Han Solo strode across the permacrete flooring of the hangar bay towards the large SoroSuub Horizon-class star yacht berthed at the far end. As he came closer, he noticed a small figure, bending down by one of the struts. Han slowed his pace, watching the little red-haired boy, diligently working on his mother's space-craft.

"Hey, kid."

Ben Skywalker jumped, then turned a grease-smeared face to scowl at his uncle. Han only grinned.

"Where's your Mom?"

"Inside."

"I need to see her. Mind calling her for me?"

"MOOOM! UNCLE HAN WANTS TO SEE YOU!"

Han winced.

"Ouch! Quite a holler ya got there, kid. Say, whatcha doing around here anyways? I thought your mom never let you touch her ship."

Ben looked down before he answered, sullenly scuffing the toes of his shoes along the hangar floor.

"Yeah, but Dad's busy today and I'm grounded. So I got to help her."

This hardly surprised the older man. His nephew appeared to have a particular penchant for regularly getting himself into trouble. He wondered idly where he might have picked that up from.

"Oh? What for this time?"

"Wrecked the food processor."

"Really? Wrecked it? And your dad couldn't fix it?"

Ben shrugged his shoulders defensively.

"Well... he said he'd already fixed it four times and wasn't going to do it again..."

This time Han was surprised, although he recovered pretty quickly.

"F- four?! I see. What were you tryin' to do with it?"

"Make a cupcake out of mud, and see if the twins or you would fall for it."

Ben's matter-of-fact answer didn't seem to be the slightest bit repentant.

Han's eyebrows shot up.

"Oh is that so, you little gundark!" he growled.

"Well then, you're staying grounded in my book!"

His brows drew together as he remembered something else.

"But wait a minute, weren't you grounded last week?"

"Uh-huh."

"What was that for?"

"That wasn't my fault!"

The little boy was an expert in making his eyes look liquid and innocent.

"Really! I heard Mom say she needed to clean her blaster. So I was just tryin' to help and clean it for her."

"And what happened then? Did you manage to clean it?"

Ben returned his gaze to the floor and looked just a wee bit contrite.

"Ummm...sorta."

"Sorta?"

"I washed it in the kitchen sink."

He shouldn't have been surprised. Not anymore.

"Of course you did."

Han sighed, resisting an urge to slap a palm to his face, and made a mental note to keep his blaster out of his nephew's reach at all times.

It was at this point that Mara Jade Skywalker finally decided to put in an appearance. She came down the ramp, rubbing a sore spot on her head where she'd bumped it against one of the inner supports, startled by Ben's holler, and wiping off smudges of grease from her fingers.

"Ben, how many times have I told you, you don't have to yell like that for me to hear you?"

She glared at her brother-in-law darkly.

"What do you want, Solo?"

"You should be nicer to me, Jade. I got the power converter you wanted so badly."

"About time."

"And you're most welcome. Why I keep expecting common courtesies like gratitude from you, I'll never know."

Mara smirked.

"You're getting doddery in your old age, Solo."

"Hey! Watch who you're callin' old!"

A little voice chimed in.

"But Uncle Han, you are old, aren't you?"

Han scowled at mother and son.

"I can see where he gets his insolence from."

"Oh no", Mara shook a finger, still smirking, "That's all Luke."

"Kid know that's the way you talk about him behind his back?"

"Oh I've called him plenty worse to his face."

"I can imagine. He's getting to be quite a handful these days, isn't he?"

Han nodded towards his wide-eyed nephew, standing between them.
Mara heaved a long-suffering sigh.

"He's worse than all three of yours ever were, I'll swear. If I'd known Skywalkers were going to be this much trouble, I never would have married your brother-in-law."

"But Mom!" Ben retorted, interrupting the adults, his voice shrill and indignant.
"I said I was sorry!"

"Honey, sorry works once, twice, stretch it and maybe three times. But five?! Even the Grand Master of the Jedi has a limit to his patience!"

Han couldn't help emit a huge snort of laughter.

"So Luke's finally met his match, eh? Good job, kid. Keep at it and you'll be shoving him into an early retirement! Anyhow, can't stick around to chat, sorry. Leia's expecting me back within a strict deadline. Says she's got some reports she needs my help with."

Mara's eyes twinkled.

"I must say, Solo, didn't expect to see the day you'd be so whipped."

Han put as much anguish as he could into his hazel eyes.

"Your words wound me, Jade, they really do," he said, taking his leave with as much aggrieved hauteur as his bearing would permit.

Mara was tinkering with the hyperdrive generator when she turned to find her son watching her curiously from the hatchway. She smiled.

"Done with checking the hydraulic pressure in the landing equipment?"

"Yep."

"All of them?"

"Yes, Mom," Ben sighed and slouched in, "All of them."

Mara watched him, noting his slumped shoulders.

"I would have thought you'd be more enthusiastic about working on a starship, young man. You are a Skywalker after all."

