So I haven't really been in the writing mood, let alone the editing mood, save the one one-shot I posted a few days ago. Dunno why that is, but hopefully it will pass soon.

Anyway, enjoy the update, and I'm going to work on keeping on top of things!


Chapter Nine

Padme scrubbed her face furiously with her hands, trying to work out the frustration that seemed to plague her body. They nearly 20 minutes out from Yavin, and by her best guess that meant her children were probably already there by sheer speed of Han's ship. But twenty minutes was twenty minutes that she couldn't judge for herself the safety of her children.

The cockpit door slid open with a muffled swish and a mug of steaming tea was placed in front of her face. She smiled up thankfully at her husband and accepted the drink, blowing lightly at the liquid before taking a sip.

"I could feel your tension at the other side of the ship," he commented with a smile. She gave a weak smile and shrugged. "She's okay, remember?"

"I know," Padme sighed, thinking back to the brief conversation with Leia before the Falcon had made the jump to light speed. "Ani, what if they did something to her while she was captured?"

"She'll get passed it," he tried to assure her, but deep down he knew that the Empire had most likely been pushing her for answers the entire time she was held. "We need to just be there for her, Angel. If something bad happened, she'll just need to know we're here for her. If we push her, she'll hide it. She reminds me of a certain Chancellor in that aspect."

Padme grinned at the comment, thinking back to all those years ago, before the war that had nearly brought the Republic to its end.

"But, she's strong, just like that Chancellor too," Anakin went on, relaxing in the copilot's chair while keeping his eyes on his wife. "She'll get passed it."

"How do you always have the right thing to say?" Padme asked with a grin. He shrugged.

"I know you," he responded simply. "We'll be at the temple soon enough and you can hug her then and tell her how much you were worried about her."

"It'll still be too long. We should have gone straight to the temple," Padme sighed, setting her tea on the console between them and running a hand through her hair. She'd removed the pins from her hair towards the beginning of the trip and they no longer kept it up in a neat, concise bun.

"Coulda-Woulda-Shoulda," Anakin shrugged. "I'll remember that. It's really a shame we can't improve the Hyperdrive more on this thing. Just one more point and we risk fracturing the hull with every jump."

"Is this your subtle 'we need a new ship' talk?" she asked with a grin. He glanced up and flashed his own in her direction.

"Is that an okay?"

"You are impossible, Master Skywalker."

"It's an okay," he laughed. "I'm thinking Han's got something with the Corellian Ship thing. Maybe we could get a luxury freighter? Best of both worlds. We'll certainly have more room than this ship gives. It's already kinda crowded when we have the four of us on at once, let alone the droids as well."

"I don't know," she sighed, thinking of everything that had happened on this ship. "I kind of have a soft spot for it. We spent a lot of time on this while I was in hiding."

"We did a lot on this when we weren't hiding, too," he said, raising his eyebrows suggestively at her. She rolled her eyes and grabbed her mug again, this time pulling her legs up to her chest and curling into a comforting ball.

"You are impossible," she said before taking another sip. They fell into an easy silence, just content to watch the swirling hyperspace until the timer on the control panel counted down complete. As Anakin eased the ship out of Hyperspace, the calming sight of Yavin came into view, and it's fourth moon hover slightly behind the glowing orange red ball.

They navigated around the planet and Obi-Wan reentered the cockpit, taking a seat in one of the back navigation chairs and working to make contact with the Temple.

"Unidentified Ship, you've entered a restricted flight path, please transmit identification and codes," the flight control announced over the standard comm frequency.

"Temple, this is Master Obi-Wan Kenobi with Master Skywalker and Chancellor Skywalker, requesting landing permission. Transmitting codes now," he replied simply. A beat of silence passed before Control responded.

"Permission Granted, you know the drill."

Anakin smirked as he navigated the ship into the atmosphere and down towards the old Masssassai temples. They landed just a yards from the Falcon, and not a moment after they touched down, Padme was up and out of her seat, quickly heading towards the ramp. Anakin sped through the post-flight sequence and quickly jogged after his wife. He reached out into the force for her and realized she'd already headed straight into the hangar.

"Padme!" he called out as her slight form came into view. She spun and looked at him, her shoulders deflating slightly as the feeling of helplessness came over her.

"Do you know where they are?" she asked as her husband reached her.

"We'll find them, don't worry," he nodded.

