of six or seven. Up on the stage were five chairs; in the first two Tionne and Kyp were tied up, Tionne with a gag in her mouth. The Force had disappeard the moment the doors closed, and Luke suddenly had a lapse of déjà vu. All he could see was Keira's livingroom, blackness, being tied to her bed; the apartment filled with a gaping nothingness...

Mara looked over at Luke and saw the pain in his eyes. She knew he was thinking of the episode at Keira's... just as she was. Everything just flooded back...

Suddenly the blaster flew out of Mara's hand and over to Keira. She grabbed it and pointed it at a very stunned Mara.

"But what about..."

"The ysalimiri?" Keira finished for Mara. "Special breed. We genetically altered their DNA so that they only block the Light. The Dark Side is now unaffected by their natural shields."

Unaffected. Mara looked back to Luke, who was doing a fine job of wrinkling Leia's brow. She walked over to him and put her arm around him, which felt weird because he was now shorter than her. Go figure.

"It'll be okay." Luke turned to her, fire in his eyes.

"I wish I could believe you." Suddenly a wave of silence fell over the room as one voice spoke.

"So, Luke Skywalker... it's nice to have you finally join us." The trio's eyes widened as they all recognized the voice eminating from off the stage.

"Leora..." Luke whispered fiercely, his eyes now blazing. A lone figure walked on to the stage, covered by a long, black hooded cape. Two small hands protruded from the cloak, and quickly untying it, let it drop. The cloak hit the floor, revealing a beautiful young woman.

"Well, you look happy to see me." Luke sneered at her, ready to spit out a rude comment when he took a second to follow Leora's gaze. She was talking directly to Leia, not him.

'She doesn't know...' Luke pulled Mara with him up a few feet, where Leia was standing, petrified.

"She doesn't know about us... to her you're me." Luke whispered into Leia's ear. She turned around, mouth set in a hard line, then nodded.

"Anything you'd like to discuss with the rest of us, Senator?"

"Not really." Luke shot back at Leora, who was smirking at him. The smirk vanished.

"As you wish." Leora made a small hand movement, then the room filled with imperial troopers. They were wearing all black cloth, not the tacky white stormtrooper suits they used to; apparently Leora had gotten to those (and probably burned them). Four of the guards walked up behind Luke and Mara and grabbed them, one on each of their arms. Luke immediately jumped up and planted a foot in one of his guard's faces, while Mara tripped one of hers. In the space of a few seconds, both were free again. Leora, who had just stood by and watched the fight (if you could call it that), glowered at them.

"Well, Senator... I didn't know you were so... forceful."

"I've been practicing," was Luke's only reply.

"And Miss Jade... congrats to you. You've grown a lot stronger since your time as my father's right-hand man; or woman."

"I have nothing to say to you." Leora's face grew darker, and raising one hand in the air, she lifted Mara off her feet. Mara struggled in the air, choking.

"Don't talk back to me, bitch." She smiled as Mara struggled for a while, and when she was about to fall unconscious, Leora dropped her. She fell to the floor in a crumpled heap.

"Mara!" Leia screamed, then turned away from Leora and the scene before her to get to Mara. Luke was already there, cradling Mara's head in his lap.

"Don't worry, MJ... this will all end soon." Luke whispered to a moaning Mara. "It'll be okay." Leia finally made it up to them and kneeled next to her new-found friend, stroaking her hair.

"Mara, stay strong. Please, we'll get through this..."

"Enough." Luke and Leia averted their eyes from Mara to Leora, who was standing on the stage looking disgusted. "I don't want that wishy-washy banthashit in my presense."

"Then why don't you make yourself scarce?" All the troopers and students gasped as Leora's gaze bore into the back of the room. She couldn't believe it; someone back-talking to her!

"That's it... take Senator Organa-Solo here to her new chambers." Luke struggled slightly as the guards grabbed his arms and started leading him down into the basement. Hopefully, if he acted weak, then the guards might get lazy and not lock him up so carefully. And since they didn't know he and his Jedi powers were in Leia's body.

Suddenly he was given a quick heave, then he felt himself stumble at the loss of balance and fall onto the concrete floor. He heard a clang, then sitting up realized they had locked him in one of the injured-animal cages in the basement. What luck.

"That'll show you, Senator Bitch," one of the guards jeered at him. When Luke looked over he saw it was the guard he had kicked in the face earlier. He had a lovely black eye, and his nose was looking a little crooked...

"Well, at least I didn't have my ass kicked by a girl." Luke shot back, watching the guard's smile change into a scowl.

"Why, I oughta come in there and..."

"And what? Get your ass kicked again?" The guard growled and ran for the cage door, while two more guards who overheard the argument ran over and restrained the enraged man.

"Hey, knock it off."

"Yeah, cool it, she can't get you from in there."