Ben grimaced.

"Yeah, Dad says that too."

Mara sensed something her son wasn't telling her. She sat up, focussing her full attention on him.

"Oh?" she prompted, hoping he'd reveal more of what was on his mind.

He fiddled uncomfortably with a stray strip of wire.

"He wants me to be a pilot like him..."

"You don't want to be a pilot?"
Mara frowned.

Ben shrugged.

"I'm not so good with ships..."

"You're always on the Falcon with your uncle," she pointed out.

"Falcon's different."

"How's it different? It's a ship."

"It's different."

Ben was being unreasonably adamant. Which is how Mara knew he wasn't telling her what was really bothering him.

"Ben? What's really on your mind, sweetheart? You know you can tell me, don't you?"

She sat down cross-legged on the floor, shoving aside her scattered tools and motioned for him to come sit on her lap.

Ben reluctantly trudged over and did so, but kept his face turned away.

"I'm not as good with ships as Dad," he finally admitted.

Mara raised her eyebrows, gently running her fingers through her son's soft hair.

"Well, he's got a few years on you, you know. By the time you get to be as old as Dad maybe you'll be just as good with ships."

Ben looked doubtful.

"Uncle Han lets me help sometimes, he shows me... stuff, what to do an' all."

Mara nodded. She had to admit, Han was remarkably patient when it came to children and ships.

"Dad brings you to the hangars too."

Ben shook his head.

"Dad doesn't let me touch anything. Besides, he's always so busy..."

Ah. Mara realized the true crux of the issue. Daddy wasn't spending enough time with him. She made a mental note to talk to Luke about it.

"Dad's StealthX is a very specialized fighter, Ben. One needs to be very, very careful when handling it. Maybe that's why he doesn't let you touch it. Tell you what, how about I show you the Shadow'scontrols, hmmm? Would you like that?"

Ben shot her a startled gaze. Mara didn't consider her star yacht to be any less specialized or delicate than a StealthX, but she swallowed her trepidation for her son. Someday he would inherit this ship. She realized it was about time he started getting familiar with it.
She smiled down at him and heaved him up, picking herself off the floor in the process.

"Come on. I'm done in here. Let's go and take our break in the cockpit and I'll show you the basics of how to fly her."

"And this entire bank of controls are for the thruster assembly. See? That one activates the sub-light thrusters. And these are for the auxiliary, in case the primary thrusters are damaged and go offline."

Mara felt a stab of pride in her chest as she glanced over to note her eight-year old son's face scrunched up in concentration, sitting forward stiffly in the co-pilot's seat.

"And here."

She pressed a button.

"You can bring up the tactical display at both the pilot's and co-pilot's station. That's a difference from the Falcon, if you'll notice. That ship is so old, it has a shared display. On this, you can even run different programs on the two displays as well as share your data with the other instantly."

Ben nodded hard to show he'd understood.

"And what's this?" he pointed to a toggle switch. Mara reached out to gently swat his hand away in case he accidentally activated it.

"That's the throttle, sweetie. It increases our acceleration. Don't touch it when we're stationary, or the whole ship could blow up."

Ben's eyes went wide and Mara held his gaze to instil in him how dangerous such an action could be.
Finally she stretched.

"Ok, break's over kiddo. I've got to go look at patching up some dents on the outer hull. Think you can stay inside on your own and not get into trouble?"

"Sure, Mom."
Ben's voice was wounded at his mother's evident lack of trust.

Mara reached over and ruffled his hair affectionately.

"Don't touch ANYTHING, Ben. I mean it," she countered sternly.
"I don't want to come back and find you've made a mess."

"I won't, Mom. I promise!"

Mara ran her hand over the Shadow's matte grey hull to see how deeply dented it was at a place where a recent bout of blasterfire had scorched it in passing. She figured it wasn't too bad. With a bit of reinforcement and a spot of paint, it would be as good as invisible. It was as she was completing the latter job that her danger sense spiked suddenly, and she felt a deep throbbing reverberating through the ship's hull. Muttering an oath she threw down her small jar of polish and applicator and rushed round to the other side of the ship... only to find that the boarding ramp had already been withdrawn. Meanwhile, the throbbing had risen to a shrill hum as the engines engaged and the ship begun to shudder. Mara, her heart in her throat, reached out to her son with the Force, but Ben was hidden as usual and Mara could only watch helplessly as the repulsors were activated and the ship began to move lurchingly forward. There was no choice. Mara stilled her racing heart and reached deep within for a source of calm, calling the Force into her. She reached out with it fumbling for the ship's controls before it was too late and it dropped out the hangar doors. She reached them and instantly activated the emergency shut-down. The yacht's engines gave a shrill whine at being taken offline so abruptly and it bounced down on it's still extended landing struts, teetering dangerously, dragging sparks across the hangar floor due to the friction of the rapid deceleration. It came to a clumsy halt, it's nose banging into the wall on the far side with a very audible clang. Mara took off at a run.

