Author's note: A little Christmas gift of sorts to the awesome SilkenDreamer aka Sannikex. :) As usual a huge thank you and lotsa digital huggles to my Star Wars guru Ladyalatariel on tumblr for making sure I stay within the framework of the galaxy far, far away.

. o O o .

"Excuse me?"

Despite her sharp tone Ruby could've sworn the captain was amused. It was hard to tell for sure, though; he was still scowling and his voice was as gruff as ever.

"You heard me, sister! This ain't a luxury cruiser, we have limited space onboard!"

"This is Senator Archibald Hopper," she hissed at the captain, acutely aware of the senator's presence behind her. "Chief advisor to Queen Snow of Naboo herself! He's a nominee to the Supreme Chancellery of the Galactic Republic, for crying out loud! You can't just shove him into any old broom closet and call it living quarters! The least you can do is to give him the courtesy of not having to share said broom closet!"

Now Captain Leroy actually smirked, the smug bastard. "Everybody shares living quarters onboard this ship."

"I bet you don't!"

He shrugged, still smirking. "Captain's prerogative, sister."

Ruby took a threatening step closer but a hand on her arm stopped her; a warm feeling of calm tingled on the edge of her awareness, almost as if asking for permission, and though she could've blocked it out easily she let it wash over her and soothe her anger away. Yeah, she could well imagine that trick coming in handy in heated political arguments.

"We'll make do, Captain," the source of the calmness said politely behind her. "Thank you."

Only when the Captain had left (mumbling something about being sure they could 'make do' which earned him a swift kick in the shin from Ruby as he passed her) did Hopper let go of her arm. The feeling of calm persisted but it wasn't as all-encompassing anymore, and Ruby had to clench her hands into fists at her sides to stop herself from reaching out to him to recapture it.

'Control yourself, Ruby!' she told herself harshly. 'Don't let out those fiery feelings Gold teases you about endlessly. You're a Jedi, act like one!'

"I'm really sorry about this, Senator," she ground out, glaring daggers after the retreating Captain who was whistling as he walked away.

"I think I should be the one to be sorry, Ruby." Hopper gave her an apologetic grimace as he walked past her into the little room. "I've been told I snore quite loudly..."

That was about the last thing she had expected him to say and she had to bite her cheek to stop from laughing out loud. Thankfully he stood with his back to her surveying the room so he didn't see the look on her face as she fought down the laughter.

"I'll sleep in the mess," she said once she was sure her voice was under control and her face more or less neutral.

"Absolutely not!" He turned to her, looking appalled she'd even suggest such a thing. "Let's at least give it a try first! It's not much, admittedly..." He gestured unnecessarily around the cramped quarters they had been assigned. "But there's a cot each and it's only for a few nights, right? A week at the most?"

He paused just long enough to confirm that no, he wouldn't get an actual answer this time either - she had staunchly refused to tell him where they were going - before going on as if the questions had been hypothetical to begin with.

"If my snoring keeps you up we'll figure something out. Maybe we could sleep in shifts. Or I could sleep in the mess since I'm the problem." He held up both hands to ward off her protests. "Let's just try one night and see, all right?"

She wanted to protest, wanted to raise hell on his behalf, but the fact that he was taking the whole situation in stride deflated her somewhat and she shrugged with a sigh.

"As you wish, Senator."

"Good! Good!" He beamed at her and Ruby found it hard to hold onto her anger in the face of such a happy grin. "Why don't we go see if we can find the mess, hm? I don't know about you but I could do with a little food before calling it a night."

"There's probably just that sort of freeze dried protein stuff posing as food," she warned, knowing he would no doubt be used to much more elaborate meals.

"I haven't had it in at least twenty years but I practically grew up on food rations," he said easily and oblivious to her surprise he gestured her to proceed ahead of him. "It'll be a walk down memory lane."

. o O o .

