Well, the holidays are over...sorry it's been so long...i hope a new chapter makes up for it!

Yet again, I'm sorry It's been so long. Thank you for the reviews! Just...bear with me, all right? I have a vision and I'm working on weaving it all together haha. Don't forget to review and, of course...

Enjoy!

"Mara?" Luke repeated incredulously.

Surely I'm hallucinating. What's she doing on this ship?

But, no, Mara Jade was very much real, helping to ease Luke up into a sitting position and propping him up against the cold wall. Luke stared at her, trying to put the pieces together. "How…how did…what are you doing here?" he rasped out.

Mara smiled, though there was an obvious bitter edge to her smile. "Sidious has been…reaching out to me, trying to get me to come and join him…I decided to do some investigating and see if he was really here on Korriban, and if I found him I was going to tell the Council but…" She sighed. "I should have known considering my other life was spent serving him, but he was expecting me to do just that. I got caught, just like you."

"How did you get here so fast? We were on Florrum and you were back on Coruscant…" Luke muttered. He gasped as he felt fire rip through his chest, but waved off Mara's offered hand. She rolled her eyes.

"I believe you have a broken rib or two, so try to take it easy," she told him. "To answer your question, I left as soon as I couldn't take the nightmares anymore, which was before you were captured, and I just took—"

"Hydrian Way," Luke murmured. "I should have thought of that. Almost a clean shot to Korriban, with just a little adjustment once you make it to Lianna…"

"How are you sure I didn't take the Perlemian Trade Route? It's clearer," Mara responded smoothly.

Luke chuckled a little, letting his eyes close. "Ah, but Hydrian Way comes closer to Korriban. And if you took the Perlemian than you would have to start on the Hydrian Way and stop at Brentaal, which would have slowed you down."

Mara laughed softly. "You win…I took Hydrian Way…"

Luke sighed, gently wiping the blood from his face with his unbroken arm as he finally looked around the room the two of them were in. It looked like a simple holding cell for any ship, though he wouldn't be surprised if there was something more to it such as being able to prevent Force Sensitives from escaping.

Speaking of the Force…

Luke tried once again to reach for the Force in the hopes that perhaps it had been long enough that the suppresser had faded and that Sidious and Eius had just assumed he would be unconscious for the rest of the trip…

Mara sighed, sitting down next to him. "Don't bother trying, they gave you another Force suppressor before they left."

Luke sighed, opening his eyes again and staring at the hand in his lap. Both his arm left arm and right leg were bent at an awkward angle, and he tried not to think about the possibility of having to re-break the bones to set them right. Gritting his teeth, Luke slowly started to set his leg right. To get his mind off of the pain, he decided to start asking questions. That's all he seemed to have right now.

"So…why didn't you just…join Sidious when you got here?" Luke asked. Mara sighed, reaching over to help him before Luke waved the hand away once more. She scowled at him.

"I've spent one entire life as a Jedi and another as the Emperor's Hand. I'm still deciding truthfully—it's a serious identity crisis. That's why I'm being held prisoner and I'm not already dead. Sidious hopes that I'll 'wise up' and decide to join him again."

Luke eyed her silently for a moment. "Should I, ah, be keeping an eye on you then? One eye open when I sleep and everything?"

Mara snorted. "If I wanted you dead, farm boy, you'd be dead."

Luke cocked an eyebrow. "Farm boy?"

She smirked. "You heard me Skywalker. I kept track of you before the Second Death Star. I was at Jabba's palace when you ended up in that Rancor Pit. Impressive stuff; I guess the real question is how you've ended up captured again, and why you haven't got away yet."

"It's not like I haven't tried to escape yet. I've tried twice with no luck," Luke said defensively.

"Maybe you shouldn't have let them catch you in the first place."

"Do you think I meant to make my father lose me twice in one setting?" Luke asked hotly. Mara raised her eyebrows at his outburst and he looked away. "Sorry about that," he muttered, shifting uncomfortably.

Mara smiled a little. "I was beginning to think the great Jedi Luke, the Rebellion Hero, the Galaxy's last hope, had no end to his patience. It seems I found it."

Or Eius wasn't lying when he said he could sense a little of the dark side inside me already, Luke thought grimly before he spoke. "Why do I have the feeling that you don't like me? At least a little?"

"Probably because part of me hates you; the part that saw you and your father kill my Master, whose last order to me was to kill you. That's probably why."

Luke sighed. "It's decided then; one eye open when I sleep from here on out."

