Ben was out, dropping the twins off at Jaina and Jag's so Luke and Allana sat together in the living room, waiting for him to get back for dinner.

"You know, sometimes I worry about your Master," Luke addressed his grand-niece.

Allana, lithe and regal at eighteen, smirked in response.
"We all do, Uncle Luke. But what's it in particular that's got you going this time?"

"You won't believe what I found him upto with the twins today in the Archives."

Allana's eyes lit up.
"Was it the whisperkits?!"

Luke regarded her ruefully.
"Of course. You found them first, didn't you?"

She nodded.
"I thought they'd eventually make nice pets for the twins."

Luke raised his eyebrows.
"Oh? You think your aunt and uncle are going to allow them to keep a whole litter of whisperkits?"

Allana bit her lip.
"Well...ok, maybe not the whole litter, but... two or three? Atleast two!"

Her great-uncle shook his head, a fond smile teasing his lips.
"Sometimes you remind me so much of your father..."

Allana blushed and looked away, but right at that moment, the front door whooshed open and closed, indicating their wait for dinner was finally over.


Ben strode in, taking off his cloak. Dressed in black, tall and athletic, Ben certainly looked the part of a capable Jedi Knight. Of course he'd proved it innumerable times, on the field and in battle, but every so often, Luke would be able to glimpse the terribly mischievous child his son had once been, and although the events of this day had startled him, he wasn't entirely ungrateful for such rare moments. Ben had had far too truncated a childhood. Perhaps this was the way he kept his balance.

Allana rose to embrace her cousin and Jedi Master and was greeted in return by a warm kiss. She was his first apprentice, assigned to him at an unprecedented young age, even before he had been promoted to the official rank of Jedi Master. He still hadn't achieved that title yet, but Allana entertained no doubt that it was only a matter of time. He had become a seasoned commander and his nature made him approachable and popular with all whom he came into contact with.

"Uncle Luke was telling me you went to see the whisperkits with the twins today."

Ben grimaced.
"Complaining more like, right? One of the kits got out of the Archives. We found him wandering outside, luckily before he got hurt. Che of course, wanted to return him to the litter...the hard way."

Allana grinned at the thought of her little cousin. It hadn't taken her long to figure out what the "hard way" might have entailed.

"You were there though, right?" she interjected sternly,"He could have gotten hurt otherwise."

"Of course!"
Ben seemed affronted at this suggestion of irresponsibility on his part. He jabbed a thumb in the direction of his father.
"Dad wasn't happy when he caught us, though."

Luke pursed his lips.
"It was still a terribly dangerous thing for him to be doing, Ben, and you know that."

Ben regarded him patiently over the bridge of his nose.
"Dad. They're Jaina's kids, ok? Trust me when I tell you that that's not going to be the most dangerous thing they do before they hit puberty."

At this, Allana hurriedly stifled a snort of laughter and even Luke managed to break into a rueful grin.

"All I can hope for is that atleast I'm there so that 'dangerous' doesn't turn into 'stupid'."
He had been bringing dishes out of the kitchen and efficiently laying the table as he spoke.

Allana went in to help him while Luke, content to be waited on by the youngsters for a change, took his customary seat at the head of the table.

Ben had always been looked upto by his younger cousins, and it was a role Luke knew he enjoyed. Sometimes he wondered how things might have been if he and Mara had had more children. He had the feeling Ben would have been an excellent older brother. Allana, Davin and Cherian already held him in that role and he seemed to fill it perfectly.

Luke smiled to himself at the thought. Ben had been born in the middle of a horrific war, as the sole beacon of hope in a sea of darkness. Mara had suffered a terrible disease during the pregnancy and neither of them had even thought of adding to their brood. His wife had even threatened to vape him if he got her pregnant again! Ben himself had tended to keep them sufficiently occupied with his antics as a child and despite how fine a young man he had grown up to be, Luke sometimes found himself yearning for those days. When he would have to wrestle a squirming little boy into bed and keep him down with stories and toys until he finally fell asleep. When he would come home to nearly be toppled by his little son's enthusiasm in jumping into his arms with screams of "Daddy!".

Luke's smile turned a little wistful. It had been more than two decades since he had been called "Daddy".