"I'll get you bitch, remember that!" The guard continued to curse at her as the other two dragged him out of the area. Luke stared at this sight in amusement. He didn't know how much fun it was to piss people off until now. One of the other guards returned; now he was the keeper of Leia Organa-Solo, aka: Senator Bitch. Luke laughed quietly to himself; he wondered if Leia knew about this friendly Imp nickname. It was almost like she was the school teacher that all the little children hated.

Returning to a calm state, Luke leaned back against the wall, plotting. He had no idea what was happening to Leia and Mara right now, and that was worrying him. Without even thinking, his mind reached out for either of the two women, trying to feel them...

Force wall. They still had the Assembly Hall filled with those mutant ysalimiri. If only they had the Force...

'Wait a second... Force wall...' Luke smiled as the relization of his predicament hit him. "They didn't block the Force down here!" he whispered excitedly to himself. That had just made his plan even easier. Now he wouldn't have to hurt those three guards... much.

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Five guards escorted Leia and Mara up to the stage; three on Leia, two on Mara. They were led to two of the three unoccupied chairs next to Kyp and Tionne.

"Mmph... mph frmp mfrm!" Tionne yelled into her gag. Kyp just sat, not moving; defeated.

'Please, take your seats... the show's about to begin." Leora glared at Leia, who put on a confident face and sat down. Mara followed suit. Suddenly a small army of troopers appeared on the stage, wielding special ropes. They came up behind Mara and Leia, tying the two to their chairs and then handcuffing them with Mara's preferred crystal-chip cuffs. Neither of them resisted.

"Good... at least we know how to follow directions, unlike some of our friends here." Leora glared at Tionne, who in turn pushed her middle finger up at her. Leora smiled.

"Temper temper. You should learn from your three friends here... at least they have enough sense to keep quiet and listen to those who are stronger than them." Leora's smile grew, making Mara want to puke.

'Gods, she is sooo self-centered... and egotistical... and fat...'

"Fat?!" Leora roared, then quickly making her way across the stage, stopped in front of Mara's chair. Squeals and shrieks floated across the room from the younger children being held captive in the seating section.

"What?" Mara asked innocently. She was really confused.

"You called me fat!" Mara stared at her skeptically as Leora went into a mood swing. The smile returned to her face, and she leaned over to speak into Mara's ear. "Have you already forgotton from your last encounter with us, and may I add that you are a good warrior, that the ysalimiri are genetically altered? I still have the Force... and I can read your mind." Mara finally realized what had happened; Leora had been tramping around inside her head.

"Hope you like what you find." Leora took a step back; Mara was grinning at her. The nerve! Leora slapped Mara across the face... hard.

"Don't mess with me... or I will kill you." Mara's head hung low, her nose bleeding.

"Mara! Are you alright?" Leia asked her.

"Yeah, just a bloody nose... no big deal." Leia smiled to herself. Mara was such a courageous person, and she had guts of steel. Now she was beginning to see why her brother was in love with her; and she was accepting it. Willingly.

Leora stood in front of the four, tapping her foot on the wooden stage. The solitary sound echoed through the highly-acoustic room, amplifying to a deafening pounding. She eyed the Jedi, then turned toward "her" audience.

"First and foremost, I'd like to thank you all for coming." The kids squirmed around in their chairs, the loud ones gagged, all bound.

"Master Skywalker will get you!" a small child yelled.

"Gag him." Leora said simply, watching as a guard ran over and stuffed some cloth in the kid's mouth. Leora waited until the guard returned to his spot, then she continued.

"As I was saying... I'm glad that each and every one of you could be here. Today we're going to play a little game; a gave I like to call... Cooperation. When I ask one of our four contestants a question, they have to answer it. But not with just any answer... with the correct answer. When they do, we'll move on to the next person. If they get it wrong, though..." Leora swept her hand out towards the black room, "then we'll bring one of our 'friends' from the audience up, place them in our guest chair, then kill them." A few screams and shouts were heard from the academy students; Tionne screamed into her gag and struggled to break her bonds, while Mara's eyes grew about five times their original size. Leia looked over to Kyp, who was still sitting silent, alone in his own corner of the universe. Kyp looked over towards Leia, then smiled wanly.

"Kyp," Leia whispered softly.

"Don't worry about me... I'll be okay. We all will... he'll be here soon." Leia stared at Kyp, puzzled. "He's never let us down." Finally Leia realized Kyp was talking about Luke. She smiled back at Kyp.

"Never." Kyp's smile brightened momentarily, then it vanished as he turned back towards the floor. Leora stopped pacing and stood in front of the four.

"So," Leora began, "let's start with... Mara."

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His plan was completely ready. Not only were the guards easy pushovers, but they hadn't checked his sweats for weapons... leaving him connected to the Force and armed with a lightsaber. Stupid them.