"You don't, you know," she said the next morning as he joined her in the mess for breakfast. He looked at her in confusion and Ruby mentally kicked herself. "Snore, I mean," she elaborated. "Not loudly at least. I think I might snore louder than you do!"

It had actually been kinda nice. Comforting. His snoring had been soft; a steady, deep rhythm just loud enough to hear, so reassuring that it had lulled her to sleep almost immediately, safe in the knowledge that he was right there, close enough that she could reach him before any harm befell him. Because of his warning she had expected a sleepless night, and had been fully prepared to hide her yawns in the morning and lie to his face when asked if he kept her up, but instead she had ended up sleeping better than she had done in ages.

She expected him to be pleased to hear that he hadn't kept her awake like he had worried he would, but instead his look of confusion morphed into something closer to devastation before he dropped his gaze.

"It was a lie." He said it so softly it was barely more than a whisper. "It was just another lie… Just like them to lie about something like that, too." He let out a self-deprecating huff that might have been meant as a laugh but instead made Ruby's heart ache. "And just like me to believe it all my life."

"Senator?"

He looked back up at her and smiled, but the smile was strained and his eyes were sad. "Trips down memory lane are overrated," he said softly. "Excuse me."

The urge to reach out and stop him, to take his hand or just give his shoulder or arm a reassuring squeeze, something, anything to chase that sadness away, was so strong that her hand actually moved before she caught herself and lowered it again. He disappeared unhindered down the hallway.

Ruby looked down at his untouched breakfast, then her own half-eaten one, suddenly not hungry anymore. What the Hutt had just happened?

. o O o .

Ruby held out for a couple of hours before her worry drove her to seek him out, but to her surprise - and she had to admit, annoyance - it took her longer than she had expected to find him; despite the fact that it was a small ship and the amount of hiding places were severely limited his unconscious use of the Force to hide himself from prying eyes was enough to delay her for nearly an hour more.

The broad and battered seat under the clear dome of the "forward observation lounge" aka the extremely rarely used gun turret felt like a place separate from the rest of the ship somehow, the sounds of the crew below dulled and distant, and the darkness of space above made it feel even more isolated. Ruby climbed up to join him; he didn't say anything but moved over a little to make room for her.

She didn't say anything either, leaning back in the seat and looking up at the dark vista above them. She felt very small, but not necessarily in a bad way. His presence, so close their arms were brushing, felt reassuring and safe.

More than anything she wanted to ask him if he wanted to talk about it. Whatever "it" was. She wanted to ask who he had meant when he said "they" had lied, she wanted to apologise for inadvertently hurting him, she wanted to soothe the pain she could still sense in him.

But Ruby had never been good with words. She had never been good with foes she couldn't claw and bite at, attack with ferocious energy and beat into submission by sheer force. She worried she might say something to make it worse.

So she didn't say anything.

. o O o .

It was very strange to meet her again, Archie mused as she made herself as comfortable as one could in the cramped quarters. Not strange in a bad way, necessarily, but strange nonetheless.

He remembered the day they first met with vivid clarity; he had felt something stirring in the back of his mind, a teasing tingling as if a faint autumn breeze had flittered past, just cold enough to get his attention. He had looked around the crowded hall trying to find the source and a skinny little waif of a girl, eight or nine at the most, had met his eyes unflinchingly from across the room. The tingling had intensified, the feeling so surprising he had been unable to keep from smiling. She had smiled back.

He remembered their single conversation. Little Ruby Lucas had made a deep and lasting impression upon him and he had fought for her to be accepted to the academy with a zeal which had surprised both himself and the Jedi council.

"Why this one?" Reul Ghorm had asked him twenty years ago.

"Because she's special," he had replied with utmost sincerity.

"They're all special."

"Not like her."

"Oh, come now."

"I'll vouch for her!"

"Even if you had known her for more than a scant half hour, that's not how things work and you know it. What would you have us do if she turned to the dark side and went on a killing spree? Slap you on the wrist?"

