Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars. I just created my own little AU sandbox to play in.

AN: Hello everyone and welcome to the newest FD Vignette, Counting the Stars. It is the 27th in the series if you can believe that and seven months have passed since the events in Taking Chances. Padme and Leia's campaigns are in their final stretches. Kimberly and Shane's wedding is one week away. Enjoy and let me know what you think! I also apologize for the wait. I took a bit of a break for this series, but I am back to it now.

Counting the Stars

Part 1/?

"Ugh…how long does it take to put on a dress?" Jenna grumbled, as she sat, bored to tears, in a very elite dress shop with her mother and sisters for Kimberly's final fitting before the wedding.

"Be patient Jenna, putting on a wedding dress takes time," Padme chided, as she stood up.

"Honey, do you need any help?" Padme called into the dressing room.

"No, I'm coming out," Kimberly called, as she slowly opened the door and walked or rather glided out it seemed.

"Well…what do you think?" Kimberly asked, as she made a circle, before facing them again.

"Oh sweetheart…" Padme said in awe, feeling tears pricking her eyes.

"I think this dress was made for you," Leia said, grinning at her little sister.

"Leia's right, you look absolutely beautiful," Padme replied.

"Yeah, you're gonna knock General Organa's royal boots right off him," Jenna quipped, making Kimberly giggle, as she turned to admire the dress in the mirror. It was pure white of course and the shimmersilk bodice had an intricate flowing design that was a combination of delicate beads and gems. The thin, one inch straps delicately curved around her shoulders and crisscrossed on her back. The skirt portion flowed to the floor in shimmering waves.

"I'm going to go pay for the dress, that is if you think this one is right for you," Padme said, giving her daughter a smile. Kimberly smiled.

"It's perfect mom, thank you," she replied. Padme hugged her gently.

"Anything for one of my babies," she said, as she went to the sales counter, while Kimberly went back into the dressing room to change.

"Finally we're done…I'm starving!" Jenna complained. Leia chuckled.

"What's so funny?" Jenna asked.

"You're just like daddy, except with long hair and boobs," Leia replied. Jenna's mouth hung open in disbelief. It wasn't like Leia to speak crudely. In fact, it was she who was usually making off color comments. This made Leia laugh harder, especially when she heard Kimberly laugh from inside the dressing room. Jenna joined them, as she collapsed into giggles herself, just as their mother returned.

"Do I want to know?" Padme asked. Leia smiled.

"Probably not," she replied, as Kimberly came out in her regular clothes.

"I'm hungry, let's go eat," Jenna suggested.

"A hungry Skywalker? That's nothing new, so I suppose a visit to Dex's is in order," Padme said, as she and her three girls left the shop with Kimberly's dress in a garment bag.

The nurse nodded to Clovis as he passed by the nurse's station on his way to Bana's room. He was a frequent daily visitor, as there had been no change in Bana's condition in the last seven months since the accident.

He set the fresh flowers on her bedside table and sat down beside her, before taking her hand in his own.

"Good afternoon, my love," he whispered, as he kissed her hand. He sat with her in silence for a few moments, before speaking to her again.

"I wish you would open your beautiful eyes, Bana…you must come back to me," Rush said, his voice thick with emotion.

"I have done a lot of terrible things and when I finally found happiness with you, it was so swiftly taken away," he said.

"Maybe it is what I deserve for my past transgressions, but you don't deserve to be the one to pay for my mistakes," he stated.

"Please come back to me soon," he pleaded, as he continued to sit with her for some time.

"Are you sure Mom?" Luke asked hesitantly.

"Of course I'm sure sweetie. You need to go out and have a little fun. Hunter will be just fine here with me and your dad," Padme replied.

"I just don't want it to seem like I'm shirking my responsibilities. And aren't you and dad going to that dinner thing for the campaign?" Luke said.

"You're not. Your grandparents used to watch you kids for us all the time. All parents need time to themselves and that's why you have grandparents that are very eager to babysit. As for your dad and me, yes, we will be going in a few hours, but your grandpa Riley and grandma Jobal can't wait to watch him, that is if I can tear your father away," Padme said, as she pointed at Anakin, who was playing with Hunter.

"Those two seem perfectly content for now, so you should go," she added. Luke smiled and shook his head.

"All right, I guess I could use a night out," Luke said, as he bent down and kissed his son on the head.

"You be good for nana and papa, little man," he said. Hunter took the toy ship in his hand and made shooting sounds.

"The apple doesn't fall far from the tree," Padme said, as Luke chuckled and went to change.

