There were few times when Leia's anger rivaled her father's, but this was one of those rare times.

"I humbly beg for your forgiveness, losing them was-" He was cut off by a raging Leia.

"You lost them? What do you and your men have a job for if you cannot take down a simple smuggler ship?"

"My Lady, I-" The pathetic officer pleaded. He was interrupted again, lifted off the air and struggling to breathe. Leia watched in satisfaction as his life began to leave him.

"Apology accepted, captain Needa." He let the body fall. Leia waved at the stormtroopers to take it away.

"Lord Vader, Lady Ruby, The ship has done a full sweep of the area. If the Millennium Falcon went into lightspeed, they could be on the other side of the galaxy by now." Admiral Piett reported.

"Alert all commands, and calculate every possible route. I want them found." Vader ordered.

"Yes my Lord. We'll find them."

"Don't fail again, Admiral." Vader threatened. The fear in Piett's eyes was enough to show he understood.

When he left, Leia turned to her father.

"They stuck to the ship, didn't they?"

"Almost certainly. Alert Boba Fett before we go into lightspeed."

"Will do, Father."

Han, Ava, Eli and Chewie had indeed been attached to the ship, and had no idea they were being followed by one of the most feared bounty hunters in the galaxy.

Luke and Lily were meditating again, this time only Luke stacked the rocks, and Lily was elsewhere in quiet, trying to submerge into the Force. It was a challenge at first, but then she found a rhythm, and was lost in the force.

She saw Naboo and Coruscant, the way they were long before the Empire. She saw Mustafar, the most feared planet for Jedi and their supporters.

Then the images changed into a vision.

A large Star Destroyer was looming in the stars, and the Millennium Falcon was flying away, followed by a different, foreign ship. She saw Bespin, and the City in the Clouds. The Falcon was flying toward it. There was a feeling of safety.

The vision grew darker, and she heard the fire of a blaster, and the hum of a lightsaber. She saw Han, Ava, and Eli, felt their betrayal and pain. Oh the pain! It became to much.

She snapped out of the meditation and ran to Master Yoda and Luke.

Luke was sitting on the ground looking troubled.

"Luke!" She called, still catching her breath. "Eli, Han, Ava... Cloud City..." He waved her to stop.

"I saw."

"It is the future you see." Yoda said.

"The future?" Luke and Lily said simultaneously.

"Will they die?" Luke asked.

"Difficult to see. Always in motion the future is."

"We have to go to them." Lily said. Luke agreed with her.

"Decide you must how to serve them best. If you leave now, help them you could. But you would destroy all for which they have fought and suffered." Yoda advised.

They went to train again, the vision still burning in their minds.*

Vader and Leia went to the hologram holding a hologram of Lando Calrissian and Boba Fett.

"You have news, Fett?" Leia said.

"Yes. I have tracked them to Cloud City on Bespin. I gathered you would like to speak to the man in charge of it."

"Indeed. You have done well, Fett." Vader said. He bowed. "Calrissian, there are two ways this can go. Either we take Solo, Princess Organa, and Commander King, or we stage a garrison there, and take them anyway." Calrissian looked conflicted. He didn't want to betray his old friend, but he couldn't afford an Imperial invasion.

"You can have them. How do you propose I keep them here?"

"What did they come for?" Leia asked.

"They haven't landed yet." He answered promptly.

"How far away are we?" Vader asked a random officer.

"About four hours my Lord."

"Can you keep them occupied and make the whatever they need take that long?" Leia asked the fearful man.

"Yes, my Lady." Good. He knew to properly address her.

"Good. I must warn you, Calrissian, do not fail us, or you will suffer the consequences." Vader looked at his daughter approvingly. She disconnected the hologram. *

After almost being shot down by Cloud City's guards, they were finally able to land on an empty pad.

"No one to greet us." Threepio said, stating the obvious like usual.

"I don't like this." Ava muttered.

"What would you like?" Han snapped. Eli shook his head.

"No, Ava's right. Something isn't right."

Almost on cue, the doors opened to reveal a dark skinned man followed by guards and aids.

"See? My friend." He told them. He looked to Chewie. "Keep your eyes open." After hearing Luke and Lily say nearly identical things for three years and then everything falling apart, he learned to listen.

"You no good double-crosser. You got a lot of guts coming here, after what you pulled." Han tried to act innocent, and Lando moved as though to punch him. Instead he pulled him into an embrace. "How you doing, you old pirate? So good to see you! I never thought I'd catch up with you again. Where you been?"

"He seems..." Eli struggled for an accurate word. "Friendly."

"Very." Ava didn't sound very certain yet. Eli wasn't either.

"What are you doing here?" Lando asked.

"Oh, repairs. Hyperdrive is busted."

"What did you do to my ship?"

"Your ship? You lost her to me, fair and square." Chewie made a noise in agreement. Lando seemed to finally notice the rest of the group. He noticed Ava in particular.

"Well, what have we here? And who might you be?" He asked her.

"Ava." She answered. He took her hand and kissed it.