And then Mara had died and their lives had been turned upside down. Overnight it seemed Ben had grown up into a hardened adult, a disillusioned veteran. Their roles had been reversed, with his son now taking it squarely upon himself to be protective of his crushed father, zealously guarding him from harm and terrified of the day he might lose him too. But Luke knew all too well that the day would come when Ben would have to face a hostile and dangerous galaxy alone, with no guiding hand at his shoulder. When he would have to take his own decisions and follow his own path and serve as a guiding light for others to follow. He recalled only too well how difficult that journey had been for him and hoped that his life's work would serve to atleast ease some of those hardships for his son.

"Yep, we lost him."

Luke returned from his reverie at the sound of the dry voice to find the two youngsters regarding him with identical looks of amused indulgence.

"Forgive the old man. He tends to doze off sometimes."

"Sure. Just as long as he eats his veggies without a fuss, he can sleep in his soup for all I care!"

Luke glared at his son with feigned irritation.
"And for this I devoted half of my life to raising you! Ungrateful brat. No respect for his elders!"

Ben's auburn eyebrows shot up.
"Half your life?! Don't exaggerate, old man. It makes me seem old!"


Luke leaned back in his chair, a smile quirking the corner of his lips.
A momentary silence had fallen over them all, the only sound being the scraping of cutlery against their plates.

Ben watched him warily. Something seemed to be on his mind and he wondered whether it would bode well for him.

"You know, son," he began, "I do believe I've reached a decision."

Ben and Allana both looked to him enquiringly.

He leaned forward, still with that curious smile, fixing his son with a determined look.
"From tomorrow, I'm going to assign you to teaching a class at the Temple."

Pin-drop silence greeted this announcement, much as Luke had expected. He sat back, feeling like a sabacc player who had triumphantly revealed his final trump.

Finally, Ben couldn't contain himself and emitted a huge snort of laughter. He chuckled for a few minutes before he was able to compose himself.
"And this is your punishment for me?!" he spluttered.
"To lock me up in a room of Wampas for an hour a week?!"

"Actually, I was thinking you'd be more effective with the Woodoos. And it would be for atleast four classes per week."

"Woo-!"
Ben's eyes widened and his mouth fell open.
"You- you want me to teach toddlers?! Do I look like a mother hen to you?!"

"You were doing just fine with two of them today," his father pointed out.

Ben's brows drew together in a stormy scowl.
"Oh you just try calling them 'toddlers' to their faces, Dad. I dare you," he muttered.

Allana, who had been sitting quietly all this while, looking from one man to the other, interposed gently.
"I'm with Uncle Luke on this, Ben. I think you'd make a wonderful teacher for the new initiates."

Ben shot her a dark look, still looking frumpy.
"'Course you would. I was brilliant with you. "

"I think I learnt the most patience and control just by toleratingyou."

Ben turned back to his dad.
"But what about squirt here? She's not done with her training yet. She keeps running off to play Princess Pea to the Queen Mother."

Allana looked as put out as she possibly could.
"I am Hapan Chume'da! I have responsibilities to my people! And I hate it when you call me 'squirt'! Have I told you that?"

"About six million times," Ben mumbled under his breath, an impish grin suddenly appearing on his face.

She glared at her smirking cousin, wishing it was still becoming for her to stamp her foot in irritation.

Luke spoke up placatingly from her left.
"I believe Allana is quite ready to give the Trials."

Both heads whipped to face him with looks of equal disbelief.

"You can't be serious-!"

"Really?!"

"Dad! I'm her Master and I know she's not ready to give the Trials!" Ben thundered at his father, rising to his feet.

"But I am ready!"
Allana confronted her brother angrily.

Luke waved at both of them.
"Stop yelling and sit down !" he commanded.
"Allana's right. She does have responsibilities as Chume'da and those are only going to grow with time. I have been observing her under you, Ben, and I am fully confident in her abilities to pass the Trials."

The young princess looked at her great-uncle gratefully.

"So you want to take her away from me?" Ben growled.

Luke frowned.
"Of course not, Ben. Don't be ridiculous! I intend nothing of the sort! But I do need you on Coruscant more now. And I do need you to start assuming more responsibility. It won't help if you have to go bounding after 'Princess Pea' here every other week, as you so eloquently put it."