The guard Luke had upset earlier was now back on his detail, and he could feel the anger against him radiating from the man's body. Or at least for Leia, anyway. Now was the time.

"Hey, up and running again already?" The guard glared at him hatefully, then turned back to his porno holo-mag he was "reading". Luke despised men who read those pieces of trash. "Aw, come on... you're not going to answer me? Awe you scawed?" He continued in a mocking voice. The guard glared at him again.

"You didn't even scratch me." Luke giggled.

"Well, you're right about that... but I gave you a pretty nice limp..."

"Shut up, Senator Bitch." The guard laughed. The maturity level of this man; he thought he was so funny.

"Ooh, that really hurt. But probably not compared to that nose of yours..."

"Okay, that's it!" the guard hissed, closing his holo-mag. He stood up, and limping, made his way to Luke's enclosure. "You wanna start something?" he growled through the bars. Luke smiled innocently.

"Since you insisted..." he said slowly, then curling his finger in a way to suggest to the guard that he should come after him, he spoke again. "Come and get it." The guard sneered, then quickly opened the cage. His mistake.

As soon as the door was opened, Luke stood up and did a roundhouse, kicking the side of the man's head. He stumbled sideways and rammed his head into the wall, knocking himself out. Luke grabbed his arms and dragged the rest of the man's heavy body into the cage, then grabbing his keys and blaster, walked out and locked the unconscious man inside.

"Stupid stupid stupid..." Luke muttered as he fiddled with his newly acquired blaster. "Shouldn't underestimate the enemy." Luke quickly walked the undergroud labyrinth in the academy's basement, making sure to either bypass or knock out all the troopers between him and the stairs to the main level. Once he reached the stairwell, he took a moment to pause. Reaching out and finding barriers, he roughly estimated the positions of the ysalimiri inside the Assembly Hall according to where the stronger and weaker spots were located along the Force wall. He'd have to kill them all as quickly as possible to ensure the safety of everyone... and his own protection. But to kill them all... it could take a while. Suddenly an idea formed in his mind as he figured out how to do it.

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"Now, Miss Jade... is it not true that you were sent here on a mission?" Mara shut her eyes at the question. Only Luke and the three other chair-occupants on the stage knew about her ex-Imperial days. She stalled.

"Could you clarify the question, please?" Leora obviously had no patience. She strolled over to Mara, then using her lightsaber, cut a small gash in Mara's thigh. She howled in pain.

"The Imperial mission, Miss Jade. Were you not on an Imperial mission when you met Mr. Skywalker?" Mara clenched her teeth against the pain, then growled at Leora.

"Yes... I was." A few gasps went through the room as students tried to imagine what their friend Mara was doing on an Imperial mission. Leora smiled, then went on.

"And what was that mission?"

"I thought it was one question per turn."

"Well, I changed the rules." Leora hissed at Mara as she once again stabbed Mara's leg with her lightsaber. Another howl escaped from Mara. "Now, as I was saying... what was the mission?"

"To... to kidnap and murder... Luke Skywalker." Mara gasped through her closed mouth. A few more gasps and comments circulated through the room. Mara, an Imperial agent? Trying to assasinate Master Skywalker?

"That's right, everyone." Leora proclaimed loudly. "Miss Jade here is the ex-Emperor's Hand. Betcha didn't know that." She laughed as Mara fought hard against oncoming tears. Leora walked back over to Mara and patted her back. "Well done, Mara. You answered correctly, therefore saving the life of one of our fellow classmates... that wasn't so hard, now was it?"

"Bitch." Mara managed to spit out. Leora lost her temper again, knocking Mara upside the head with the handle of her lightsaber. Mara's head dropped as she quickly sucumbed to the darkness of her mind. Leia started shouting as Tionne struggled more against her bonds.

"Mara! Mara, wake up!"

"No use now, Skywalker... she's out like a light." Leora sat down squarely on Leia's lap, then caressed her cheek. "Think of it this way... she'll wake up refreshed." Leora smiled wickedly, then got up off Leia's legs and moved in front of Kyp.

"Ah, Kyp, my favorite little boy." Kyp kept his head low, trying not to look at the evil witch in front of him. "Your turn... are you ready?"

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This was impossible! The only way Luke could put his plan into action was to sneak into the Assembly Hall without being detected. That was the complicated part right there. There were troopers at every door to the room. He could get past them, easily... but not without making a disturbance. And who knew what could happen then.

Luke silently creeped around the back halls of the academy, trying to find the safest way inside the Hall.