Ben had been sitting obediently, thudding his legs against the edge of the co-pilot's chair, looking around the extensive array of controls and trying to remember what his mother had said about which was which. The one with a blinking stand-by light caught his eye and he leaned forward chewing his lip. His mom had strictly warned him against touching anything and he knew how much trouble he could get into if he disobeyed her direct instructions. But the light kept blinking on and off, not letting his attention wander from it. It wasn't anywhere near the dangerous throttle or even the thruster assembly and he knew the weapons controls were recessed separately. Maybe it was indicating a faulty hatch-door somewhere that hadn't cycled closed properly and could be losing pressure. Atleast if he pressed it, maybe the annoying light would stop blinking. Ben reached out and touched it, and was instantly thrown back into his crash-webbing.

Ben panicked. He had to think fast. The craft was juddering all around him, he wouldn't even be able to stand to leave the cockpit! His heart thumping and his face pale, he looked about wildly for anything with which to abort the ship's auto-pilot, but nothing caught his eye, nothing with which he could take a chance. The open hangar doors were drawing closer at an amazing pace through the canopy and Ben's mind went numb with fear. He had no idea of the Shadow'sflight controls! It was just as he was about to reach down to activate the on-board comlink and try to broadcast a distress signal that the whole control panel suddenly started to glow red and the ship began to vibrate more than ever! Fearing it would all explode in his face, the little boy threw up his arms to shield himself when, unexpectedly, it gave a huge lurch and came to a stop. For a few brief seconds of silence, Ben feared the ship had crashed and been wrecked. The canopy's blast-tinting faded slowly to give way to the sight of the grey hangar walls looming just outside. He gave a huge sigh of relief and was about to sit back when he heard the sharp clatter of boots on the access ramp. That must be his mother. If she found out he'd touched the blinking button, Ben was sure this time there would be no mercy for him! He cast about desperately in his mind for a plausible excuse, but only felt his throat turning dry from fear. He had only a few seconds. He threw his head forward on his arms and collapsed over the controls console just as Mara rushed into the cockpit.

Luke Skywalker's comlink chirped insistently, forcing him to excuse himself from the discussion of a knot of Masters in the Temple corridor.

"Skywalker."

"I need you in the hangars pronto, Farmboy."

Despite the irritated tone, Luke sensed his wife's underlying tension. He frowned.

"What's up?"

"Your son needs to be taken to the Temple infirmary. I want Cilghal to take a look at him."

Luke's frown deepened.

"Wait. Suddenly he's my son? What did he do this time?"

"He tried to fly the Jade Shadow."

"He WHAT?!"

He was already on his way out, but stopped short in incredulity.

"How-?"

"Never mind. I stopped him, but it looks like he's out cold. Can you pick him up?"

"On my way."

Leia Organa Solo, with her husband in tow, ran into the Skywalkers waiting anxiously outside the Temple infirmary while Cilghal ran her checks on an unconscious Ben inside.

"Luke! Mara! What happened? How is he?"

Leia hugged her sister-in-law and turned to her brother, worry etched large on her features.

Luke gave a small smile.

"I don't think there's anything to worry about, Leia. He must have knocked himself out when he pitched forward onto the pilot's console and the rest must be the shock. We're just having Cilghal give him a once-over, just to be sure."

Han noted the anxiety in the eyes of both parents, but something didn't seem right to him. He'd had his own lot try fiddling with the Falcon's controls without permission any number of times with varying results, but nothing had ever resulted in any of them fainting from shock. And if he knew anything about his nephew, he knew he wasn't the swooning type either.

Cilghal stepped out just then and smiled reassuringly at the family.

"He's very tightly withdrawn in the Force, so there wasn't much I could sense from him, but I don't think there's been any serious damage done. He's going to be fine. A good rest and he'll be on his feet in no time. May I request you leave him under my observation until he wakes? I'll discharge him once I've had a word."

Mara and Luke nodded their assent to the Healer's request immediately.

"May we go see him, Cilghal?"

The Mon Calamarian Master raised a flipper to usher them inside.

Han held back at his nephew's bedside for just a minute after the others left and making sure they were alone, jabbed him in the side.

"Wake up!" he hissed.

The boy lay immobile, putting up a stellar show of pallor and unconsciousness.

"I know you're only pretending. Get up before I make you smell the insides of a taun-taun!"

One eye cracked open for a second to make sure it was just him and Han couldn't help his own smirk.

"The old 'playing dead' routine to get out of trouble, huh? Nice pull, kid. You almost got everyone there. Sheesh!" he admitted, running a hand through his hair, "I'm just glad you're on our side! Maybe in the next war we should send you over to the enemy to drive him to the Dark Side!"

The inevitable slow grin spread over the mischievous face and cracking his eye open once more, Ben winked.

THE END