Mara tolled her eyes, then nodded to his arm. "That arm isn't broken by the way. I think he dislocated your elbow during your scuffle. That's why it looks bad—but it isn't that bad."

Luke nodded. "Well, it's better than being dead."

"That it is…do you want me to put it back into place?"

"Excuse me?" Luke asked, caught off guard.

"Your elbow: do you want me to put it back into place? I think I pop your elbow back into place, but it won't be pleasant."

Luke eyed her once more before he gestured to the arm. "Go right ahead. One less injury to worry about."

Mara smiled a little, gingerly taking his arm in her hands. "Ready?"

Luke nodded, biting back the gasp that threatened to burst through at the intense pain that flashed from his arm as she snapped his elbow back into place. "Thanks."

"Don't thank me yet farm boy. I'm pretty sure we both know this is just the beginning."

It was a depressing scene that the others arrived to. Ahsoka lead Galen, Juno, Han, Chewbacca, and Leia into the Sith Academy, deep into its depths to where Anakin and Obi-Wan were. Leia was at the front of the group, and was the first to stumble on the scene of Anakin shouting at Obi-Wan as he ransacked the room for some clue as to where Luke was. Obi-Wan was as calm as ever, speaking in soothing tones.

"Anakin, you need to breathe and get ahold of yourself, or we're not going to get anywhere."

Anakin shot him a dark look, one that would have made Leia shudder had it been aimed at her. "Obi-wan, I don't have the time. He's got Luke, he's got my son, and we have no idea where they are! There's no telling what he's done to them, what he's doing to them…you don't understand, I've seen what he's capable of, and I can't stand the thought of the two of them being subject to that!"

"Yes Anakin, I know, I'm very well aware of that. But you can't help them if you don't help yourself first," Obi-Wan responded, giving Anakin a hard look. Leia studied her father closer, trying to see what Obi-Wan was seeing. Sure enough, there were golden flecks in his eyes; a sight that sent chills down Leia's spine and brought painful, dark memories to the front of her mind.

Realization fell across Anakin's face, and he turned away, one hand on his waist while the other hand raked through his hair. He stared at the wall for a few moments before they saw his shoulders visibly heave; dropping like a great weight had suddenly fallen on them. Hesitantly, Leia crossed the room. It seemed the two had been completely oblivious to the arrival of the others, as Obi-Wan visibly jumped when Leia suddenly walked past him. She didn't stop though. She went right up to her father, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Father?" she asked softly. He blinked, turning slightly towards her. Blue eyes met deep brown, and Anakin sagged, pulling Leia into his arms in a tight hug. She didn't resist, burying herself deep in her father's protective embrace. She was the last child of his that was not in danger and was still with him. Even now, she could feel him slowly letting go of the anger and fear that had been plaguing him, using her presence to comfort himself; to remind himself all was not lost.

"We'll find them Leia…I promise you, we will…" he whispered to her. "Your brother's going to be just fine…"

"I know Father…because you're looking for him…and I know you'll find him. If anyone can, it's you," she whispered back.

Someone cleared their throat—most likely Galen or Han—and they pulled away, though not before Leia wiped a stray tear from her face by discreetly brushing her cheek against her father's tunic on the way. Everyone had filed into the small office-looking room, all of them waiting to know what came next.

"I'm guessing they got away," Han said, tapping Chewbacca on the arm to try and get him to put down some pyramidal shaped object he'd found.

Anakin opened his mouth to reply to Han, but cut himself off, his tone coming out sharp and commanding. "Put that down!"

Only some of the group was surprised by his sudden outburst. The Jedi on the other hand—most specifically Galen—understood the reaction perfectly. Han, however, looked at Anakin as if he had grown two extra heads while Chewbacca abruptly dropped the object.

"Wow, calm down, it's just a hunk of scrap metal," Han mumbled.

"It's not just a hunk of scrap metal, it's a Sith Holocron. How you managed to find it in so short of time amazes me," Anakin said briskly as he snatched the artifact off the floor. He set the holocron down with a resounding thud, pinching the bridge of his nose. It was obvious that everything that was happening was taking its toll on him, possibly bringing out Vader attributes he was trying to keep buried. It was a scary thought; one that made Leia wish Luke was there to tell her how she should handle the situation.

"If anyone else finds one tell me or Galen, and we'll deal with it. I don't want anyone else getting hurt," Anakin finally said.

"What are we going to do? If Sidious has both Luke's, where do we start?" Galen asked.

"We're going to spread out and see if we can find any sort of clue where they went. There are enough of us that we can probably cover the academy in a decent amount of time. I'm going to go through the dungeons," Anakin said, meeting everyone's eyes as he spoke.