"Welcome, Ava." He said, most definitely flirting.

"And this is Eli." She said quickly, gesturing to her side, desperate to get her out of his attention. "Another friend." The two men shook hands. Lando turned back to Han.

"I'll get my people to work on her straight away." He turned back to Ava. "That ship has saved my life quite a few times. She's the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy." They continued walking to a room for them to occupy while they waited. None of them noticed Threepio going missing.

Lando left them in a large room with a good view and a change of clothes. Lando pulled out a commlink after leaving earshot and eyesight.

"My Lord, they are here, and suspect nothing."

"Good. We will be there. Do not let them escape."

"Yes, my Lord."

"You must not go!" Yoda said.

"We can't get our minds off the vision." Lily said packing things into the ships.

"They're our friends, we have to help them!" Luke added, also packing at full speed.

"You must complete the training!"

"But they'll die if we stay!" Lily said.

"You don't know that. Not even Yoda can see their fate." Ben appeared as a figure. Lily was stunned for a moment, but put it aside. They both ignored the Masters' warnings. Yoda shook his head. This had been their father's downfall; caring and fearing for loved ones too much seemed to be a Skywalker trait.

"We can help them!" Lily said.

"We feel the Force!" Luke exclaimed.

"Feeling it and being its ally are not the same. This is a dangerous time, where you will be tempted by the Dark Side." Ben continued.

"Yes, yes!" Yoda said. "To Obi-Wan you listen. The cave, remember failing at the cave!"

"We've learned so much since!" Luke said.

"Master, we promise, we'll come back and finish what we've begun." Lily swore.

"It is you and your abilities the Emperor wants. That is why your friends are destined to suffer."

"That's why we have to go." Luke's voice softened.

"They shouldn't have to suffer because they are friends with us." Lily also took her voice down.

"I don't want to lose you the way I lost Vader." Ben said as a last attempt.

"You won't." Lily said.

"Stopped they must be. On this all depends. Only a fully trained Jedi Knight with the Force as his ally will conquer Vader and his Emperor. If you end your training now, if you choose the quick and easy path, as Vader did, you will become an agent of evil."

"Patience." Ben said. Lily sighed.

"We can't sacrifice them."

"You must, if you honor what they fight for!" Yoda said.

"If you choose to fight them, you do it alone. I cannot interfere."

"Understood." Luke said. "R2, R7, fire it up."

Ben and Yoda shouted advice.

"Be wary of your hate- that leads to the Dark Side."

"Strong is Vader and Ruby. Mind What you have learned. Save you it can."

"We will. And we'll be back, I swear." Luke said before taking off, Lily close behind.

"Told you I did. Reckless are they. Now matters are worse."

"Perhaps. But Lily has a far larger destiny than any of us can comprehend. She can save us all."

"I hope right you are."

Han walked back into the room after walking around for a while. Ava and Eli stood up.

"Have you seen Threepio?" Ava asked.\

"No. Why?"

"He's been gone for too long to have gotten lost. Something's wrong here." Eli interjected.

"I'll talk to Lando."

"I don't trust him." Ava declared.

"I don't trust him either, but he is my friend." Han explained.

"That's healthy." Eli muttered.

"We'll be gone soon.'

"And you plan on leaving, don't you?" Ava accused. Before he could answer, the door opened, and they all turned to look. Chewie came in with a box of familiar parts that was once See-Threepio. "What happened?" She asked him.

Chewie explained where he was.

"You found him in a junk pile?" Hand looked shocked.

"That's a mess. Do you think you can repair him?" Eli asked.

Chewie made an 'of course' sound. The door opened again.

It was unsurprisingly Lando. He looked at Ava in the very regal Cloud City dress.

"You look beautiful. You truly belong with us, among the clouds." Ava crossed her arms.

"Thank you." She said, even if her expression was anything but thankful.

"Will you join me for refreshments? Everyone's invited of course." They all began walking to the open door. "Trouble with your droid?"

"No of course not. Why do you ask?" Han said.

They began walking to the dining hall, when Han asked about the Empire and their relationship. Eli heard something about 'small corporation, but tuned it out until he heard something concerning.

"I've just made a deal to keep the Empire out of here forever." The hall door opened to reveal Darth Vader himself, with Lady Ruby and Boba Fett. "I'm sorry. I had no choice." Han looked at his friend.

"I'm sorry too." Lando left with his guard. Han pulled out his blaster and fired, but Vader merely absorbed the shots before pulling the gun. Eli reached for his, but it was in Ruby's hands before he even touched it.

"We were hoping you would join us." She said.

It wasn't any of their first times in a cell, nor did they expect it to be the last. They had certainly all been tortured before, but even then it was an interrogation. Only Chewie wasn't taken to a room with a crude device, which left him alone to work on a droid while he knew his friends were undoubtedly in unbearable pain. It was a few hours later when the three of them were returned to the cell. They could handle this, even if it hurt.

They only hoped Luke and Lily wouldn't fall victim to the trap.

A/N: it occured to me that I possibly failed to update on Friday. I'm sorry if I did.