Kimberly rode the turbo lift down to the forty-second floor in Republica 500. Shane lived in the spacious apartment next to the one Bail, Breha, and Natalie occupied. It was the same apartment that would soon be theirs in just a month, as she would soon move in once they were married. She couldn't believe that in one week, she would be Mrs. Kimberly Organa. As she stepped off the lift, she nearly ran into acting Senator Eris Phonoi.

"Oh, I'm so sorry dear," he said, as they nearly collided.

"It's okay, I didn't really look where I was going," Kimberly apologized. He chuckled.

"It is quite all right, Lady Skywalker or I suppose it shall soon be Lady Organa?" he asked. She nodded shyly.

"Yes," she replied.

"Well, if I must say, General Organa is very lucky man to be wedding someone as beautiful and kind as you," Eris complimented.

"Thank you Senator, that's very kind of you to say," Kimberly replied.

"Good evening and say hello to your husband to be for me," Eris said, as he boarded the turbo lift.

"I will, thank you," she said, as she continued on.

"Enjoy your time, young one, for he will pay for translating that diary and I'm afraid you'll become an unfortunate casualty in this war as well," Eris hissed under his breath, as the doors to the turbo lift closed.

Kimberly used her access key and entered the apartment. She found it quiet, but heard his voice coming from his den.

"You can rest assured, General, that security at the palace with be quadruped for the event. With so many Jedi, several of which are Skywalkers, a person would be crazy to try any sort of attack. Good day," Shane said, as he spoke to the hologram of General Vask that blinked out. He was an aging General that had been a member of the Alderaanian Royal army for years. While Shane was technically his superior, the old codger, as Shane had called him on occasion, was less than willing to take any orders from someone he viewed to be unqualified.

"I take it that he's not thrilled about us being married in the palace?" Kimberly asked, as she came into the room. He turned and smiled at his fiancé, taking her in his arms and kissing her tenderly.

"Like I care about what that old codger wants. I'm marrying the most beautiful woman in the galaxy and he has the nerve to complain about extra people in the palace for a few days," Shane said with an eye roll.

"Come on; let's go see what we can find for dinner. I'm starving," she said, as she led him to the kitchen. She looked in his cupboards and in the refrigeration. She found very little that was edible and some take out boxes with spoiled food in them. She glanced at her sheepish looking boyfriend.

"In my defense, I don't eat here much, because I don't cook. If your parents or mine don't feed me, then I eat take out," he replied.

"Well, I guess take out will do for tonight, but when I move in here, I'm going to teach you how to stock a proper kitchen," she told him.

"Yes Master," he joked. She squealed, as he tickled her sides

"I'll order food and you find something decent on the Holonet," he said, as he plopped her down on the sofa.

"Sure, take the easy job," she joked, as she started looking through the programming choices.

"And let the ass kissing begin," Anakin mumbled, as he escorted his beautiful wife of over twenty years on his arm. Padme nudged her husband with her elbow.

"Behave," she chided her husband.

"I don't care much for these benefits any more than you do, but they're a necessary evil in campaigning for office if for no other reason than to make sure my message is heard," Padme replied.

"I know angel, but if these so called elites really cared about the issues, rather than their pocketbooks, it wouldn't be necessary for the candidates to attend these things," Anakin said.

"I know, I agree with you and I'd much rather be home with Hunter too. We just have to make an appearance and then we're gone," Padme replied.

"Looks like the blue tub of lard is trying to buy his votes as usual," Anakin said, indicating Orn Free Taa, who was buying drinks for everyone and brown nosing to potential donors. But Anakin knew that wouldn't be necessary for his wife, for she commanded the attention of a room just by entering. They had already noticed and their attention was easily being pulled away from the Senator of Ryloth. Unfortunately, they ran into a person they hadn't seen in a long time and didn't expect at all.

"Well, long time no see, Padme," Mon Mothma said coolly.

"Mon…what a surprise. I didn't expect to see you here," Padme greeted.

"Yes, I suppose you wouldn't seeing as how you're responsible for my career taking the hit that it did," Mon snapped back. Anakin raised his eyebrow.

"She's responsible?" Anakin asked incredulously.

"You can save defending her since everyone knows you can't say a word about dear Padme without her Jedi protector leaping to her defense," Mon said.

"Guess time has done nothing to dull your bitterness and jealousy," Anakin jabbed.

"I'm looking at the two people that destroyed my life, but Senator Taa has given me the chance to reclaim a least a little of my glory by helping his campaign manager run his campaign. And I assure you, I am going to do everything I can to make sure you lose to him. Good evening to you both," Mon said coldly, as she stormed off.

"Wow…" Padme said.

