Chapter 21

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Twelve Days Later

/

Unable to sleep as his thoughts swirled in his head, Luke climbed from his bed. He cautiously palmed open the door to the sleeping quarters. Casting a quick glance over his shoulder to make sure neither his father, Tristan nor Master Fisto had been awakened by his actions, he slowly walked through the darkened hull, carefully muffling his steps as he passed Master Yoda's quarters.

Good, I made it, he thought as he stepped into the holding area.

"Up a little late, aren't you, Skywalker?"

Luke whirled around to find an amused Mara Jade smiling at him. He shrugged as a slight flush began to creep across his cheeks.

"Did I wake you?" he whispered, peeking over her shoulder to the women's quarters.

"No," Mara shook her head, settling into a well-worn chair, tucking her legs beneath her. "I never sleep much on the way to a new mission. I need the extra time to prepare for every possible variable that could happen."

"Are you expecting trouble?" Luke frowned, sitting across from her. "The Council is expecting this to be a routine mission. Master Yoda even said it would be boring."

"He said his part would be boring," Mara corrected. "And no, I'm not expecting anything. I just like to be prepared for everything."

Luke nodded, studying her silently for a few moments, his young eyes drinking in the beauty of her flaming red hair and her perfectly sculpted face. "Are you nervous at all?"

He studied the floor as he waited for her answer. Ordinarily, he wouldn't dream of asking another Jedi such a question, especially a female Jedi but he and Mara had a special friendship and he knew she would understand his feelings and not think less of him for them.

"Not nervous," Mara replied, her brows furrowed in thought. "Just cautious, I suppose. I just think that something seems out of place with the Arkanian's demands. Their security could protect their precious microcircuitry and cyborging technology from the mercenaries the Republic has. Why bring in Jedi?"

"Maybe they are too run down from the illness," Luke offered. "And they trust Master Yoda."

"But not the rest of us," Mara pointed out. "Why? I mean, they've requested help and now seem loathe to trust any of us. Does that make any sense to you, Skywalker?"

Luke shrugged, unable to come up with a response to that question and statement.

"That's why I'm preparing for what may come," she concluded.

"How do you prepare for the unexpected, which may or may not happen?" Luke wondered aloud.

"You start by getting an adequate night's sleep."

Luke and Mara jumped, turning to find a disheveled Anakin standing at the entrance to the hold, hands on his hips.

"Master Skywalker!"

"Dad!"

They rose guiltily from their chairs.

"Good night, Master Skywalker," Mara beat a hasty retreat, stopping briefly to place a kiss on Luke's cheek.

Anakin didn't miss the kiss his son had just received and it caused him to release a big sigh. He hadn't been looking forward to this stage of parenthood.

"Did we wake you?" Luke asked sheepishly, blushing deeply as he followed Anakin back to their quarters.

"No," Anakin yawned. "I can always tell when one of my children is up when they're not supposed to be."

"Oh," Luke sighed, silently cursing the Force.

"The Force has nothing to do with it," Anakin chuckled. "It some sort of mysterious gift every parent gets the day their child is born."

Luke laughed, thinking back to all times when he was up during the night and his mother would always appear to check on him. In all his fifteen years, there had never been a single time when she didn't get up after him.

"Dad?" Luke asked softly just before they reached their quarters.

Anakin knew what was coming. "Yes?"

Luke shuffled his feet back and forth for a moment before speaking. "Mara…well, you saw that she…she…"

Anakin chuckled. "She kissed you."

Luke nodded, blushing again for good measure. "Yeah. Why'd she do it?"

Anakin cleared his throat. "Well, I'm not an expert seeing as I have no experience with women beyond your mother, but it seems to me that she kissed you because she likes you."

Luke frowned, confusing his father.

"You don't want her to like you?" he asked gently, leading his son to the sitting area outside their quarters.

"It's not that," Luke assured Anakin. "It's…I like her too, Dad."