"Mom, Dad!"

They both spun and saw Luke jogging towards them with a happy smile on his face. Padme rushed forward and hugged him tightly, relishing the feel of having her son in her arms again.

"Don't you ever do that to me again, Luke Skywalker! You hear me?" she said firmly, pushing him back and holding him at arms length. She looked him dead in the eye and Luke shrank back slightly against his mother's forceful gaze.

"I'm sorry, but we had to find Leia," he said with a weak voice.

"Ever again," Padme reiterated and pulled him back in her arms.

"Luke, where is your sister?" Anakin asked, standing behind Padme's shoulder and watching the exchange.

"She's in the control room with Han and Chewie," he responded, and then looked down nervously, once Padme stepped back.

"What's wrong?" Anakin asked and Luke bit his lip.

"Um, we may have had a tracker attached to the hull…"

"What?" Padme asked, panic re-lacing her tone.

"We didn't know! Well, Leia warned us, but you know how Han can get," he shrugged helplessly.

Anakin sighed and ran a hand nervously through his hair. "That was irresponsible of you guys, but we'll deal with this later. For now, let's get to the control room and figure out a plan."

Luke nodded and turned to lead them out of the hangar. They followed the halls, the passing Jedi stepping to the side and nodding to Anakin respectfully as he passed. They made it to the control room, and once again, as soon as Padme spotted her daughter she launched forward.

"Leia!" she cried out, and the young senator turned, her own expression becoming one of happiness.

"Mom!" Leia cried out and launched herself into her mother's arms. Padme hugged her tightly and Leia called on every pain reducing Force technique she knew to dim the pain of the hug against her spine down. The Bacta Han had rubbed on for her was still reducing most of the pain, but any pressure against the injection sites still sent fire through her nerves.

"Are you okay, are you alright?" Padme asked, holding her daughter at arms length and scanning her up and down.

"I'm fine," Leia assured her. "But Mom, you need to call the Republic Navy in. The Jedi don't have enough fire power to go up against that battle station."

Padme glanced to Anakin and he nodded weakly, having already thought through this on the way to the control room.

"I'll get Carlist on the comm and see if he can get here fast enough." Padme turned away and went over to Comm Control, immediately working to put in the call to Coruscant.

Anakin spotted Mace on the other side of the room, talking nervously with Kit Fisto and Ki Adi Mundi. He crossed over towards them quickly, and they paused conversation as he came up.

"What are we looking at here?" Anakin asked and Mace sighed.

"Coruscant is five and a half hours from Coruscant at best guess, and the engineers best guess for traveling speed of the Death Star is 7 hours. That hardly gives us much time to plan for an attack."

Anakin let out a long breath and nodded. "Padme's working on getting the Rogues to assist us. General Rieekan has already promised complete assistance from his men, regardless of going through the Senate channels."

"Your daughter assures me that the Chancellor can send immediate relief to planets under the Republic command in times of war or strife," Mace said with a smile. "Apparently we are covered."

"That's a relief," Anakin said lightly. "How many Jedi fighters do we have?"

"Almost a hundred, but that isn't nearly enough," Kit responded. "With the Republic Squadrons we near two hundred and fifty."

"How do we even defeat it though?" Ki Adi asked and the three glanced towards Anakin expectantly.

"I'll take a look at the plans," he assured. "For now, just start gather all those willing to fly."

Anakin turned and headed towards his wife. She was conversing quickly with Leia before Leia nodded once and turned off. His gaze caught hers and she sighed and walked forward towards him.

"Any luck?"

"Yes," She nodded. "Carlist said he can have everyone assembled and here within six hours. That gives just under an hour to be up and ready for the arrival of that Battle Station."

"Good, Kit told me that puts at almost two hundred and fifty ships," Anakin said. "Hopefully that gives us enough fire power."

"Anakin, we need to get the Younglings off planet for the time being," she said in a much lower tone. "The chance of us failing is too great and if we do, that means the end of the Jedi. The republic will surely fall if we don't have them."

Anakin swallowed heavily, a profound sense of Déjà vu coming over him. "I'll talk to the council, but I doubt they'll argue that logic. See if you can start arranging some transports for them. We'll have to stuff them to overflowing, but if we can get them off sooner rather than later it will be worth it."

Padme nodded, kissing her husband firmly once before turning to go speak to the deck hands in the hanger about arranging the transports.