"That door's guarded, and that one, that one too..." Suddenly Luke stopped as he reached the entrance to the small tech booth opposite the stage. Nobody was guarding that. "Too easy." Luke muttered as he glanced around at the hallway. Empty. Quickly he opened the small door that looked like it belonged to a janatorial closet, jumped inside the frame and shut the door behind him. Not a sound. Luke stood still for a moment, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the near-lightless passage. He heard a few screams softly echo through the passage. "Leora... you scum." he whispered fiercely to himself. Stealthily he padded down the narrow passage until he reached the small, spiral stairs that led up to the inky techbooth. Luke really hated those stairs. They were just so... so small. He always felt like he was going to break them any day now. He quickly scaled the stairs and hoisted himself up into the booth, which was thankfully still occupied by the Force. He blocked his presense, then crawling on all fours, made his way over to the huge, tinted panel of glass seperating the booth from the rest of the auditorium.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"So, Mr. Durron... ready for your question?" Leora stood in front of the silent Jedi, hands on her hips. "C'mon now, give us an answer."

"Yes." Kyp said quietly. He knew what was going to happen now... he knew what she was going to ask him. Now all he could do was wait for her to deliver the blow.

"Good, because you know how impatient I can be." Leora turned toward the rest of the academy and spoke loudly, her voice resonating throughout the room. "Mr. Durron, are you a traitor?"

No answer. Leora turned the upper-half of her body so that she was partially facing Kyp.

"Are you?" she asked forcefully.

"Yes." Kyp answered weakly. Leia and Tionne both turned to stare at him, as did half the academy.

"Very good, a correct answer. Now I bet everyone out there is wondering what exactly you did to be branded a traitor. Well, here's the answer... Mr. Durron here allowed me and my companions," she said, gesturing to all the troopers in the room, "to just walk in here, no resistance, and capture you all."

"No!" Kyp yelled, raising his voice for the first time. "That's not what happened! You surrounded me in the woods, tied me up, beat me, then threatened to kill..." Kyp didn't have a chance to finish as a gag was shoved into his mouth. He struggled for a minute against his unbreakable bonds, then realizing it was hopeless, settled back down into his defeated position. Leia looked over to him; for the first time since she had arrived she noticed Kyp wasn't wearing a long-sleeved shirt, but rather a tank top. His arms were battered, purple and yellow marks coloring them. His legs were exact replicas of his arms, finally uncovered by his shorts. Nobody had realized what had happened to him; he had hid it so well under his long clothes, not telling a soul. Leia's heart went out to the courageous boy.

"You can all learn from him," Leora said to the other three on the stage; even though Mara was unconscious, Tionne was struggling in her chair and Leia was trying to talk to Kyp, she acted as though they were all listening intently. "At least he knows his place. You should all be as complacent as he is." Leora stepped back, did an eeny-meeny-miny-mo between Leia and Tionne, then stepped up to her next victim. "Okay Tionne dear... your turn."

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Luke sat back on his knees, stunned. Kyp had known the entire time that Palpatine had been in the academy? Luke thought about the scene for a minute; Leora must have threatened him pretty badly to get him to keep their presense a secret for so long. And his beaten body. He moved back toward the window, watching as Leora walked over to Tionne. She obviously was next on Leora's hit list. Kyp looked almost dead, and Tionne was fighting Leora all that she could. Leia was figiting uncomfortably, and Mara...

"She's not moving." Luke went to reach out to her, only succeeding in hitting the Force wall created by Leora's vicious pets. "Sith!" Only able to hope and pray that Mara was still alive and well, Luke cleared his mind and continued forming his plan. He stretched out, surrounding the barrier around the Assembly Hall, finding the strong points in the wall. One was backstage, probably right behind the five chairs to insure the incapacitation of the Jedis' powers. "Perfect." As least he knew part of his plan was ready. Luke's eyes resumed their worried gaze as he looked out the window once again. "Hold on Leia, Mara, Tionne, Kyp... I'll be there soon." With those last reassuring words, Luke crawled back to the small spiral ladder and climbed back down into the passage.

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"Now, Tionne dear, we have to remove your gag so you can answer. Just keep in mind... if you scream or don't say anything relevant to the question, we'll replace your gag. Then, you won't be able to answer at all, and one of your little students out there will die. Comprende?" Tionne's gaze turned to the seats in the Hall, seeing nothing but black from the shadow casted by the huge spotlights. The spotlights... Luke always said that standing on the stage under those two enormous lights was like standing under the twin suns of Tatooine; just not as hot. Luke... if only he was there now.

Tionne felt her gag removed from her mouth; she kept quiet in fear of endangering any of the students. Her gaze hardened as she looked back to Leora.

"Ah, good. Finally decided to cooperate, huh?"

"For their sake only, not yours." Tionne spat back at her.

"Oh, aren't we being rebellious?" Leora quipped, then taking two steps toward Tionne, slapped her across the face in almost the same manner she had Mara. Tionne gasped, not expecting the harsh blow. "Do you really believe I care who's sake you're doing it for? Not really! So just keep your mouth shut until I ask you a question, then answer the question; just the question, mind you, no extra junk, no smart replies, just answer the fucking question!" Leora exploded in Tionne's ear, leaving her half deaf. Suddenly she stood up straight, all the angry emotions disappearing from her face, leaving the evilly playful smirk she wore when she was about to do something she thought was amusing. She coughed, clearing her throat, then turned back toward the auditorium section of the room. "Anyway... so, dear, I have a question for you."

