Title: How to get a family
Author: Kinderriegel
Genre: fluff, general
Characters: Luke, Mara
Timeframe: three years after votf
Summary: A thief is up to mischief.
Flowers and sweets go to jedyknyt1. Thank you for reading beta.


How to get a family

Chapter 1

At the break of dawn, Reeza made her way to the kitchen. For the first time in what seemed like ages she was not in a rush, so she took the time to pause for a moment and watch the spectacular sunrise that unfolded itself in front of her eyes. Few sunrays found a way through the thick roof of Yavin's rainforest, but the ones that did set the morning mist afire. Lost in thought she smiled to herself. Moments like these more than made up for the stresses and strains this planet had in store for everyone who chose to live on it. Already, she could anticipate an increasing humidity that would accompany her for the rest of the day.

Whistling to herself she went on. As she walked through the wide and empty corridors of the Jedi academy on Yavin IV, she reflected on the previous two weeks. In honour of the Jedi apprentices who had passed their final trials, a graduation ceremony had been held. For this purpose Yavin had hosted quite an amount of visiting family members and dignitaries from Coruscant. Not to speak of the supply ships that had docked and taken off again. The academy had been bustling as never before.

So, after the chaos had finally subsided again, Reeza was happy that things were beginning to go back to normal. Being the head cook, much had depended on her ability to organize and delegate. Therefore, she was more than happy to concentrate on more mundane tasks again, like decorating Kadeem's birthday cake. The little boy had just arrived at the academy and she hoped the gesture would help him over his homesickness. As soon as she arrived at the spacious kitchen she put on her apron and turned to where she had left the cake the evening before- or to where she thought she had left the cake.

"Hm, that's weird. I could have sworn I left it right here." Scratching her head in obvious confusion she looked at the empty table. "I'm sure I left it here. Where else could it be?" Puzzled she scanned the kitchen for the missing item. Everything was as neat as she had left it the night before and no cake was in sight. When she realised that, recently, incidents like this had amassed, she furrowed her brows. It just had never been this obvious before.

"Is everything alright, Reeza?" Out of nowhere a straw-coloured head had appeared in the doorway. Being confronted with the Jedi master the woman did not hold back her smile. He was probably the only person on the entire planet, who managed to get up even before her. In response to his question an exasperated sigh left her throat.

"Master Skywalker", she flung her hands in the air, "it seems my kitchen is bewitched. Whenever I turn around or leave the room things vanish. Because of all the commotion about the celebration I didn't register it right away, but for two weeks things keep disappearing." With a frown on his forehead the Jedi master made his way into the kitchen. He had been passing by the open door when he had heard the cook's exclamation.

"Things vanished?" he made sure he had understood correctly.

"Well, food vanished, to be more precise. Not a lot or I would have realised it sooner. It's an apple here, a loaf of bread there. The chocolate cake I baked for Kadeem's birthday has been the latest victim. I think we have a thief."

"A thief?" Luke started to feel like a parrot. Reeza was one of the most reliable persons he knew, so he trusted her blindly. If she said there was a thief, then there was a thief. "But that doesn't make any sense. The students get more than enough food here," he tried to reason, "why would they try to steal food when they know they have but to ask for it?" The cook only shrugged her shoulders and gave Luke an impish grin.

"You're the Jedi, you tell me. Maybe one of the kids got himself a pet?"

"And feeds it with chocolate cake, eh?" Suddenly Luke couldn't refrain from laughing, "that would be one happy animal. Thanks for telling me Reeza, I'm gonna look into the matter and keep you updated."

"Thank you." Smiling, the woman watched how the Jedi master left the room. Since his wedding three years ago, his laugh had become even more contagious. She shook her head. Luke's smile didn't save her from baking another cake now. She promised herself to give the mysterious thief an ample wigging. Stealing apples and bread was one thing. Stealing a birthday cake was another matter entirely.

Meanwhile, Luke tried to figure out the answer to the riddle the vanishing food posed. He had to admit that Reeza's suggestion was not that far fetched at all. Most likely a student had indeed caught himself a forbidden animal he now had to feed. Yet, something told him that the solution to the problem lay somewhere else entirely. He wondered whether the 'thefts' were somehow linked to the celebrations that had been held, but no matter how he looked at the problem he was not able to draw any conclusions.

When he stepped outside he enjoyed the tranquillity of the early morning. Only the birds were up and about. Even though the ceremony had been an outstanding success, he was glad life at the academy had calmed down again. Even now he couldn't remember how many hands of foreign dignitaries he had shaken these past few days.

