A Father's Worst Nightmare
A/N: I was planning on putting up an epilogue to this story and calling it a night. But apparently my muse had other ideas. For whatever reason this chapter came to me very easily. I hope you all enjoy! And be sure to review and let me know just how much!


Chapter 4: Dad's Gone Sith!

After a long overdue and much needed session of lovemaking, Luke and Mara fell asleep in each other's arms. They were exhausted, both mentally and physically, and found the lullaby of their synchronized heartbeats too hard to fight. Luke awoke nearly three hours later, the comforting weight of Mara's head resting against his chest. His hand came up to toy with her hair aimlessly while his mind fought to discover what had awoken him. Both he and Mara had been asleep, Garen and Samira were staying with Han and Leia for the evening, and Ben had left yesterday to return to Ossus. Glancing at the chrono on the bedside table, Luke noticed that it was just minutes away from 0100. It took only seconds for the Jedi Grand Master to realize what had roused him from his sleep.

Reaching out he felt Mara asleep next to him. Her Force sense stirred slightly but Luke was quick to quell her consciousness with a soft brush of his own. Reaching farther, Luke sought out Serena's presence which should have reflected her mother's: asleep but still conscious of her surroundings. Instead he felt that she was fully awake, but very distracted. She was probably in her room watching a holovid or surfing the holonet.

Carefully untangling himself from Mara's grasp, Luke climbed out of bed and crept down the hallway mentally preparing to deal with Serena's cries of, "I'm too old for a bedtime." He palmed the door to the girls' room opened and peered inside, instantly noticing that both beds were empty. With a tinge of worry beginning to leak into his mind, Luke decided to check the living room. He barely made it to the end of the hallway before he was stopped dead in his tracks.

The room was dark, or at least as dark as possible in the center of Coruscant. The headlights of a thousand speeders flying by outside illuminated the room to some degree and cast dozens of shadows into all corners. It was enough light to see by, and Luke's eyes registered three things:

1) Serena was on the was on the couch
2) Naylin was still with her
3) they seemed to be attached at the lips.

Suddenly, going to the dark side didn't seem like a bad idea.

With a flick of Luke's wrist the lights in the room came up, but the young people didn't seem to notice. Now even angrier, Luke reached out with the Force and flung Naylin off the couch. The boy's body flew like a doll landing on one of the nearby chairs causing it to slide backward several inches. Panicked eyes flew around the room before both sets settled on the man in the doorway.

"Dad!"

Luke's eyes were glued to Naylin as he took two steps further into the room. The boy had enough sense to look ashamed and—much to Luke's delight—terrified beyond words. "I would ask what was going on here, but I've seen enough to answer that question already." His voice was gravely and foreboding, to the point where even he didn't recognize it.

"Dad, nothing happened," Serena argued.

"It didn't look like nothing." Sending another threatening glance toward the young man on the opposite side of the room, Luke finally turned his attention toward his daughter. She was flushed—whether out of embarrassment or something else he didn't dare speculate—and her hair had been taken out of its braid and now hung loosely around her shoulders in waves of curls. She looked so much like her mother in that moment.

"What's going on out here?"

Two heads snapped around to find Mara standing in the hallway, a long robe cinched tightly around her waist. Her hair was hanging around her shoulders in a tangled mess making her look much like her daughter.

"Mom, nothing was going on and dad's gone Sith!"

Mara fought back a smirk as she took in the whole picture. Luke's body language radiated anger; Naylin was scared out of his mind and contemplating how far away he would get before Luke would be able to catch him; and poor Serena was caught in the middle. Taking a deep breath, she slipped into her role as mediator, a skill honed during her years working with the Smuggler's Alliance.

'You need to calm down,' she sent Luke via their Force bond.

'Calm? Calm? You didn't see them!'

'Then show me.' Luke hesitated a moment before begrudgingly sharing the memory with his wife. Mara closed her eyes and took in the scene as Luke had witnessed it. Both kids were on the couch, kissing rather heatedly before Naylin flew across the room and the confrontation started. She opened her eyes once again to find her daughter staring at her, her husband staring at Naylin, and Naylin looking anywhere but at Luke.

"Well," she started in what she hoped was a diplomatic voice. She now regretted not paying more attention to Leia's lessons on diplomatic protocol. "First things first: you broke curfew young lady. You're grounded for a week once we return to the Academy."

"I didn't break curfew though!" Serena argued. "I was home by 2300."

Before Mara could respond Luke's voice boomed in the room. "You've been out here for the last two hours?"

"Luke," she attempted to calm her husband's burning rage.

"No! Force, Mara, do you have any idea what could have gone on in those two hours? Do you? They could have had sex for all we know!"

"Dad!" A deep blush spread from Serena's neck up to her cheeks.

"Master Skywalker I assure you that nothing like that happened."

Luke's head snapped toward Naylin. "Forgive me if I don't believe you."

"Naylin, I think perhaps you should head home now," Mara suggested.

The boy gulped, nodded and climbed to his feet. As he passed Serena the girl reached out and grabbed his hand, giving it a light squeeze in apology. The shouting contest resumed between father and daughter, with Mara playing referee, the moment the front door slid shut.

"Young lady, I would really like to know what in the name of the Force you were thinking!"

Serena looked at her father and could almost see the anger rippling off him in waves. His Force sense was burning in reds and blacks which was never a good sign. The last time she had seen him this mad was when Ben had accidently cut a hole in the wall while playing with Luke's lightsaber.

"Daddy…"

Luke took a deep breath and attempted to calm himself. "I want an explanation."

"Nothing happened, dad! We went out, he walked me home, I invited him in and we sat here and talked."

Luke huffed, "It must be pretty hard to talk when his tongue's down your throat."

"Luke."

"Dad! I'm not a child, so stop treating me like one!"

Luke pursed his lips. "But you see that's the thing. You are still a child. And things like tonight prove it, what with the sneaking around—"

"I wouldn't have to sneak around if you didn't watch me like a mynock stalking its prey!"

"Watch yourself young lady."

"ENOUGH!" Mara shouted. She threw her hands up, one toward her husband and the other toward her daughter, effectively creating a bubble around each. Their raised voiced were silenced in their solitude. "I'm not going to stand here and watch you two scream at each other. We're going to discuss this calmly and rationally. Tomorrow." She saw her husband protesting but shot him a glare that snapped his mouth shut. "Serena, go to bed. I'll expect you to have an explanation for your actions first thing in the morning." Mara watched as her daughter looked at both of her parents before dropping her shoulders in defeat and stalking off to her bedroom. As soon as she heard the door hiss shut, she dropped the Force bubble around Luke.

"Thank you, Mara."

The look on her face told Luke that thanks were the last thing she was looking for at the moment. "I'm going to bed. We'll talk about this tomorrow." Turning on her heel, Mara marched back the hallway toward the master bedroom. She paused in the doorway causing Luke to bump in to her back. "And where do you think you're going?"

Luke's eyebrows knit together in confusion. "To bed?"

"Not in here. I can't even look at you right now without wanted to resurrect the Emperor's last command," she growled.

"Where am I supposed to sleep then?" Luke asked. Hell would freeze over before he would sleep on the couch that Serena and Naylin had been on.

"Ben's room is empty!" Mara called over her shoulder before the door slammed in his face.

Luke dropped his head and sighed. How had everything unraveled so quickly? Not even an hour ago he had been fast asleep in his own bed, his arms wrapped around his wife, body and mind completely relaxed. As he settled himself onto the much smaller bed his oldest son usually inhabited, he let his mind wander in hopes of finding a solution to this black hole of a situation.