"Don't worry angel, you have more credibility than those two put together, ten times over," Anakin assured her.

"I know…but is it cold in here? I felt like we were on Hoth for a minute there," she joked. He chuckled, as Leia and Han joined them. Leia was there as part of her own campaign.

"Was that Mon Mothma?" she asked. Padme nodded.

"Apparently, she's trying to repair her political career, the destruction of which she blames on me of course," Padme replied.

"Please, she's the one that was in bed with that green skinned psycho that nearly destroyed us all," Han snorted.

"Yeah and trying to repair her career by working for Orn Free Taa is hardly the way to do it," Leia added.

"Couldn't have said it better myself," Anakin said, as he drank his jawa juice.

"Let's get this over with so we can go home," he said, as they made their way into the event room to mingle and make sure Padme's message was clearly received.

Luke sipped at his drink, as he sat at the bar and observed his surroundings. Calin's club was as lively as many out there, but it was much safer than those, being that there was no tolerance for fighting and ID's were thoroughly examined before alcohol was served to a person. Being he was eighteen, the legal drinking age on Coruscant, Luke nursed a jawa juice, but he was careful these days not to exceed his tolerance.

Jayden and Natalie were dancing closely and Marcus and Jenna had mysteriously disappeared together. He wasn't surprised by that, teenage hormones and all. He didn't worry about his little sister. Jenna could handle herself better than most and he knew Marcus would never hurt her. He was a good guy, very much unlike the one he was watching across the room right now. For what seemed like the millionth time, Tek was again stomping all over Mara's heart. They were fighting in the corner of the room, trying to keep it hushed so as not to cause a scene. He didn't know what they were fighting about this time, but he had a good idea. Tek was a cheater and he had seen him on many occasions with other girls. Why a respectable, strong woman like Mara put up with him was something was entirely lost on him.

"Don't just stand there and let that sleamo talk to her like that. Step up and give him a piece of your mind," Jenna said. Luke jumped, as she had literally appeared out of nowhere. Marcus' eyes were still a little glazed and his cheeks were flushed, as were hers. Their hair was a mess and their clothes were rumpled.

"And where have you two been?" Luke asked coyly. Jenna smacked his arm in response.

"Ow…" Luke protested. Dammit, she hit hard.

"Never mind us and stop being a baby. Get out there and do something," Jenna ordered.

"Mara doesn't need or want my interference, baby sis," Luke reminded.

"How would you know? You're clueless when it comes to women, especially strong women. But when one of us is being harassed and we can more than handle it, sometimes, it's nice to know someone cares by helping us out," Jenna replied. Marcus smiled.

"She's right. I thought I had really stepped in Bantha poodoo when I defended her to Devin, but turns out she liked it when I got all protective and macho," Marcus said, grinning at her.

"Easy killer," Jenna joked.

"Jenna…" Luke started to protest.

"Go over there now or I'm seriously going to beat you up," she threatened.

"Geez…okay," Luke relented, knowing she would do it.

"Come on Mara…I was just having a little fun. We were just dancing," Tek protested.

"Having a little fun with your hands up her dress? This isn't the first time I've caught you with some chutta!" Mara hissed.

"You would know…" he hissed. She raised her hand to slap him, but he caught her arm and chuckled.

"Violence isn't the Jedi way," he taunted, but felt himself suddenly Force pushed hard against the wall.

"No…but it's usually the Skywalker way," Luke said, as he stepped in. Tek scoffed.

"Step off Skywalker, this doesn't involve you," Tek spat.

"It does if you insist on mistreating someone that I consider a friend," Luke responded, refusing to move. Tek scoffed and really wanted to lay into him, but he wasn't stupid. He knew that Luke could easily handle anything he dished out, as much as he didn't want to admit it.

"Fine…you can have her, because I'm done with her," Tek spat, as he stalked off.

"Why did you do that?" Mara asked, as she watched him go.

"Why do you let him treat you like the dirt on the bottom of his boot?" Luke retorted. She opened her mouth to answer, but realized that she didn't know herself. Why had she put up with Tek for so long?

"Let me take you home," Luke suggested.

"I'm not sure I'm ready to go home," she protested.

"Then come back to my place," he suggested. She raised an eyebrow.

"And do what?" she questioned. He shrugged.

"I don't know, but Hunter knows how to have fun. I'm sure he'll know exactly how we should spend the evening," he replied with a coy grin.

"Your kid? You want me to go spend a Saturday night staying home with you and a toddler?" Mara asked. Luke smiled.

"Come on, can you honestly say you're having a good time here? Who knows, maybe you'll find what you've been missing," Luke said.