"No shit." Tionne muttered. Leora glared daggers at her, then pretending she hadn't heard the crude remark, continued.

"Moving on... now, Tionne; is it true that when you first arrived at the academy, you had a sort of... crush, as you would say, on Luke Skywalker?" Tionne's eyes widened as she realized that Leora had been in her head. She stared at Leora harshly. "An answer, please?"

"Why you..." Tionne began, but looking at Leora's impatient stare made her change her mind. "...yes." Tionne answered Leora weakly, casting her eyes down. Leora smiled at her look of defeat.

"Mm hmm... and isn't it also true that for the first month or so, you used your control of the security systems to tape him night and day just so you could obsess over him?" Tionne's mouth dropped as she looked back up at Leora. She had dug down into the depths of her mind and had uncovered her deepest secret...

Tionne looked helplessly at Leia, who was staring back in shock. Looking past Tionne, she discovered that even Kyp had come out of his slump to stare at Tionne. He looked at his friend, his teaching partner in a strange manner; almost sad.

"Answer the question." Leora prodded.

"It's... true." Tionne suddenly became quiet and lowered her head much like Kyp had. A single tear made it's way down her face, splashing onto her pants. Three broken, one to go. Leora smiled as she saw the devistating effects her little game was having on the Jedi she despised so much. She moved on to number four.

"Ah, Luke Skywalker, master to all these puny Jedi." Leora said to Leia, moving her hand towards the blacked-out seats. "Are you ready for your turn?" Leia, scared of what could happen, looked around nervously.

"I, um... well..." She stopped as a moan escaped from next to her, and twisting against her bonds, she looked to her left and found Mara had regained consciousness. Slowly Mara opened her eyes, letting them adjust to the harsh light that contrasted so much with the darkness of her subconscious. She moaned again as the bruise on her temple began to throb.

"Mara dear... glad to see you're awake. Have a nice rest?"

"Go to Hell." Mara muttered.

"If you don't shut up, you'll be there very soon." Leora said slowly, glaring darkly at Mara. Mara refrained from another reply, not wanting her head to ache anymore than it already was. Leora smiled sickly at the red-head, then turned back to Leia, hate in her eyes.

"As I was saying; Skywalker... ready?"

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He had to knock out three more guards to get there, but Luke had finally made it to the back entrance of the theater, also known as the stage door. Gripping his deactivated lightsaber tightly in his right hand, he slowly opened the door. Stepping through the door frame, he immediately felt the Force drain out of his body. For almost the first time Luke realized how empty he really felt without the comfort of knowing the Force was there. Clearing his mind, Luke silently closed the door, then let his eyes adjust to the blackness behind the stage curtain. Slowly Luke walked across the cement floor, looking and listening for a certain something. He stopped as he heard a rustle off to his left. Ducking into a ball, he tried to shadow himself from whatever was coming. When nothing happened, he looked up, and realizing that it wasn't a guard but his prey, he stood up and smiled. Luke walked over to the orgin of the sound, which was a cloth-covered cage. Finally, he had found it. He was just about to remove the cloth when he heard a moan.

"Mara..." Luke stood quietly and listened as Mara upset Leora with some comment, then Leora started to question Leia.

"As I was saying; Skywalker... ready?" Oh no, she was going to ask him, Leia, a question. A question that Leia probably didn't know. He had to stop it. He yanked the cloth off the cage, reavealing the ugly lizard-like creature that was depriving him and the others of the Force. In one quick motion Luke turned on his lightsaber and stabbed it down into the cage. There was a horrific wail, then all was silent. Luke ran to the side of the stage and pulled the long rope, opening the curtains. The light flooded into the area behind the stage, illuminating Luke. He looked at the stage, seeing four bodies trying to twist around, a couple hundred gaping students in the background, and a very angry Leora.

"What the hell is... Solo! How dare you...!" Leora sputtered, very surprised to see that Luke had broken free of his prison.

"You look surprised to see me."

"Why... how... ooh!" Leora stumbled some more, then ordering her shadowtroopers to attack him. "Get her!" About twenty of the black-clad troopers filled the stage, ready to recapture the escaped princess/senator. With his mouth in a hard line, Luke grabbed the blaster out of his sweat pants, and holding his lightsaber in front of him, started firing. The guards who were too slow to draw their blasters died instantly, while the quicker ones began firing at the youngish woman in front of them. Luke whipped around, shooting at the troopers and deflecting their shots at the same time. A couple of well-placed shots fired at him riccocheted off his lightsaber and hit a different trooper, saving Luke the time needed to shoot him individually. In a time lapse of about 30 seconds, Luke had killed all twenty guards. All the students gasped and whispered among themselves while Leora, staring wide-eyed at her dead troopers and the Force-powered woman in front of her, became enraged.