"You cannot believe she's capable of that."

"There's darkness in her."

"There's darkness in all of us!"

"Not like this."

"Then it should be all the more important to train her! To make sure the passion is aimed in the right direction!"

They had argued back and forth for a long time and Archie could still not say with certainty what it was that had tipped the scales in his and Ruby's favour, but apparently something had convinced Gold because the imp had suddenly giggled that eerie high-pitched giggle of his and put an end to the whole discussion by accepting little Ruby Lucas as his personal apprentice.

Archie remembered Reul Ghorm looking about as surprised as he himself had felt at that unsuspected turn of events, and he was still not sure if Gold had done it merely to spite the head of the council or out of some personal reason unknown (and incomprehensive) to anyone but Gold himself...

But Archie had known even back then that he had won one of the greatest personal victories of his life - because Ruby Lucas would do great things, of that he had been absolutely sure. So far she had not proven him wrong.

The fact that he had not been consulted by the Jedi council again - not a public snub but a snub nonetheless - had been a small price to pay. Especially since an emissary of King Leopold of Naboo had approached him only days later about a position on the king's diplomatic staff. When Archie had asked why he had been given the honour the reply had been vaguely amused and distinctly cryptic, but he had a feeling someone on the council had gotten a kick out of the young man who was either brave enough or stupid enough - or both - to argue with Reul Ghorm herself, and had recommended him for the job.

Maybe he owed Gold for his own position as well, not just Ruby's...

She shifted in her seat, and he could sense the pent up restlessness in her and expected her to speak - but she didn't. She remained silent, looking up at the stars without a word. The energy was bubbling just below the surface, like a predator resting before a hunt, but for now she seemed content enough to wait him out.

Wait for him to make the first move.

Did she do that with her enemies? Wait for them to make a mistake, wait for them to stumble so she could swoop in and -

He pushed the thought away. He was being silly, not to mention unfair. Her comment earlier had rattled him badly, but it had hardly been her intent to throw him so off kilter. She was waiting for him to make the first move, he knew that, but he knew with equal certainty that it was not with nefarious intentions.

Archie would never presume to be an expert on the Force and all its mysterious ways, but he had felt a connection with that little girl twenty years ago unlike anything he had ever felt before or since; it had felt like they were on the same wavelength, somehow. And he had known it was his duty - divine or otherwise - to make sure she was given the opportunity to reach her full potential.

Maybe it wasn't so much meeting her again that was so strange, seeing her all grown up…

Maybe the strange thing was that the feeling of being on the same wavelength was still there, even stronger than he remembered.

It had made him behave more familiarly towards her than he should have done, but she had put him in his place, reminding him of their positions. As she should, he reminded himself. They had met but once before, after all...

She was there to be his bodyguard, nothing more. Considering he had requested her, she didn't even have a choice in the matter.

They were not friends.

He had had to remind himself of the fact several times the last couple of days, because it was only too easy to forget. Especially when she was sitting so close to him, close enough for him to feel the warmth of her even through their layers of clothing. When she had sought him out, when she was clearly restless and uncomfortable, but willing to wait for him to break the silence - willing to give him the choice to break it or not.

It felt like he had known her always, despite not knowing her at all.

Perhaps he was getting peculiar in his old age. Marco had teased him about that for years already.

They weren't friends, the Senator and the Jedi. She had drawn the lines between them and she kept the distance proper with her insistence on referring to him by his title, reminding him that she was there merely as his bodyguard. Even when sitting this close… Archie shifted a little, scolding himself for reading too much into it. Whatever worry she felt for him was professional only. He would respect that, and he wouldn't burden her with tales of his childhood which would no doubt only make her uncomfortable. He wouldn't be so selfish as to bother her only to ease his own mind.

He turned to her and the serious little face of the girl that she had been morphed into the concerned face of the woman she had become. He gave her an apologetic smile.

"So, Master Jedi, when will you share our destination with me?"

. o O o .