While inhaling the fresh morning air he thought of his absent wife, who had left the planet on a trading run, two months earlier. Even though he should have gotten used to her extended absences by now he missed her terribly every time she was gone and hoped she would return, soon.

'Ah Mara!' He felt like a lovesick teenager again. The remains of a red sunrise were all it took to remind him of her unique hair. He was longing for her touch, her laugh and her humour. He couldn't wait for her to be back in his arms. Sighing, Luke looked at his chrono. Since he was running late for a lesson, the thief as well as the musings on his wife would have to wait for a while.

Suppressing a yawn, Luke made his way back to his and his wife's quarters. It was late. Detailed talks with Kam and Tionne about the future of the academy had kept him from retiring earlier. Due to the advanced hour and the fact that their rooms lay away from the dorms his students occupied, most of the corridors he had to pass through were already deserted.

All of a sudden his danger sense flared and only a fraction of a second later a loud impact could be heard. Alarmed by the panic he perceived through the force, Luke ran to where the sound had come from. He wasn't able to detect any malice, so he blew caution to the wind and hurried down the corridor. Not knowing what to expect he came to a halt in front of a small storeroom. He was definitely not prepared for the scene that met him after he had torn open the door and switched on the lights.

A little girl kneeled in the middle of the biggest chaos he had ever seen and blinked at him in something akin to fear. The corners of her mouth were covered with what looked suspiciously like chocolate icing. Around her various broomsticks and buckets lay scattered across the floor. Several shelves, along with their contents had crashed to the floor, adding to the disarray. She could count herself lucky nothing had hit her.

"Look, you don't have to tell the guy who runs this place about any of this, okay? I can clean this mess up and even share my cake with you." the girl hurried to assure, while she jumped to her feet.

The guy who ran the place was taken aback for a moment. Nothing like this had ever occurred to him before. He had a closer look at the girl. She didn't look older than six years but he couldn't help from noticing that she was awfully thin. Her shoulder-length hair was red gold, much like Mara's. It was in total disarray and looked like it hadn't seen a comb in quite a while. Countless freckles and slight jug ears gave her a pert look. Luke asked her the first question that came to his mind.

"Who are you?" He was fairly sure the girl did not attend the academy. He made it a point to know all off his students personally. However, and that was the most confusing thing about this, he could detect a raw ability to use the force within the child.

"My name is Baylee and who are you?"

"Well, I'm Luke." Confronted with so much freshness, Luke couldn't help but smile.

"Okay Luke, do we have a deal? You don't tell your boss about this and I share my cake with you." In order to stress her offer, she pointed at a half eaten chocolate cake. He could tell she meant business. Her hands were resolutely placed on her hips, daring him to object. He decided to play along for a little while.

"A deal? Why are you in a store room and where are your parents?" The girl's determined stance faltered for a second. She gave him a look as if the answers to his questions were rather obvious.

"I live here, of course, and I haven't seen my parents since they sent me away."

"Sent you away?" To say Luke was shocked by what he had learned would be an understatement. The more the girl revealed the more confused he became. She lived in a storeroom in his academy? Her parents sent her away? How did she come to Yavin at all? Bringing himself to eye level with Baylee, he kneeled down and gave her a warm smile. Well, first things first. In this case it meant getting her out of the storeroom and feeding her a substantial dinner.

"You know what? I have a much better idea. Why don't you come with me to my quarters? It's much nicer there, than in this storeroom." Baylee didn't look convinced. Early in life she had learned that trust was a luxury she would never own.

"I rather like it here, thank you very much, Mr. Luke."

The Jedi realised he had to bait her with different things. "You know, I have food at my place- a lot of food." He added after he had seen her hopeful gaze. "You can trust me." Making sure she got the message, he sent a tiny force nudge along with his words. Still, the child stayed reluctant.

"I don't know, Mr. Luke. I've had the cake and I'm not sure I'm still hungry. I think I'm sick." Suddenly the Jedi could detect a rising panic within the girl. He chastised himself for not being more considerate. The kid had eaten half a cake on an empty stomach; of course she was not feeling well. Just in time he grabbed one of the buckets and put it in front of her. Promptly, she threw up. While he held back her hair with one hand, he used the other to soothingly caress her back.

"There you go, Baylee. You're going to feel much better once it's all out." When she was done, he picked her up. All of a sudden he saw himself face to face with eyes as blue as Yavin's sky.

"Feeling better?"

"Hm." Worn out she embraced Luke and rested her head on his strong shoulder.

"Ready to come with me?"

"Hm."

Luke laughed softly. "I'll take that as a yes."

He was almost out of the door when she addressed him one more time.

"Mr. Luke?"

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry about the shelves. I tried to climb up in order to get a blanket from the upper rack and then it broke." The Jedi patted her back.