"Where did you learn that?!"

"Let's just say I 'borrowed' it from my brother." Luke said, not able to smile at how he was pushing her buttons. Even if all those people he had just killed were also trying to kill him, he had still murdered them, and Luke never liked killing people. He looked over at the chairs; four of the five had been twisted into a position where they could look at Luke. Tionne and Mara were trying to break free, but even with the Force back in that part of the room, they still couldn't break out.

"Luke!" Mara shouted at him. Quickly he turned around to see a stray guard shoot at him. Luke swiveled his hand, barely deflecting the shot, then he put a bolt in his chest. The trooper fell over and joined the rest of his companions on the ground. Leora stared at him.

"Luke...?" Mara gasped as she heard Leora repeat what she had just mistakenly said. Leora's trained ears immediately picked up the giveaway detail. "So that's why..." Leora mused some more, then she turned back to Luke. "That's why I haven't felt a thing from him, but you suddenly have become the Jedi of the Century. You're not Leia at all...you're Skywalker in her body." More gasps and whispered emitted from the students as everything from the past few days became all too clear. "Which means this," Leora continued, striding over to Leia and grabbing her neck with her hand, "is your helpless sister."

"Luke... help..." Leia gagged, not being able to breath.

"Leave her alone." Luke shouted, stepping towards Leora.

"No no no... don't come any closer." Leora said, tightening her grip on Leia's neck. Leia gagged more, her hands prying at the rope holding her to the chair.

"That's too far." Luke hissed, making Leia's voice sound unusually low. He turned toward Mara, catching her eye. *Remember that weird thing that happened at Keira's apartment?* Mara stared back at him.

*Yeah, but what...*

*I'm sorry.* Luke cut her off, then aiming his blaster at her, pulled the trigger.

There was a sudden silence, then the room was ripped apart as a giant Force-wave spread through it. Seven distinct death wails were heard as the remaining ysalimiri exploded, and all of the Force-sensitive beings inhabiting the room screamed as they were also hit by the wave. Luke had braced himself against a column, but as the wave hit him he also yelled at the intensity of it. Leora screamed as lost her grip on Leia's neck and was thrown across the stage. Luke recovered quickly, then ran over to Mara. Her eyes were squeezed shut, the green shield blocking her face from the frozen laser bolt. Luke moved Mara, who was still tied in her chair, away from the bolt, then placed his lightsaber where Mara's head had been.

*Let go now.* Mara opened her eyes to see Luke standing in front of the shield, ready to deflect the bolt. She let go of her fear, completely exausted. The shield disappeared and the bolt flew forward, riccocheting off Luke's lightsaber and harmlessly into the wall. Making a few more slashes with his lightsaber, he cut Mara's ropes and cuffs off. Mara dropped out of the chair, tired and aching. Her head was pounding even more than it had been earlier. Luke caught her, then gently lowered her to the ground. "Stay here... when you can get up, find the stray students and go somewhere safe. Okay?"

"Whatever you say, farmboy." Smiling, Luke bent over and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead, then was instantly back on his feet and off after Leora. Mara smiled to herself; she knew it was Luke giving her the friendly kiss, but in Leia's body... eww.

Leora got up slowly, her head and back aching. Her vision had become a little fuzzy, and she vaguely watched Luke release the others from their bonds. She was still trying to figure out what had happened when Luke strolled up to her.

"Don't mess with my family." he said to her. Leora stood up, her vision returning to normal. She shook her head, then looked Luke straight in the eye.

"I've wanted to kill you for so long... you're not getting away now." With that statement she grabbed her lightsaber from the hook on her belt and activated it, lunging at Luke.

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Mara rolled over to the side of the stage, and sitting up, pushed herself off. She saw Luke free Leia, Kyp and Tionne, who immediately scampered off the stage in search of weapons. Mara looked around, finding her blaster and lightsaber haphazardly thrown against the side of the stage. She picked them up, then ran to the main doors to the Hall, where the students were either running for their weapons or coming back with them. She heard a loud crash, then an army of Leora's shadowtroopers came flying down the hall from the front lobby, blasting anything in their way.

The older students who were armed defended and guarded the younger ones, while the unarmed students ushered the really young kids down towards the café and the bunk rooms. Mara fired a few shots, taking down two troopers, then began deflecting shots with her lightsaber until Kyp and Tionne appeared with their weapons. Mara relinquished the protecting duties to them, and racing back into the Assembly Hall, went to help her love and her new friend.

Luke parried with Leora, each one taking turns on the offensive and defensive. Luke made a lunge at Leora, who ducked and lashed out with her right foot, kicking Luke's feet out from under him. She laughed as she stabbed at him.