"Missing by staying home with a baby? I don't think I'm the one that's missing anything, but you're on, if for no other reason than to prove to you that I'm not the one missing something," Mara replied. Luke smiled.

"Great…let's go," Luke said, as they left together.

"Finally…it's about time Luke put that cheating sleamo in his place," Natalie said, as she and Jayden danced.

"Yeah, he's lucky that Luke's passive and usually able to handle conflicts with words. If he had talked to you the way he talks to Mara, he'd be eating his own teeth," Jayden added. She smiled and kissed his cheek.

"My Jedi hero," she replied, as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"I should probably get you home though, it's getting late," he mentioned. She nodded.

"Yeah, you have early patrol," she reminded, as the joined hands and headed out to his speeder.

"Hey, you're home early," Riley said, as Luke and Mara arrived at the Skywalker penthouse.

"What can I say? It's nice to go out, but it's nicer to come home," Luke replied, as his son reached out to him.

"Da!" he shouted.

"Hey buddy," Luke cooed, as he picked him up and approached Mara.

"I don't think you two have formally met. Mara, this is my son Hunter," Luke introduced.

"He's definitely a Skywalker with those blue eyes and that blonde hair. Nice to meet you kid," Mara replied. Hunter was fixated on the beaded necklace around her neck and quickly latched onto it.

"Ow…hey," Mara scolded, as Luke pried his tiny hand from the necklace.

"Sorry, he loves to tug on jewelry," Luke apologized, as his son giggled. Luke bid his grandparents good night and then put Hunter down to play, while he poured two glasses of red wine.

"So…this is more fun than the club?" she asked, as they sipped at their wine on the veranda. Luke shrugged.

"It has its moments. It's really hard to think in one of those places. I'm not sure how you stand to do it every weekend," Luke replied. She chuckled.

"That's your problem. You're not supposed to think in one of those places. Thinking about it just gets you into trouble," Mara replied.

"So the old what happens in the club stays in the club motto?" Luke asked. She nodded.

"Something like that," she answered.

"Well, at least that explains it somewhat," he replied, shaking his head.

"Explains what?" she asked.

"Why a beautiful, independent woman like you would put up with being treated the way you do by a guy like Tek. Because outside that atmosphere, you wouldn't stand for it," Luke replied. She sighed.

"It's not that simple," she replied with a sigh.

"How is not that simple? If a guy treated one of my sisters the way Tek treats you, I'd beat the Sith out of him. And that's nothing compared to what my dad would do, so I'm curious as to how Tek gets away with it. Your dad can sometimes be scarier than mine," Luke mentioned.

"Tek is careful and we don't interact much inside the Temple for that reason. But it doesn't matter, we're over. I'm tired of catching him with one chutta after another," Mara replied, as she looked at him.

"Can we please change the subject?" she asked. He nodded.

"Sure, so how's training coming?" Luke asked. She huffed.

"You just love the rub in the fact that you were Knighted first, don't you?" she asked. He chuckled.

"Sorry, can't help it, especially since all I heard when we were kids was how you were going to be Knighted before me," Luke responded, as he felt Hunter tug on his pant leg. He picked his son up and the little boy rested his head on his father's shoulder. It was nearing bedtime and he knew Hunter would soon be fast asleep.

"So I was wrong, but it won't be long for me now," she assured, as the evening breeze tousled her fiery red locks.

"No, I'm sure it won't be long now. So, is this as boring as you thought it would be?" he asked. She pretended to contemplate his question.

"I suppose not. Maybe the clubs are overrated," she admitted.

"Okay…so forget the clubs and have dinner with me?" Luke asked. Mara gave him a sly glance.

"Luke Skywalker…are you asking me out on a date?" she questioned.

"If I was, would you say yes?" he retorted.

"I don't know, I'm not sure you're my type," she replied.

"And Tek is?" he asked incredulously.

"Touché," she replied.

"Just go on one date with me and I'll prove to you that I am your type," Luke persisted.

"What girl can say no to that Skywalker charm?" she questioned, as she bit her bottom lip.

"All right Skywalker, I'll give you the chance to dazzle me," Mara replied.

"Good…dinner tomorrow night and if impress, then maybe you'll be my date to my sister's wedding?" Luke asked.

"Don't push it Skywalker. We'll see how you do tomorrow night," Mara replied, as she prepared to leave. Luke bid her goodnight and watched her speeder go.

So far, most of Mara's boyfriends had been fast moving, ego driven bad boy types that romanced her one minute and treated her like dirt the next by cheating on her. He was going to prove to her that she could be with a guy like him and not be bored.