"Don't worry about it. Nothing we can't fix."

With some amusement, Luke watched Baylee growing more and more anxious as the tub filled with water.

"Are you sure I have to take a bath, Luke? I had one last month." She pouted. Ever since they had reached his quarters the girl had been too excided to find any rest. So the Jedi had seized the opportunity to get in a bath. Obviously, Baylee did not share Luke's enthusiasm about the wet affair.

"I'm afraid that one bath a month is not enough. But hey, we can make the best bubble bath in the entire galaxy." That said, Luke added a generous amount of bath oil.

"There you go. You hop in, while I prepare a dinner for you, all right? I'll leave the door open, so you can call if you need help." With that he left Baylee to herself.

While Luke prepared a light soup, he pondered his new charge. Who was she and how did she come to Yavin? He hoped Baylee would be able to shed some light on her situation. She seemed to be rather talkative and sassy. The Jedi master couldn't refrain from reflecting on the protective feelings the girl had evoked in him. Even though he could tell life had not been easy on her, he was amazed by the trust she showed. He vowed not to let her down. He sighed sadly. He would love to feel the weight of a child- his child- in his arms more often, but considering Mara and his' lifestyle that would not happen too soon.

Suddenly he remembered the dirty shreds Baylee was wearing. She couldn't possibly put them on again. He looked at his chrono. It was too late to wake Kam and Tionne, but maybe one of Mara's old shirts would do the job. Putting the soup off the stove he went into their sleeping room in order to retrieve the item.

He hadn't heard anything from Baylee in quite a while, so he knocked on the door to the bathroom.

"Baylee, can I come in for a second?"

"Yes, come and look at me." When he entered Luke couldn't refrain from laughing out loud. For someone who didn't like baths Baylee sure had a lot of fun. The tub was foaming over and the girl had covered her face with the bubbles, while her hair was made into a Mohawk.

"Having fun, eh?"

"Yeeees, the bubbles are fun." Luke grabbed a large towel and held it out in front of the girl. That way he could wrap her up without her feeling too exposed. After he had slipped Mara's shirt over her head it pooled around her feet. He picked her up again and carried her over in the living room. Standing on a chair she let Luke untangle the innumerable knots in her hair. Again, she managed to catch the Jedi master off guard.

"Luke, do you need a daughter?"

"A daughter?" The Jedi paused mid-stroke just to be faced by two hopeful looking eyes.

"You see, I'm kind of looking for a new family and I thought that maybe, since you've been so nice to me, you need a new daughter." Luke's eyes softened immediately. He put the brush down, picked up the girl once more and sat down on the sofa. Baylee made herself comfortable on his lap. Luke let a gentle finger glide through the half combed hair and looked at her apologetically.

"I'm so sorry Baylee, I'm afraid that's not possible." The girl looked crestfallen.

"It's the hair, isn't it?" she asked matter-of-factly. Yet again the Jedi master didn't know what to make of this.

"The hair?" he asked cautiously.

"It's always the hair, the hair and the ears. Mom always said she had wished for a pretty daughter, with blond hair, like hers. She said she didn't have enough money to spend it on an ugly daughter nobody would ever want to marry. She said not even the slave traders wanted me and later, at the orphanage, nobody wanted me either. They want boys or pretty girls, so I ran away."

"Oh Baylee." Luke was at a total loss as to what to say. Instead, he embraced her tightly. How could any mother possibly say such horrible things to her own child? He could feel how he began to foam with rage against the unknown woman.

"Baylee!" He put a finger beneath her chin and made her look at him. "That's not true at all. You're so kind and sweet and very beautiful. And I tell you something: you and my wife have the same hair colour." From the nearby table he grabbed a holoframe, which showed Mara and him in a loving embrace. "See? This is Mara and I love her very much." She intently looked at the holo.

"She is pretty." She had to admit.

"Baylee, where is your father?" He didn't want to open old wounds, but he felt like it was time he got some facts.

"He died long ago, before I was born. Mum never talked about him." She answered sadly.

"And what happened to your mother?" All the while Luke gave her some comfort by caressing her back. Baylee shrugged her shoulders. While telling her tale, tears started to gather in her eyes.

"One day, my mom took me for a ride in her speeder. I had to go to the bathroom, so we stopped at a roadhouse. When I was done my mom was gone. I waited and waited but when they closed the roadhouse for the night the owner chased me away. I lived on the streets for a while until people caught me and brought me to an orphanage. Nobody wanted me there, either, so I ran away again. Nadia, a girl at the orphanage, said that on a planet called Coruscant there lived so many people that they would even take ugly girls like me. She had seen it in a Holovid. So I made my way to the spaceport. When I heard an old pilot say he was going to Coruscant I sneaked in his cargo hold and stayed in there until he landed again."