Anakin smiled. "I figured that much for myself, Son."

"Dad," Luke groaned. "I mean I really like her; like her so much I was tempted to…turn my head when she kissed my cheek so she'd…well, you get it."

Anakin placed a gentle hand atop Luke's. "Yes, I get it. Luke, I want you to listen to me very carefully. When I was your age, I was already hopelessly in love with your mother and she saw me then as nothing more than a child."

"But…" Luke tried to interrupt.

Anakin held up his hand. "Listen. I know it seems that Mara feels the same for you as you do for her, and that may well be the case, or it may not. I want you to give yourself time to grow up before you decide who you really like. If Mara is the woman you end up falling in love with and she feels the same for you, then I'm all for it, but I want you to be prepared for her to see you as nothing more than a friend. I don't want you to be hurt."

Luke nodded. "I understand."

Anakin smiled. "Good. Now, let's get to bed and get some sleep. We have a busy day tomorrow."

They both entered their quarters then and quickly they were both asleep.

/

The freighter carrying the Jedi arrived on Arkania the next morning without incident. Yoda lead the procession of Jedi down the ramp where a small welcoming committee was waiting for them.

"Welcome, Master Yoda," said a tall, lean Arkanian dressed in official government robes stepped forward, bowing deeply. "I am Kodai Verbeke, acting governor of Arkania."

"Pleased to meet you, I am," Yoda replied with a nod of his head.

"I have several members of my personal security team all ready to oversee the Jedi you brought with you," Verbeke announced, gesturing to a group of well-built men standing off to the side. "I'd thought we'd..."

"No," Yoda tapped his gimer stick forcefully on the ramp.

Verbeke starred down at Yoda in shock. "Ex…excuse me? I thought our terms were clear."

"Clear they were," Yoda replied. "No mention of Arkanian's overseeing Jedi was there."

Standing behind Yoda, Anakin had to stifle a laugh at the expression on Verbeke's face as he was rebuked by the diminutive Jedi Master.

Yoda then glared at Verbeke. "Agree to such a term, I will not."

Verbeke's mouth fell open. "Bu…bu…but…"

"Four teams of Jedi I have brought," Yoda continued, ignoring Verbeke. "In charge of distributing supplies they will be. Work with your security we will. In charge of the Jedi I am."

Verbeke exchanged glances with his aides.

"Very well," he sighed. "May I suggest one member of my security team be assigned to each of your Jedi teams?"

Yoda's eyes narrowed.

"As an adviser only," Verbeke quickly added. "We have certain ways of doing things here and while we don't expect the Jedi to be aware of those ways, we would like you to keep to them."

"Agreed," Yoda replied with a wave of his hand.

"Thank you," Verbeke breathed. "I invite you to join me in the governor's offices. We can monitor the distribution of supplies there as well as follow the elections being held in a couple days."

Yoda nodded, turning to face the Jedi behind him as Verbeke stepped away slightly to speak with his men. "Master Skywalker."

Anakin knelt quickly in front of him. "Work with the Arkanian's security the Masters will. The Padawans will follow their Master's directions," he instructed.

Anakin nodded. "Yes, Master."

Yoda leaned forward slightly, gesturing Anakin closer.

"Be mindful of ulterior motives," he cautioned silently. "Observe carefully the actions of [i]all[/i] the Arkanians."

Anakin eyed the security team with thinly veiled suspicion. "I understand, Master."

Yoda had to suppress a grin at the determination in Anakin's voice. He reminded the small Jedi of Obi-Wan in that moment.

"Proud of you, he would be," Yoda muttered just loud enough for Anakin to hear. "May the Force be with you, Master Skywalker."

Anakin stood and bowed. "May the Force be with us all, Master."

Yoda hobbled away then, following Verbeke and leaving the others to begin tending to business.

Anakin looked up at the clouds and sighed. "I hope you're proud. Keep a watch the next couple of days, Master."

With that, Anakin took a deep breath and set off to work.