"Die!" she screamed, holding her lightsaber with both hands, pointed at Luke's chest.

"No!" Mara tackled Leora, knocking her off balance. Luke rolled out of the way, flipping back onto his feet.

"Bitch!" Leora cried, grabbing Mara's braid and yanking her off her back. Mara screamed as Leora then threw her to the ground, and picking up a discarded blaster, shot at her. Mara yelped as she was hit in the shoulder. Leora then pushed her into a wall with the Force, slamming her head into the hard brick. Leora's insane grin was the last thing Mara saw before once again falling into unconsciousness.

Luke watched in horror as Mara was knocked out for the second time that day by Leora. He ran at Leora, lightsaber in hand. Leora whipped around, then threw a small object at him. It landed in front of him and exploded, sending a black gas into the air around him. It enveloped him, making it's way into his eyes and blinding him. Luke howled in pain as he shut his eyes, trying to guard them from further punishment. He tripped over one of the chairs, and stumbling to his knees, became prone to attack. Leora was instantly on him, shoving him onto his back and slamming his hand into the floor. He lost his grip on his lightsaber and it rolled away, deactivated. Leora then stradled him, her knees resting on his wrists. He howled again as Leora put all her pressure on one knee, snapping his right wrist.

"Oh, don't be upset now. You knew this was coming." Leora stroked his cheek, wiping some of the powdery black residue off his face. "Just accept your destiny... everyone who's born dies. It's just your turn now."

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"Switch them back, you should. Their lesson they have learned."

"I agree." Obi-Wan looked at Yoda, who was watching the battle from their dimension; the dimension where all the Jedi spirits went when their bodies died. He just hoped that Luke wouldn't be joining them anytime soon. Yoda turned around, and seeing that Obi-Wan was still staring at him, yelled at him.

"Hurry up! Kill them you will!"

"Oh, yes, right."

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Leia began running at Leora when she felt a sharp pain in her head. She fell to the stage, her eyes clenched in pain. Suddenly her wrist began to ache. She opened her eyes to find herself staring into Leora's face. Or some weird contortion of it; her eyes burned and everything was blurry. Leora bent over a little, wiping Leia's face with her hand.

"I promise, I'll try to make it hurt only a little." She grinned at Leia, turning on her lightsaber again. "You know, I've always had a soft spot for you, Skywalker. If you weren't so mean to me, I probably would've given you a chance to join me."

'Skywalker?' Leia thought to herself. 'Oh no... we've switched back!' Realizing Leora still thought she was Luke, she said something her brother might say. "I would never join you."

"As I thought." Leora replied, once again raising her lightsaber above her head. Leia closed her eyes, waiting for the inevitable to come and for her fall into eternal darkness.

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Luke was staring at Leora when he felt a sharp pain in his mind. He closed his eyes, and suddenly all the pain stopped. His wrist didn't ache, and his eyes weren't burning. He opened his eyes, finding himself on his stomach, watching Leora talking to someone. Looking quickly at himself, he discovered that he was back in his own body. He looked around, spotting his lightsaber. He pushed himself up and ran over to it, swiping it off the floor. He heard a piece of Leora's conversation with his sister.

"You know, I've always had a soft spot for you, Skywalker. If you weren't so mean to me, I probably would've given you a chance to join me." He saw Leora turn her lightsaber on and hold hit above her head, the tip pointed at Leia's chest. She didn't know they had switched again! Luke listened intently, knowing Leora would want a response from him.

"I would never join you." Luke silently rejoiced at Leia's acute mind and acting skills. He turned on his lightsaber, then walked up behind Leora.

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Leora smiled. She had finally won. She held her lightsaber high, ready to plunge it into Luke's heart. Even if he was in Leia's body, he couldn't escape her. As soon as she killed him, she would kill Leia, making sure that Luke's body died along with his spirit.

"Goodbye, Skywalker," she said somewhat sadly, then she moved her arms downward.

Suddenly a huge pain tore through her chest. Leora screamed as she accidentally switched off her lightsaber and dropped it. It hit Leia in the chest, making her mutter a small "ow". Leora slowly turned her head to see Luke standing over her, holding his lightsaber in her chest.

"Bu... but..." Leora gurgled, blood running into her lungs.

"Don't mess with my family." Luke said firmly, his eyes dark. Leora's eyes widened as she came to terms with reality. Luke had switched back, and had gotten the best of her.

A silent "no" formed on her lips as Luke pulled his lightsaber out of her body. She fell forward, landing on Leia. She had lost. Quickly Luke deactivated his lighsaber, then attaching it to his belt, he grabbed Leia's arms and pulled her out from under Leora's body. Leia hissed as he accidentally put a little too much pressure on her wrist, but turned back toward Leora without giving it a second thought. They watched as Leora shriveled up, her body disinegrating into dust. She was truly dead. Luke turned around, and spotting Mara groaning on the floor, he ran over to her with Leia close behind. Bending down, he gently picked her up and cradled her in his arms, and with Leia's arm around his waist, the three of them left the Assembly Hall and the past behind.