"And that's how you ended up here?" The girl nodded.

"I sneaked out again before he saw me. I thought I was on Coruscant, so I went into the big building and hid. I wanted to check out the situation, first. Is this Coruscant?"

"I'm afraid not. This is Yavin. Your pilot probably stopped here in order to deliver some cargo on his way to Coruscant." So that's how she had come to the academy. He had to admit she was one smart girl. Among the commotion of the many visitors her arrival had been completely lost. "Do you know the name of your home planet?" From her story he had gathered enough information to have a good guess.

"It's called Kabili."

That's what he had feared. Kabili was a small planet that was located in the outer rim territory. Not that far away from Tattoine. Its occupants had always had a more than doubtable view on women. They were second class citizens at best- in some areas they were even considered property of men. The fact that the planet was hopelessly overpopulated and very poor didn't help the women's situation. In a vain attempt to control the growth of population, the government had issued a law whereby women were not allowed to have more than one child, years ago. This law lead to billions of abortions of female fetuses and millions of abandoned children. Officially forbidden, the slave trade with the unwanted children was booming. Luke was thankful that at least Baylee had been spared. He drew her into another hug and kissed her on the top of her head. Within his embrace, the girl relaxed.

"I'm so sorry about what happened to you, Baylee. I promise you I'll do everything to find a great family for you."

"But I want you." Faced with so much determination, Luke had to smile.

"Baylee, I wish I could take you in, but it's impossible. My wife and I both have dangerous jobs that keep us apart very often these days. You need parents who will be able to be there for you every minute of the day. That's what you deserve." Baylee seemed to have her own ideas about what she needed, but she sensed Luke's determinedness and decided to let the matter rest- for the moment

.

After Luke had enjoyed watching Baylee devour her soup, he decided it was time for her to go to bed. The apartment had one spare bedroom he had readied for her. The girl however seemed to be reluctant to touch the bed sheets. She took Luke's hand instead.

"Are you sure it's okay if I stay here? Your boss won't like this. Maybe I should go back to the storeroom. I don't want you to get in trouble." Laughing, Luke picked her up, lifted up the covers and laid his charge on the bed.

"I'm pretty sure he's okay with this."

"How do you know?" Sitting down on the bed, he covered her with the blankets. He gave her one of his warmest smiles.

"Because I am the boss here and I promise you, that you won't have to sleep in a storeroom, ever again."

"You're the big boss?" She gave him an enthusiastic bear hug. "You know, this is just like in the holovids."

"Holovids?"

"Well yes, Nadia told me all about it. All the time, they show happy families and daddies who bring their daughters to bed." Witnessing Baylee's radiant smile and shining eyes, Luke's heart broke. All, this girl knew about a healthy family life, she had learned second hand. Again, he ran his fingers through hair that looked so much like Mara's

"Baylee…" he warned.

"I know, I know, you don't have the time for a child" she hurried to assure. "But I'm just pretending, just tonight, alright?" Luke knew he shouldn't do this, but her gaze was so pleading that he didn't have the heart to forbid it.

"Alright, what would a dad in a holovid do now?"

"Well, read me a story, of course."

"I see, wait here for a second." Luke headed to his own bedroom. Somewhere in the depths of his wardrobe there was an old box that contained several of the twins' and Anakin's favourite bed time tales. In the meantime they had grown too old for the stories, but hopefully Baylee would still enjoy them. When he returned the girl came up with more orders.

"Now you have to sit right here." she padded the space next to her and waited until Luke had made himself comfortable. Then, she put his arm around her shoulders and snuggled up to him. "Now you can read." The Jedi couldn't refrain from thinking how right it felt to have a child in his arms, again. His niece and nephews had long since outgrown the age in which they let themselves be cuddled and Mara and he had decided not to have a baby until she got her job sorted out.

"Are you all set? Here we go. A long, long time ago, in a galaxy far away, there was an old pirate…"

Still awfully tired, Baylee opened her eyes. For the first time in her life she had an idea about what it meant to have a caring family. In Luke's arms she felt protected. She looked at the sleeping Jedi master. The data pad, that contained the story he had read to her earlier, still lay on his chest. Yawning wildly, she grabbed part of the sheet and put it over her newfound friend.

"Sleep well, Luke." Before she went back to sleep she gave him a quick kiss on his cheek

.

I'd love to hear your opinion on this (:

I know it's not much, but this is my first star wars fic, so I'm trying to keep it simple.

At the moment university is keeping me busy. But I'll continue this as soon as possible.