Anakin turned as well, heading back to where Mace stood with Kit Fisto. Ki Adi had left, so now it was only the three of them.

"Mace, we need to get the Younglings off this moon," Anakin said as soon as he reached them. "Padme's looking at arranging transports but we need to have an immediate council meeting to officiate this."

Mace nodded once before reaching into his pocket for his comm unit. He flicked it on and waited a pace before the aging voice of Master Yoda sounded on the other end.

"Master Yoda, we need to call a Council Meeting," Mace said immediately. "We have to get the younglings off and safe."

"Agree with you, I do," Yoda responded. "But arranging this I already am. Seek me in the Hangar you will."

The call ended as quickly as it started and Anakin shook his head, a genuine smile plaguing his face. Leave it to Yoda and his soft spot for the children to be a step ahead of them.


As Padme entered the Hangar, she spotted immediately the six transports that lay there, ramps up and engines warming already.

"Hurry Younglings! Time to waste we have not!" the aging voice sounded across the hangar. Several older Padawans appeared to be assisting the Younglings into the ships, keeping them calm through the ordeal.

"I see you've already got this covered, Master Yoda," Padme chuckled lightly as she approached the aging master.

"Ah, Chancellor, warms my heart to see you it does," Yoda greeted happily. "Expect me to forget those my size do you?" He laughed and Padme joined in. She always did enjoy being around the small Master.

"Do you have a place to send them yet?" she asked. Yoda glanced up at her with a smile.

"Hoped you would have one I did. Perhaps your home planet?"

"I'll contact the queen immediately," Padme nodded. "I'm sure the Palace would be a very secure place for them. And if not, Bail is around here somewhere; perhaps Alderaan could help."

"Thought so as well," Yoda laughed. He turned back to the younglings, watching as they carefully made their way into the transports. Part of Padme's heart sank as she realized that these kids weren't even eight yet. The older Padawans themselves hadn't even hit their fifteenth year as well. The only comforting part of it all was that they would not be here having to fight and worry of the immanent danger that loomed in the form of a large battle station.

"Worry not you should, Chancellor," Yoda said, never taking his eyes off the children. "Safe we will be, for our ally is the Force."

"And a powerful ally it is," she quoted, thinking to all those years ago as Anakin had quoted that mantra to Luke and Leia in their first few years.

"Trust in the Force you should," Yoda said, glancing up at her with a raised eyebrow. "Though feel it you cannot, surrounds you it does. Luminous beings we are, not this crude matter. Shines brightly within you it does, and trust it you should."

"Of course, Master Yoda," she nodded. "How could I not when it brought me my children?"

Yoda smiled and nodded. "Wise for a Force blind person you are, Chancellor."

"Thank you," she nodded. "I'm going to call the queen and alert her to our situation. I don't doubt she'll help us."

"Send her thanks I do."

"I'll pass them on," Padme nodded before turning to find a terminal.


"You planning on going up?" Luke asked as he found Mara in one of the training rooms, stretching.

"Yeah, you?"

Luke nodded. "The Rogues will be joining us. They are probably on their way now."

"Fantastic, that gives us the ships and fire power we need," Mara nodded. She stood up and walked over to one of the bars that lined the mirrored walls and hoisted her leg up with ease.

Luke watched with rapt attention as she bent with ease down over her leg, her hands grabbing her foot easily. She was so…. flexible. He shook his head to clear it, and tightened his mental shields. He'd never hear the end of it from Mara if she caught his train of thought through the Force.

Mara glanced back his way and Luke jumped mildly, pretending to be looking around the room and running a hand through his hair. Mara smirked. "See something you like, Farmboy?"

He glanced her way and shook his head roughly. "No, nah, I was just admiring the uh, architecture."

"I'll bet you were," she rolled her eyes, resuming her stretches. She dropped her leg off the bar and turned, placing her other leg up and duplicating the stretch. "You wanna spar? Get rid of some of this pent up energy?"

"What?" he asked, hearing only 'pent up energy'.

"Sparring? Look, Luke if you're not even completely here, let's not bother. I don't want to take off your arm or something."

"No, I'm alright. Let's spar. Sure," he nodded, swallowing heavily. She gave him an odd look but dropped her leg off the bar and called her lightsaber to her hand from it's resting spot in the corner of the room. He unhooked his own lightsaber from his belt and ignited it, holding it in front of him in a ready stance.