Allana looked miffed again.
"Well! if you two are kindly done calling me names, I think I'd rather spend the night at Grandma and Grandpa's!"

"Sit!"
The command came simultaneously from both Skywalkers, not even sparing her a glance.

Allana fell back into her chair, without another word.

Luke effortlessly stared down his son, although he was the taller of the two, glowering beneath drawn auburn brows.

"Allana is to give her Trials the next time they're held and I am appointing you instructor for the new batch of the Woodoo Clan," he said in a tone signifying that this was the end of the discussion.

Ben shook his head, slowly reclaiming his seat and realizing he wouldn't win this argument through the power of volume alone.
"I'm no teacher, Dad. You'd be making a big mistake with this. And that is something I cannot allow you to do."

To his surprise, his father smiled, a warm smile crinkling the edges of his crystal blue eyes.
"Then it appears I have more faith in you than you do in yourself. Even Allana agrees with me. You underestimate your mentoring capabilities quite grossly, my son. Someday you will become Jedi Master. Young Jedi padawans will look to you for guidance and you will be duty-bound to provide it. I think it's time you got a move in that direction."

Ben looked distinctly uncomfortable. He fidgeted with a corner of his napkin.
"Dad... I think there's a long, long time left for that to come about. And there'll always be the senior Masters... I-I can't handle a bunch of kids, Dad! I wouldn't even know what to do!"

"Did you know what to do when you took Allana under your wing?" his father retorted.
"When Dav and Che come running to you for help, do you deny them? Ben, when you were born, even your mom and I were terrified! Someday, when you're holding your first-born, you'll know what that feels like. We'd seen Leia and Han handling their kids, but when it came to you, we felt clueless! But we still did the best we could. We tried to adapt to situations as they arose and learn from them. The trick with kids, Ben, is to let them teach you."

Ben was blushing so furiously that the colour of his face almost matched that of his hair. He fidgeted even more nervously.
"Geez, Dad! I mean, these guys are my cousins! I-I've never really thought about it... And 'Lana... well, I was nervous about her too, you know. I always thought maybe Jaina or one of the Masters might have done a better job."

"You've done fantastically with Allana, Ben. And everyone on the Council is of the same mind. It has thankfully turned out to be one of the better gambles I've taken."

Luke smiled as the two cousins exchanged an affectionate glance.

"But she is not the only challenge that you must face on your road to Masterhood. Think of this as another step towards your destiny. Trust me, it will stand you in very good stead in the future."

The young Jedi Knight regarded his father steadily and seeing him unwavering, shrugged in defeat.
"Don't tell me I didn't warn you though, when all the other Masters in the Temple start getting as many grey hairs as you."


Allana woke in the middle of the night to see him standing on the balcony in a relaxed meditative stance, legs apart, hands lightly clasped behind his back. His robe flapped around him, revealing his bare well-muscled, well-scarred chest. She quietly went to join him.

"Nervous?" she asked softly, leaning over the balcony rail and looking out over the still bustling city.

"That's an understatement!"
Ben didn't seem to be surprised at her presence. They had always been easily comfortable in each other's company.

She turned around to grin at him, leaning back against the rail casually.
"You don't give yourself enough credit, Ben, really."

He shook his head, smiling lightly.
"I'm honest enough to admit I don't have the patience."

"You had enough patience with me!"

"Ha!"
He came to stand beside her, wrapping a brotherly arm around her shoulders.
"That's coz Uncle Han had already worn you down before I got to ya!"

His eyes became uncharacteristically soft.
"I'm going to miss you, Princess."

Allana looked away, feeling a lump growing in her own throat.
"I know," she replied in a whisper.
"It's not going to be the same without you. Not nearly as fun."

Ben affectionately ruffled her hair.

"Ben?" she asked after they'd spent a minute in silence, leaning against each other.

"Mmhmm?"

"Do you think I'm ready to face the Trials?"

Ben drew back to regard her with a smirk, his blue eyes twinkling.
"Oh sure. I just don't think the Trials are ready to face you!"

Allana reached over to punch him and only succeeded in getting pulled into a hug.