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Back on Courscant, Luke, Mara and Leia all gathered at Leia's house.

"I'm so glad that's over... I'm sorry, Luke, I didn't realize how stressful and dangerous your life is." Luke smiled at his sister.

"I also apologize; you are so busy with work and the 'love machine' you call your husband." Mara and Luke laughed as Leia blushed, then Luke added, "And the dresses you wear are so tight..."

"Shut up Luke... don't even go there." Mara laughed harder, making Leia's small frown break into a smile.

"So, everything's back to normal?" Mara asked, her arm wrapped tightly around Luke's waist.

"Uh-huh... I'm me again." Luke smiled as Mara giggled, then she leaned in and gave Luke a long, slow kiss.

"Ahem." Mara and Luke both looked over to Leia, who was staring at them. "There are kids in this house... don't influence them so early." Leia smiled, then all three broke out into laughter agan.

"Well, we'll just finish up later then... right farmboy?" Luke blushed profusely as Leia gave them her "I-don't-want-to-hear-about-my-brother's-lovelife" stare. Her smile returned as Han and the twins walked into the room, carrying trays of food and drinks. Jaina and Jacen set down their trays as quick as possible, then ran to hug their mother and uncle.

"Mommy!"

"Uncle Luke!" Jacen ran to Leia as Jaina made her way over to Luke. After a big hug and a kiss, Jacen pulled away from Leia and walked over to Mara, who was getting all teary-eyed from the happy reunion.

"Aunt Mara." he said quietly, hugging the stunned woman. Mara smiled, then hugged the boy back. Jacen also smiled; he'd had a dream that his Uncle Luke and Mara had gotten married. But not just a usual dream; it was one of his special dreams, the kind that actually happened later...

"Kid," Han said lightly, giving Luke a hug and a pat on the shoulder.

"Han, come on." Luke whined. Even though he was in his late twenties, Luke still called him Kid. Some things will never change.

"Okay, sorry... anyway, how's the academy?" Luke smiled nervously; everyone had agreed not to tell Han about everything that had happened that past week... for his own sake.

"Um, good. Kyp and Tionne got together. You remember them, right?" This part was true. After everything had gotten somewhat back to normal, Kyp had confessed that after Leora had tortured him, she had threatened to kill Tionne if he said a word to anyone. When Tionne found out, she admitted that she had a small crush on Kyp. Both finally exposing their feelings, then had started dating (following a few rules for when they were around the students at the academy that Luke had unofficially made. He didn't want their relationship to interefere with the training of his students. To make things equal, Tionne and Kyp made Luke promise to follow the same rules with Mara.).

"Yeah, I remember them. Tell them I send my best wishes." Han stolled over to Mara, then shook her hand. "Mara."

"Han," she replied politely, giving him a small smile. He winked at her, then walked over to his wife.

"Leia... I've missed you." He hugged her tightly, which made her yelp. Han pulled back, for the first time spotting her bandaged hand. "What happened here?"

"Oh, um, nothing. Luke was teachingme a flip and I just..."

"That's okay, you don't have to explain." Han looked over at Luke and Mara, who were cuddling and chatting with the twins. "They look cozy, don't they?"

"Well, they should... they are in love, you know." Exactly what Han had been wanting to hear.

"Didn't I tell ya? Didn't I say they were in love?" Leia sighed; Han was so childish sometimes.

"Yes Han, you did." And this is where Han usually shoves it in her face.

"Well, looks like I was right again. Looks like you owe me." Owe him? Now she owed him? Great stars... "And anyway," Han continued, whispering into Leia's ear, "I still wanna see what you have planned for me." He nibbled lightly on her ear, sending shivers through her body.

"What I have..." Leia mumbled, then as her mind repeated something about Han making moves on Luke while he was in her body, she got Han's meaning.

"Luke, you didn't..." she mumbled some more.

"Huh?" Han asked, not quite paying attention to anything but her ear.

"I said, " she repeated, whispering into Han's ear, "that felt good." Han's smile got wider, which Leia thought at this point was inhumanly possible. Leia fumed.

'Luke, you and I are going to have a looooong chat...'


The end! Um, hope you enjoyed it... and please, let me remind you of two things. One, this is an AU story. I know that x-wings can't fly from Courscant to Yavin, but I was writing at one in the morning while drinking mountain dew. There will be a few weird things in this story (but please, feel free to point them out anyway). Two, please, just review the story! You don't have to sign in or anything, I just want to get more than 7 reviews after 300-something hits. I don't care what you say... as long as it relates to the story. what you thought, what I could have done better, anything! Okay, I'll stop now... thanks for your time!