"Ready?" she asked but didn't wait for a response. She darted forward, her lightsaber meeting his between them with the crackling energy and the release of ozone into the air. With a flick of her wrist, she pushed his blade off and out of the way, taking a defensive and going for the more obvious attack before switching it at the last moment into a hand combat move, using her elbow to catch the handle of his weapon and push it towards his face. Luke tilted his hand back in time before breaking his nose with his own weapon and swung his blade down in a low arc towards her mid-section.

Mara bounced back, the tip of the blade narrowly missing her tunic before raising her violet blade up to strike his own azure one. They fought like that a few minutes, sticking to the more basic of fighting styles. Every strike was met and either blocked or parried off to the side. It continued this way until Mara let out and annoying grunt and flipped over Luke before going for a strike at his back. He spun in time and caught the attack, pushing against it and forcing Mara back and into a defensive form. She ducked an attack aimed for her neck and swiped a leg out, catching Luke's calves and causing him to fall backwards. She jumped towards him, landing neatly on his chest, legs braced on either side of him and her lightsaber tip pointed at his neck.

"I win, Skywalker," she hissed but her merely grinned.

"Nope," he shot back and swiped his blade up to hers, knocking it out of her hands and across the room. An elbow to the chin knocked her backwards and flat on her back. Before she could all her blade, Luke did, catching it in his left hand easily and crossing them before her neck in a move that if acted upon would decapitate her.

A leg swung up and hit the back of his head and Mara simultaneously knocked both blades out of his hands, calling on the force to send them to opposite sides of the room and far away from him. She fell easily into the hand to hand combat she was so fond of, but Luke had learned most of his combat from her and was able to easily match them. They jumped back to their feet, engaged in the rapid fighting that barely winded their trained bodies. Mara ducked several moves made for her head and chest but got caught on a surprise kick to her thigh that knocked her weight balance off. She caught her self and bounced back wards off her hand and back on her feet a few feet away from Luke, eying him with a grin.

"You've practiced," she grinned.

"Had to if I plan to keep sparring with you," he shrugged, never dropping his guard.

The Force gave her a warning and she ducked in time to avoid a spare weight flying off the wall, aimed for her. It landed with a clatter against the floor near Luke.

"You fight dirty, Skywalker," she hissed, stepping forward.

"You like it that way though, Jade," he shot back. Before she could even contemplate the double meaning to his words he'd struck again. A kick aimed for her chest. She used her own leg to catch the hit and push it to the side, stepping into the opening made and sending a body chuck to Luke's chest. He coughed and fell flat on his back. She set a foot against his collar bone, effectively keeping him seated there.

"You wanna call it or should I?" she asked.

"You win again," he sighed. Just as she started to take her foot off his chest, a Force push to her middle sent her falling forward, and she landed on Luke. He quickly rolled over and pinned her arms above her head, his chins locking hers together and immobile. "Then again, it looks like I may have won."

She sighed, her chest rising into his. It was at that moment she realized their close proximity and the way Luke's body effectively lay pressed down completely against her.

What startled her more was how the feeling wasn't unwelcome.

So she did the first thing that felt natural to her, and bit out a sarcastic comment.

"You gonna buy property here or move on?" she asked, and Luke raised an eyebrow before getting up. He held out a hand and she took it, letting him pull her to her feet.

"I kinda like the idea of owning property but something tells me there's an angry land lord there," he said with a cocky grin before calling his lightsaber to his hand while simultaneously walking backwards towards the door. "Good match, Mara."

He was gone before she could respond, and left her staring shocked at the spot he'd last been.

Had… Had Luke been flirting with her?


Yeah, I like the ending too. 'Nuff said.

So I'm nearly half way through Visions of the Future, having finally gotten around to finishing Spector two weeks ago. I've gone like four or five chapters now without Luke and Mara, and it's kinda driving me mad. I honestly could care less about Shada. She's a next to useless character with the exception of being good in a fight. Bleh. I am reading this for L/M! No one else!

Haha, anyways. Between that and American Horror Story, all my time is being eaten away. I just need to sit and either write the next one (which is still title-less, much to my annoyance) or MtR's rewrite.

Signing off before this gets out of hand. Next chapter has more H/L, less L/M, and next to no P/A.

Review, cause I love hearing you guys yell at me for not updating. ;)