"I'll come with you," Galen said. "We can cover more, faster."

Anakin nodded slightly. "Well come on; there's no time to waste," he mumbled, brushing past everyone and walking right out of the door. Galen glanced back into the room, pausing in the doorway.

"I'll…make sure he doesn't do something rash…make sure he's all right…" he said before he left.

The room was only quiet for a few moments before Han spoke again. "So what are we looking for?"

Leia sighed, rubbing her temples. "Anything that might have even been breathed on by Sidious, laser brain. Father's going to be thorough with this search. Now come on, we've got a lot of ground to cover."

"All right Your Worshipfulness, lead the way," Han said snidely, gesturing for her to take the lead. Leia rolled her eyes, storming out the door as Han grumbled under his breath, following her deeper into the Sith Academy.

"We're landing."

Luke sighed at Mara's statement, already gathering himself to stand. "Well that was a long trip. I wonder where we are," he muttered, getting to his feet.

"It felt like an even longer trip than from Korriban to Coruscant. We could be on the other side of the Outer Rim or in the Deep Core; we could be anywhere really," Mara replied. Once more she offered to help him, and once again Luke waved her off, determined to not seem dependent on other people. "Are you ready for another round?"

Luke chuckled softly, shaking his head. "It's going to take a lot more than a few injuries to stop me from kicking. Don't worry about me I'll be fine," he assured her.

Mara shrugged. "Suit yourself."

The small talk ceased when they heard the sound of footsteps approaching, even as they heard the ship powering down. The shield over the door disappeared, and Eius entered the room, eyeing Luke. "So…you're awake."

"Unfortunately," Luke responded smoothly. He didn't miss the fact that when Eius glanced at Mara—and he did so more than once—the solid golden eyes gained a few flecks of blue once more. He distinctly remembered that Eius had a thing for Mara before his fall, and began to wonder if perhaps those feelings might still be there.

"At least I don't have to drag you around again. Unless you're going to fight the inevitable again."

"I've spent my entire life fighting against the odds, why stop now?"

Sidious suddenly appeared behind Eius. "My dear boy, you must learn that there is a point where the best thing to do would be to stop fighting."

Luke felt his jaw clench, his eyes flashing dangerously. "Never Sidious, Not ever."

Sidious chuckled. "You say that now…but your tune will change Skywalker. A man can only take so much. Eius; you know what to do."

Eius took a step towards Luke, but Luke was ready. He lashed out, his foot connecting with Eius' thigh before bolting out of Eius' reach. He launched himself again at Eius, tackling him to the floor. They scuffled, a rolling mass of flying punches and swift kicks. Luke clamped his mouth shut, determined not to cry out at the pain it was causing his broken leg and cracked ribs. He pushed through the haze of pain, somehow finding himself with the advantage. Eius was trapped in a headlock, Luke's good arm wrapped tightly around EIus' throat; the arm that had been dislocated was still bothering him. Eius twisted, trying to get out of the grip and gasp in air, though Luke just tightened his hold. He wasn't going to kill this other him; just make him lose consciousness. That's all he wanted.

The hum of a lightsaber broke through the haze of the fight, and Luke looked up sharply as he remembered Sidious had come as well.

Sidious held Mara tight in his grasp, his crimson lightsaber hovering millimeters from her throat. Mara struggled to free herself, but this was no crippled, old Emperor. This was a young, powerful Emperor. One that wasn't going to be easily escaped. Not that the older Emperor had ever been easy to escape either.

"Let him go and come quietly, or I'll kill her," Sidious said calmly. Luke didn't doubt his words for a moment. He'd seen what Sidious was capable of first hand. Luke met Mara's eyes, eyes that seemed to be both fearful and brave at once. Almost subconsciously, Luke let Eius go abruptly, raising his hands as he rose to his feet, backing away as Eius gasped for breath. Sidious smiled.

"Now…that wasn't so hard, was it boy?"

Luke said nothing, his unwavering gaze locked with Sidious' now. Eius rose from the floor, rubbing his neck and glaring at Luke.

"Are you going to come quietly now Luke?"

Once more, Luke said nothing. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end as Eius moved behind him, but Luke held still. The slightest misstep…and Sidious would remove Mara's head from her body. Luke didn't want her death on his hands; he didn't want anyone's death on his hands.

"Well, quietly or not; you are coming," Sidious said smoothly. "Eius?"

Luke closed his eyes a split moment before the blow came that sent him plummeting back into unconsciousness.